Hi,
I have a Glow Worm Space Saver MkII, and recently the pilot light has started going out intermittently. I've read through some posts with similar problems, and had a good look at my boiler, but have been unable to isolate the issue, so could do with some advice...
Firstly, they specific symptoms: As far as I can tell, it is always shortly after the main burner been turned off out that the pilot light goes. The main flame will go, leaving the pilot light burning as expected, but then after a few seconds there will be a click which I believe is the thermocouple shutting off the gas valve, and the pilot light goes out.
Now, here's one presumption which I've been working on, so correct me if I'm wrong... the issue can only be down to components of the boiler, such as (likely candidates) the thermocouple and the gas valve. A Pilot light issue cannot be related to, say the clock/timer, the room thermostat or the valves in my hot water tank and central heating? If I'm wrong please explain!
So, back to the specific issue... my natural reaction is that it is likely to be a faulty thermocouple. But can anybody explain why this might lead to it going off only under the conditions described? Why does it not turn off randomly when just the pilot light is on? Can a dodgy thermocouple temporarily fail to provide current when dropping from very high temperature (ie main flame on) to a lower, but still sufficient temperature (ie pilot light only)?
One thing I noticed when taking all the frontage off the boiler to investigate - the spark from the piezoelectric ignition was arcing between the tip of the ignition system and the top of the thermocouple. Is this what it is meant to do? I couldn't see any other obvious contact for the spark to arc with. If not, is it possible that the sparking could have damaged the thermocouple?
That's about all the info I have at the moment. If anybody can offer any advice that would be great!
Oh - one more thing... if I want to replace the thermocouple, can anybody point me in the direction of somewhere I can select the right one for my boiler? Not been able to find anything online, and there seem to be a bewildering array of thermocouples on the market!
Thanks in advance!
I have a Glow Worm Space Saver MkII, and recently the pilot light has started going out intermittently. I've read through some posts with similar problems, and had a good look at my boiler, but have been unable to isolate the issue, so could do with some advice...
Firstly, they specific symptoms: As far as I can tell, it is always shortly after the main burner been turned off out that the pilot light goes. The main flame will go, leaving the pilot light burning as expected, but then after a few seconds there will be a click which I believe is the thermocouple shutting off the gas valve, and the pilot light goes out.
Now, here's one presumption which I've been working on, so correct me if I'm wrong... the issue can only be down to components of the boiler, such as (likely candidates) the thermocouple and the gas valve. A Pilot light issue cannot be related to, say the clock/timer, the room thermostat or the valves in my hot water tank and central heating? If I'm wrong please explain!
So, back to the specific issue... my natural reaction is that it is likely to be a faulty thermocouple. But can anybody explain why this might lead to it going off only under the conditions described? Why does it not turn off randomly when just the pilot light is on? Can a dodgy thermocouple temporarily fail to provide current when dropping from very high temperature (ie main flame on) to a lower, but still sufficient temperature (ie pilot light only)?
One thing I noticed when taking all the frontage off the boiler to investigate - the spark from the piezoelectric ignition was arcing between the tip of the ignition system and the top of the thermocouple. Is this what it is meant to do? I couldn't see any other obvious contact for the spark to arc with. If not, is it possible that the sparking could have damaged the thermocouple?
That's about all the info I have at the moment. If anybody can offer any advice that would be great!
Oh - one more thing... if I want to replace the thermocouple, can anybody point me in the direction of somewhere I can select the right one for my boiler? Not been able to find anything online, and there seem to be a bewildering array of thermocouples on the market!
Thanks in advance!
