On Sat, 07 Jul 2007 05:30:35 -0700, cynic wrote:

On 7 Jul, 12:30, wrote:
Hi,

I'm helping a friend out who is in hospital with his wife who is in
labour!
Basically the pilot light on their SIME combi boiler won't stay lit
and the pressure on the boiler is 3.25 bar when cold. It's a saturday
so not a good day for this to happen (especially as they'll be
arriving home with their first child shortly!)
Plumbers are asking £70+ just to look at it but i have a feeling they
will then say they need a part and that the wholesalers are shut till
monday, so my questions are as follows:

a) any ideas on a quick fix for this? (For someone who doesn't know
much about boilers..i doubt it somehow)
b) Is a plumber likely to need parts? If yes,then I guess it's better
not to even get them out till monday and avoid extra call out charges

what do you think?

Thanks!
Charlie

Firstly - the pilot light may not be a permanently lit one! You didn't
quote a model.

He did, it's a [Vaillant] Sime and it has a permanent pilot.


Secondly the pressure "should" be venting out of the safety valve at 3
bar (unless the gauge is telling lies) is the pipe discharging water
outside?

Separate but unhelpful problem. The discharge valve should have operated
at this level, perhaps it is and the fill loop is letting by. See SealedCH
FAQ.


£70 sounds perfectly reasonable for a call out. Yes - parts may be
required unless you have fortunately chanced upon a guy with decent
van stock

The boiler is somewhat old. It's the thermocouple £15 [1] or it's over
heating. The latter could be the end of the boiler (let's say the heat
exchanger is blocked by debris due to the perpetual filling?).

HTH

[1] Yes it's includes connections to the O/H stat so not a generic part.

--
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