Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
Reply |
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Pilot light keeps going out
I have had this problem for about a year now. The original post he
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk....pr%40yahoo.com Its a 12 year old Worcester combi boiler. When we use the hot water, it works ok for about 5 mins and then the pilot goes out hence the flames go out. We have to wait a couple of mins and then re-light the pilot after a few attempts. The hot water will then work for about 3 mins and then same happens again and so on. The central heating works fine and will carry on all night if necessary. Originally we called out Britisg Gas (BG) as we have homecare. They had no idea what was wrong. I then complained and had 2 more visits. They could not fnd anything and just made up an execuse that my central heating was blocked up and needed a flush etc. otherwise they would not look at my boiler anymore. We had Transco check out gas pressure and they said everything was ok. Come April/May and I was really fed of not being able to have proper running water so decided to replace the boiler. All of a sudden the problem went away. So we put the new boiler plan on the 'back-burner' and carried on with the old boiler through the summer months. Then towards end of Sept it started again and then got progressively worse. This weekend it went out and would not light up at all again. Note that this weekend is the coldest of the year so far. I am no engineer but this points something to do with gas usage or pressure. First its nothing to do with CH blockage as CH works fine, its only hot water that triggers the pilot. Secondly the boiler worked fine during the summer months. Now that it is really cold it is worse. Could there be some issues with gas pressure? I am going to cancel BG homecare because they have been useless. How do I get Transco to give me true facts? I am loathed to spend 2k on a new boiler installation just because there may be something wrong with the gas supply. All ideas welcome. |
#2
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Pilot light keeps going out
When you run the DHW with the CH off, does the boiler seem to get noisier
before it cuts out? This is the symptom with mine (no pilot light, and it cuts out sooner than 5 minutes), but it is cutting out on primary water over-temperature (hence sounds of incipient boiling) because not enough heat is getting transferred to the DHW through the partially blocked heat exchanger. Are you in a hard water area? In my experience, 12 years is a pretty good life for a modern combi. Ed will probably be along in a minute! |
#3
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Pilot light keeps going out
On Sun, 23 Nov 2008 04:26:09 -0800 (PST), Nick
wrote: I have had this problem for about a year now. The original post he http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk....pr%40yahoo.com Its a 12 year old Worcester combi boiler. When we use the hot water, it works ok for about 5 mins and then the pilot goes out hence the flames go out. We have to wait a couple of mins and then re-light the pilot after a few attempts. The hot water will then work for about 3 mins and then same happens again and so on. The central heating works fine and will carry on all night if necessary. Originally we called out Britisg Gas (BG) as we have homecare. They had no idea what was wrong. I then complained and had 2 more visits. They could not fnd anything and just made up an execuse that my central heating was blocked up and needed a flush etc. otherwise they would not look at my boiler anymore. We had Transco check out gas pressure and they said everything was ok. Come April/May and I was really fed of not being able to have proper running water so decided to replace the boiler. All of a sudden the problem went away. So we put the new boiler plan on the 'back-burner' and carried on with the old boiler through the summer months. Then towards end of Sept it started again and then got progressively worse. This weekend it went out and would not light up at all again. Note that this weekend is the coldest of the year so far. I am no engineer but this points something to do with gas usage or pressure. First its nothing to do with CH blockage as CH works fine, its only hot water that triggers the pilot. Secondly the boiler worked fine during the summer months. Now that it is really cold it is worse. Could there be some issues with gas pressure? I am going to cancel BG homecare because they have been useless. How do I get Transco to give me true facts? I am loathed to spend 2k on a new boiler installation just because there may be something wrong with the gas supply. All ideas welcome. Could the thermocouple need replacing .Cheaper than a boiler to see if it is that. |
#4
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Pilot light keeps going out
On Sun, 23 Nov 2008 04:26:09 -0800 (PST), Nick wrote:
