Greetings all, I don't post very often on here nowadays but I'm sure someone on here can help.
We have a gas Aga (yes, yes, I know but I'm married to a woman who is always freezing cold) and over the years have had two non-genuine gas valves fitted; the first because the valve wouldn't work and the second because the cheap plastic control knob broke. Our snotty local Aga dealer won't touch it because we didn't buy the Aga from them so over the years we've had a succession of different engineeers to service it using non-genuine parts.
It went off about a month ago but when the cold wet weather started Mrs Chilly decided it had to be re-lit. The ignitor has never worked since one annoying engineer left the wire flailing around somewhere in the firebox so I've always had to use a lighted spill through the little window. This time, turning the plastic knob to the "ignite" position and holding it down, the entire burner fired up, which I think shouldn't happen as this is only supposed to light the pilot. Left it to warm for 30 minutes then turned it up to fire and the burner was burning so hard it was guttering and looked ready to extinguish itself. All of this worried me so I turned it off and called another local engineer who is going to come in September and service it and fit a genuine Aga valve. We are planning to sell the house in 18 months so this needs to be done correctly anyway.
I intend to be around when the engineer comes so as to be sure it's a genuine valve but what's the story with genuine Aga spares? Are they really restricted to accredited Aga dealers and engineers or can anybody buy them? Is it simply because they cost more that few engineers carry them?
We have a gas Aga (yes, yes, I know but I'm married to a woman who is always freezing cold) and over the years have had two non-genuine gas valves fitted; the first because the valve wouldn't work and the second because the cheap plastic control knob broke. Our snotty local Aga dealer won't touch it because we didn't buy the Aga from them so over the years we've had a succession of different engineeers to service it using non-genuine parts.
It went off about a month ago but when the cold wet weather started Mrs Chilly decided it had to be re-lit. The ignitor has never worked since one annoying engineer left the wire flailing around somewhere in the firebox so I've always had to use a lighted spill through the little window. This time, turning the plastic knob to the "ignite" position and holding it down, the entire burner fired up, which I think shouldn't happen as this is only supposed to light the pilot. Left it to warm for 30 minutes then turned it up to fire and the burner was burning so hard it was guttering and looked ready to extinguish itself. All of this worried me so I turned it off and called another local engineer who is going to come in September and service it and fit a genuine Aga valve. We are planning to sell the house in 18 months so this needs to be done correctly anyway.
I intend to be around when the engineer comes so as to be sure it's a genuine valve but what's the story with genuine Aga spares? Are they really restricted to accredited Aga dealers and engineers or can anybody buy them? Is it simply because they cost more that few engineers carry them?