Boiler pilot will not light - help! Visitors coming soon!

Can anybody help with this problem? I have a Thorn Olympic 38/50B. Came home from work tonight, I know the boiler has been working because the water is hot, as normal (it comes on with the timer every evening). But when I put on the heating I noticed after 30 minutes that the radiators are still cold, so I when I looked at the boiler I noticed the pilot had gone out.

Thing is, the pilot will not light. No flame at all. What am I doing wrong? I have lived in this house for the last 2 years, and have never had to touch the boiler in the past. The instructions are a little bit faded so I am guessing at some of what it says, but this is what I did: I turned the boiler thermostat and the CH room stat right down. I put the CH and HW on constant at the programmer (Honeywell ST6400C). I held in the gas valve button and press the igniter button repeatedly. Plenty of spark, but no flame. (The instructions seem to say something like "first turn off the electricity", but I'm not sure what this is referring to). Also I tried twisting the gas button and waiting 3 minutes, but still no success. Am I doing anything wrong?

If I am not doing anything wrong, what is most likely to be the problem?

Any advice much appreciated.

Lack of gas supply, blockage in pilot supply, blockage in jet ?

All jobs for a CORGI engineer!

Why not call one and get it going before the guests arive?

Tony

Thanks for the response Agile.

It seems I was wrong, I took off the cover of the boiler, and then it was obvious that there was gas coming out of the pilot jet. I discovered that the problem was that the spark was very weak due to it sparking at the spade connector as well as at its tip. I put a tiny piece of electrical tape around the spade connector and now all is well, the spark ignites the pilot. But then I discovered that the pilot will not stay alight! Maybe it's the thermocouple. Interesting devices. I've just posted a new post about the workings of thermocouples ... !

Agile said:

Lack of gas supply, blockage in pilot supply, blockage in jet ?

All jobs for a CORGI engineer!

Click to expand...

Why not call one and get it going before the guests arive?

Tony

Click to expand...

HAHAHA Not this time then !! Thats £80 well saved !!!!!!!!!