Pilot Light OUT

[ice cold rad man]

Hi

I have a Glow Worm EconomyPlus boiler, which has suddenly decided it's not going to fire up.

When the timer comes on, you can hear the pump come to life but there is no familiar 'click' to ignite. The pilot light is out.

My question - what would cause this, and is it down to a simple part that can be replaced without having to get a corgi registered engineer involved? if so, would it be a cheap fix?

Alternative is to pay about 100 quid to have Glowworm send someone round with a sledgehammer. This doesnt seem too bad if it solves the problem (and they service the little fighter). But this has happened previously. Last time, it just started working again after a while with no intervention.

But I would like to understand what's going on.

Ta very much

Great Forum!

 

[ollski]

not familiar with it, is it a permanent pilot or electronic?. Pilot will knock out from
1 faulty thermocouple
2 dirt partially blocking the pilot

There are a few other causes but it's almost certain to be one of these two

 

[dan21mag]

get the glow-worm engineer out,
they'll fix it in 15 mins tops,
could be fan flue needs replacing,
or thermocouple,
or dodgy gas valve

 

[ice cold rad man]

Chaps, firstly thanks very much for taking the time to reply.

I removed the cover (after switching off the mains of course), and had a butchers inside. It all appears very simple and straightforward.

I looked at the electrode which ignites the pilot (have i got that right?). Anyway, the bit that causes the spark which ignites the gas inlet. It is shrouded in what appears to be a white ceramic casing. This appeared to be slightly rusted up around the business end, so i carefully cleaned this up.

I visually inspected everything else, but as I am not an expert, I decided that was all I could do. Replaced cover and switched power back on.

No change.

I have also just found this page which looks to be very interesting...

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/plumbing/plumbingpage1.html

I'll keep you posted with the final results soon.

Thanks

 

[carol0636]

Hi I have a similar problem where I can get the pilot light lit and as soon as I release the gas button it goes straight back out again. I'm guessing that I need someone to come out and have a look? Question is who would be the best person? Or might there besomething very simple I could do to help?
Any answers REALLY gratefully received. Have just bought first house one month ago and this is the first problem so I'm really unsure.

 

[ollski]

it's 90% likely to require a new thermocouple or just a clean / service. If you get a decent engineer to come and service the boiler he will replace the thermocouple in the service if you explain.

 

[carol0636]

Thanks that's good to know. Now how exactly do I do that? Do I need a plumber or what? Sorry for being SUCH a girl!
Carol

 

[mrcrow]

does a service contract with british gas sound feasible...
they will fix this as part of the new customer service and not charge as it is under the contract..
they will of course vet the system to say if they will take it on..

sounds like the thermocouple

when my old potterton cf60 gets its annual exchanger cleaned the chap always puts in a new flame failure sensor..he charges £10 and says it saves stripping everything out just for one little component...

 

[ice cold rad man]

dan21mag. why might the fan flue need replacing? just interested to know what part this plays.

i am trying to locate the thermocouple, check out the following piccies i have taken - i assume it is integral to the gas pipe where the pilot light would normally appear (the pipe with the red sleeve at the bottom) ?.

http://www.seekay.freeserve.co.uk/boiler.htm

if replacing the thermocouple involves meddling with gas fittings then i am leaving well alone.

if not, then how is it done? it would seem a cheap enough fix - wickes sell 'universal thermocouple' replacement devices for about 3 quid.

but then again, it might be the gas valve - the familiar 'click' which is no longer heard when the timer unit comes on - i now understand that to be the gas valve opening/closing and not the click of the electrode sparking (as i always thought) ???

 

[ollski]

you need an engineer, it's electronic ignition which means the fault could lie almost anywhere from a pilot blockage to electrode gaps to gas valve etc. plus you need a service by the look of the heat exchanger. while you have it stripped blow the pilot clean through a straw or something and then replace the case, but get a qualified engineer to give it the once over before you stick it back into operation.

You did press the reset button there on the front before you did anything else didn't you??

 

[ice cold rad man]

ollski, thanks for your reply.

it's an 'overheat reset' button - i haven't touched it.

an engineer is coming on tuesday to give the thing a service.

 

[ice cold rad man]

OLLSKI - MAN, YOU ARE BRILLIANT.

If I hadn't been a sad git and posted up a piccie of the boiler fascia, and you hadn't taken the time to check it out, then I might still be stroking my chin.

I just remembered today what you said about the reset button.

So I went ahead an pressed it. Then switched the timer into advance (after making sure everything was put back together).

It fired up a treat!

HOORAH - no more boiling kettles of water in the morning for a wash!

May this be a lesson in procedure - always try the simple things first. But I must admit there is absolutely no information on the inside of the boiler panel other than this button is labelled as the 'boiler overheat cutoff'.

OK well I have learned something here - thanks again to all responses and three cheers for DIYnot!.

 

[tdc]

got a glow worm economy plus, its now doing nothing, i have replaced it with a new pcb, but it appears that the overheat cutoff is also faulty, all i have checked is there is no power on the yellow lead, the switch itself has no pressure, it can be pushed in and out with pressure, as though it is not doing anything. noy sure whether this is how the switch should be.
advice wud be greatly appreciated.