Gas Valve for Baxi Solo 60RS

[Roisin]

Hi,

My boiler broke Sunday. It just stopped working. We got it fired up and it just went out again over and over. The plumber first thought it was the Thermo thing (copper and mercury wire that the pilot light sits on), but after replacing this and the boiler failing again he has now decided it is the gas valve and that this is going to be expensive - £200/£300. Plumber has suggested a new boiler as the Baxi could be up to 18 years old (?!?!).

My first question is does this diagnosis sound right? Does the cost sound right? And should I be considering a new boiler?

Plumber has suggested a combi, we live in a 3 bed end terrace house with and upstairs and downstairs bathroom and 9 radiators overall. In about 7 months there will be 4 of us living here (new baby). Is a combi a good idea or should we stick to the tank?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Roisin

 

[AshaDPlumber]

I would say a combi is not the best route for you. The price sounds a bit rich. It could well be the gas valve or the solanoid that opens the gas valve. In some cases its a good idea to get a new boiler but in others its better the devil you know, if you have an old boiler its probably very basic, if most things have been replaced effectively you have a new boiler. There are very few things to go wrong on an old boiler

 

[Gasguru]

Presumerably you are having pilot problems. There are many many reasons for pilot outage. Just replacing the thermocouple is just one possible answer. Did he check the overheat thermostat? Does the boiler overheat? Is the pilot flame correct? Are the casing seals and sight glass satisfactory? Is the working gas pressure correct? etc etc...get yourself someone that repairs boilers.

I have never replaced a gas valve when pilot problems are encountered..it is always something else. The solenoid coil in the gas valve is a simple device and there is very little that could ever cause a problem.

 

[namsag]

Can you give exact boiler number as there is a few baxi 60 rs out there and they have differebt set ups re gas valves etc

 

[gas4you]

Last one I had was the pump intermittently sticking, causing overheat.

 

[Roisin]

Hi,

Thanks for all your advice so far. The boiler is a Baxi Solo 2 RS60, serial number 0001460.

Could it really be that old? We only moved to this house 9 months ago.

Yes, it seems to be the pilot light that is the problem. It just keep going out and is tricky to light. It wouldn't fire up on the timer and after manually igniting it, it would work for 10 mins and then go out. i don't think it had a chance to over heat .

Roisin

 

[Agile]

I thought the Solo II lit the pilot and then electronically detected the flame so does not have a permanent pilot???

Or am I thinking of another Solo ?

Tony

 

[bishbash]

Hi, Don't know if this helps - I have a Baxi bermuda back boiler which had the same problem. The pilot light kept going out.. it got worse and worse until we had trouble lighting it! The boiler would fire up, we'd here a little click after a minute or so and it would all go out.
A gas engineer fitted a new gas vale (we've just had a bill for 145.00 and we live in the south west so prob a little cheaper) - not sure if that's a reasonable price, but the boiler is now working fine!! touch wood....