When we use the hot water, it works ok for about 5 mins and then the pilot goes out hence the flames go out. We have to wait a couple of mins and then re-light the pilot after a few attempts. The hot water will then work for about 3 mins and then same happens again and so on. The central heating works fine and will carry on all night if necessary. I'd be tempted to replace the thermocouple and check the size and position of the pilot light flame. Though the fact that it works fine for CH is counter to a duff thermocouple or badly adjusted pilot flame. Does the CH use a different burner or different parts of the same burner compared to HW? Note what another posted has said about more noise in HW mode just before it stops. It could be the overheat trip doing what it should due to the HW heat exchanger being scaled up. -- Cheers Dave. |
#5
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Pilot light keeps going out
On Sun, 23 Nov 2008 12:34:33 +0000, newshound wrote:
When you run the DHW with the CH off, does the boiler seem to get noisier before it cuts out? This is the symptom with mine (no pilot light, and it cuts out sooner than 5 minutes), but it is cutting out on primary water over-temperature (hence sounds of incipient boiling) because not enough heat is getting transferred to the DHW through the partially blocked heat exchanger. Are you in a hard water area? In my experience, 12 years is a pretty good life for a modern combi. Good point. When you have to relight the boiler is there a reset button somewhere you have to press back in before it will relight? Does the thermocouple have either a couple of tags partway along its length, or where it's connected to the gas valve are there a couple of wires going off to an overheat trip switch? If you can feel the flow pipe from the heat exchanger (inside the boiler, not the one coming out of the boiler to the CH - and take care you don't touch anything electrical while doing this) does it get much hotter on DHW than on CH? (An infra-red thermometer or some sort of thermometer you can get onto this pipe would tell you more accurately). -- John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk Seagull Management Management technique characterised by flying in, making a lot of noise, crapping on everything, and then leaving. |
#6
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Pilot light keeps going out
Yes it does get noisier with hot water but is very quite with CH. I
had the gas pressure checked out and its spot on; no problems there. So could it be just the blocked up CH system as BG claim? If so why didnt they address that in their annual maintenance programme or at least tell me about flushing. |
#7
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Pilot light keeps going out
On Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:35:55 -0800 (PST), Nick wrote:
So could it be just the blocked up CH system as BG claim? Unless they are being very loose with their terminology I'd say the CH system is fine and it's a scaled up heat exchanger for the HW. If so why didnt they address that in their annual maintenance programme or at least tell me about flushing. Scaling of the heat exchanger is "wear and tear" TBH there is very little to actually routinely maintain in a room sealed boiler. They just work until a moving part wears out or scale builds up. -- Cheers Dave. |
#8
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Pilot light keeps going out
Nick wrote:
Yes it does get noisier with hot water but is very quite with CH. I had the gas pressure checked out and its spot on; no problems there. So could it be just the blocked up CH system as BG claim? If so why didn't they address that in their annual maintenance programme or at least tell me about flushing. I am no expert, but if the CH works, and the DHW if the thing causing the boiler to trip out, I can't see the problem being with the CH side! It could be a scaled up heat exchanger on the DHW side, resulting in the boiler calculating the flow rate and adjusting the burners to what it then thinks is correct for that situation, but then not getting enough heat away from the boiler, then the overheat trip triggers. Do you live in a hard water area, if so, do you have anything to prevent scale, like an ion exchange water softener? Toby... |
#9
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Pilot light keeps going out
They have been and this time figured out that some part had gone it.
They returned next day with tha part (SW Stat??) - a little cumbell type device with 2 long leads. They installed this part and the pilot came back on and stayed on. They left. However, the old problem still exists - when using hot water, it keeps going out every 4-5 mins and the pilot has to be re-lighted. Also they said that the bolier is on a reduced parts list - they cant get all the parts for it. Its a Wrcester combi bought in 1996. |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Netaheat profile 60e - Pilot light won't light | UK diy | |||
Propane Stove: Pilot Light Won't Stay Light Testing Thermopile | Home Repair | |||
My gas Furnace would not light automatic pilot light | Home Repair | |||
Update pilot light wont light | UK diy | |||
Pilot light wont light | UK diy |