Gas wall heater lighting

[jsampson45]

I have a balanced-flue gas wall heater. To light it one has to press the knob in, turn it anticlockwise and hold it as far as possible anticlockwise. After a few seconds it is supposed to stay lit when one lets go. But mine does not stay lit, except when the gas engineer lights it. Then he has to hold the knob for less than a second. It works for him but not for me. I would rather not call the engineer every time I want to light the heater. Is there an explanation for this behaviour, apart from supernatural?

 

[gas112]

Are you sure you have to turn it fully anti clockwise and hold its usually just PUSH knob in quarter turn click and hold IN for 10/20 seconds

 

[jsampson45]

"At the OFF position push in the control knob as far as possible and still pushing in *slowly* turn anti-clockwise to the ignition position to light the burner. Turning the control knob slowly allows gas to enter the burner ready for ignition. Keep the knob pushed in for 20 seconds and the burner should remain alight." Actually, the gas explodes blowing the flame out. Turning the knob more quickly, the result depends on who is doing it.

 

[gas112]

put a pic up of the tap

 

[jsampson45]

The heater is in a dark corner so the pic is of poor quality.

 

[jsampson45]

Resuming - I blew at the pilot light through a straw and this cured the problem once, but not again. Probably I need to get the cover off the heater somehow in order to clean the pilot light, or anything else. There are cross-head screws holding it on but they face the wall with less than 1 cm between them and the wall. Is there a tool for turning screws positioned like this? Obviously an ordinary screwdriver is out of the question.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Your Gas Engineer should be able to advise what the issue is and if they are able to resolve it.

 

[jsampson45]

I've had them before. Expensive and failed to solve the problem. But I see what tool to use, I think.

 

[endecotp]

Do you have a carbon monoxide alarm?

 

[jsampson45]

No.

 

[oilhead]

If it works every time for the engineer, why not ask him what you are doing wrong?

 

[jsampson45]

The heater worked OK for a time for me after I blew on the pilot light through a straw (see above). What could I be doing wrong? I suppose the heater is sensitive to a speck of dust and will have to be dismantled and cleaned weekly. I would rather do it myself than pay £149 every week.

 

[gas112]

The heater worked OK for a time for me after I blew on the pilot light through a straw (see above). What could I be doing wrong? I suppose the heater is sensitive to a speck of dust and will have to be dismantled and cleaned weekly. I would rather do it myself than pay £149 every week.

is it a baxi wall heater ?

 

[jsampson45]

It is a Valor Brazilia F5 wall heater with balanced flue. It was fitted by an engineer who has emigrated to New Zealand, and the business is closed AFAIK. Of course I do not know who makes what for whom so if you have info about Baxi heaters it might apply to my heater.

 

[gas112]

It is a Valor Brazilia F5 wall heater with balanced flue. It was fitted by an engineer who has emigrated to New Zealand, and the business is closed AFAIK. Of course I do not know who makes what for whom so if you have info about Baxi heaters it might apply to my heater.

To be able to blow on the pilot light you must be breaking a seal