In article ,
Dave writes:
I've a gas fire problem witha Canon Coldridge that won't light!
The gas supply is ok (afaik), can hear it when I hold the ign switch in, and
there is an ignition spark (although I have seen better "blue" arcs).

What are the three "parts" in the picture... igniter, pilot? and ? Are these
parts replacable - or is a Corgi registered only job?

http://tinyurl.com/pthcw

The right hand part is a thermocouple flame failure sensor.

If it's your own house and you aren't renting it out, then
you can do it yourself if you are competent. However, if you
don't know what all the parts are and how they work, then
by definition, you aren't competent.

When the thing does light, the colour of the entire thing is as it always was
(from new) but the flame around the "pilot" (as I'm calling!) is yellowish - and
I don't recall it being that colour before - and it seems bigger and brighter
too.

Probably pilot light is dirty -- air holes blocked.
The area around it looks rathy manky, but picture isn't
large enough to be able to see clearly.

Looks like the whole gas fire needs a service, as it's
most unlikely that just the pilot light needs servicing.

I'm pretty sure the flu/ventilation is ok

How?

but the fire hasn't been used since last April.

There could be a few dead pigeons in the flue now, even if
it was OK last April. However, that's nothing to do with
the pilot not lighting.

Ecen when new it took 2 or 3 clicks to get it to light.

That's not uncommon for that type of ignition.

--
Andrew Gabriel

"Dave" wrote in message
...

There could be a few dead pigeons in the flue now, even if
it was OK last April.

Not unless they've cut through the anti-bird cages on the pots there
aren't

Careful now - you've seen Chicken Run - well pigeons are even more cunning
;-)

Cheers
Dan.

On Sat, 19 Aug 2006 22:36:42 +0000, Dave wrote:

On 19 Aug 2006 15:22:41 GMT, (Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
Dave writes:
I've a gas fire problem witha Canon Coldridge that won't light!
The gas supply is ok (afaik), can hear it when I hold the ign switch in, and
there is an ignition spark (although I have seen better "blue" arcs).

What are the three "parts" in the picture... igniter, pilot? and ? Are these
parts replacable - or is a Corgi registered only job?

http://tinyurl.com/pthcw

The right hand part is a thermocouple flame failure sensor.

I did think it was a ff sensor (really) but wanted to see what was said.

If it's your own house and you aren't renting it out, then
you can do it yourself if you are competent. However, if you
don't know what all the parts are and how they work, then
by definition, you aren't competent.

Well one can become competent by knowledge and practice you know,
Anyway I don't want to get into the how-clever one has to be to fix a gas fire.
Safety and knowledge *does* matter to me and unless I understand what I'm doing
I won;t do it.

When the thing does light, the colour of the entire thing is as it always was
(from new) but the flame around the "pilot" (as I'm calling!) is yellowish - and
I don't recall it being that colour before - and it seems bigger and brighter
too.

Probably pilot light is dirty -- air holes blocked.
The area around it looks rathy manky, but picture isn't
large enough to be able to see clearly.

Looks like the whole gas fire needs a service, as it's
most unlikely that just the pilot light needs servicing.

How can you tell that from the picture then? (Not saying it doesnt - just wonder
how you can tell that give the pic isn't large enough)?


I'm pretty sure the flu/ventilation is ok

How?

From the force of draught drawing when the fire isn't there.


As regular posters already know, I'm not an extreme leave-it-to-the-pro
person. However "Atmospheric sensing pilots" are not intended to be site
repaired (unlike boiler thermocouples) you should replace the entire pilot
assembly (around £20 give or take obtainable from the manufactuer).
Of course making sure there is no debris or spark short etc. can be done
first to eliminate the other causes.

As you may be replacing the part you will then have to follow all the
tests described in the manual. You'll need smoke pellets and matches to
check the chimney out.


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html
Gas Fitting Standards Docs he http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFittingStandards