Potterton Puma 80 - can't light pilot light

[Lemming_Don]

Afternoon all.
I've recently moved into a flat that has a Potterton Puma 80 boiler, and can't get the pilot light to come on.
The gas is switched on, the mains electricity supply to the boiler is on, but nothing happens when I press the ignition button.
Any ideas?

 

[Agile]

You have to turn the gas valve know to the correct position AND hold it in for 30 seconds.

Its quite possible a fault has arisen particularly if the boiler has not been serviced regularly.

Tony

 

[Lemming_Don]

Blige me!
I was sparking too early! Yep, held the knob in for 30 seconds before hitting ignition and the thing sparked into (a sort of) life!
Next question - why isn't it firing when I turn a hot water tap on? Judging from the clicks and rattles coming from it, it's trying to fire, but not quite managing it. Is it just getting over the effort of getting the pilot light on, or is there something more sinister at work?

 

[Agile]

After getting the pilot light to com on you have to hold the gas knob in for 30 secs and then rotate it to the operating position!

Then and only then the boiler MIGHT light if everything else is working.

There are many other parts involved though!

Tony

 

[Lemming_Don]

How stupid do I feel.
Other people have problems with wax capsule diverter valves and modulation PCB boards, I just don't hold the button in for long enough.
Anyway, it's working now, so thank you very much for your help!

 

[Tunni56]

Can be a pain though that Boiler. Having owned two they were OK for a while but played up every winter. I came to hate them. The manual pilot is the better of the two (less to go wrong) but the modulator board has basic design flaws. Best of luck with it!

 

[Agile]

I am very happy with them and easy to fix and we have a lot of PCBs in stock!

Tony