I finally got a plumber round to look at my failing gas boiler.
Basically system fires up, then when it reaches required temperature it cuts
out - pilot and everything. There is nothing wrong with pilot, thermocouple
etc and I checked the circuit boards.

Just looking at it, he told me that the fault was the gas valve which would
need replacing. Of course, like all his brethren, he is too busy to do this
in the next month or so, but he said it is something I could do myself.

So, is he likely to be correct in his diagnosis?
Is he right to suggest that this job could be done by a competent DIYer?

thanks in advance for any response

Stony

"Stoney" wrote in message
...
I finally got a plumber round to look at my failing gas boiler.
Basically system fires up, then when it reaches required temperature it
cuts
out - pilot and everything. There is nothing wrong with pilot,
thermocouple
etc and I checked the circuit boards.

Just looking at it, he told me that the fault was the gas valve which
would
need replacing. Of course, like all his brethren, he is too busy to do
this
in the next month or so, but he said it is something I could do myself.

So, is he likely to be correct in his diagnosis?
Is he right to suggest that this job could be done by a competent DIYer?

thanks in advance for any response

Firstly, if he is a plumber then his experience and knowledge of gas
controls is probably very limited. People make the mistake of thinking
plumbers are experts at heating. they are not. they are good at drains and
gutters. The people to go to should be heating engineers. A company that
only does heating - not heating and plumbing.

The wires generally just plug into the valve (make a note of what goes
where). The valve is just a screw in screw out job. Any screwed thread put
on jointing compound.


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Stoney wrote:

I finally got a plumber round to look at my failing gas boiler.
Basically system fires up, then when it reaches required temperature it cuts
out - pilot and everything. There is nothing wrong with pilot, thermocouple
etc and I checked the circuit boards.

Just looking at it, he told me that the fault was the gas valve which would
need replacing. Of course, like all his brethren, he is too busy to do this
in the next month or so, but he said it is something I could do myself.

So, is he likely to be correct in his diagnosis?
Is he right to suggest that this job could be done by a competent DIYer?

Um...
Firstly whilst there is a small chance that the probelm is the gas valve
something like this sounds more like an over enthusiastic overheat
cutout or a loose connection to same.

If changing the thermocouple is 1 out of 10 on a scale of difficulty
then the gas valve is like to be 5-9 on the same scale. This is a gas
carrying part and really is in the league of 'if you have to ask about
it then you probably are not competant to work on it'.


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at 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

On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 13:51:29 +0100, "Stoney"
wrote:

I finally got a plumber round to look at my failing gas boiler.
Basically system fires up, then when it reaches required temperature it cuts
out - pilot and everything. There is nothing wrong with pilot, thermocouple
etc and I checked the circuit boards.

Just looking at it, he told me that the fault was the gas valve which would
need replacing. Of course, like all his brethren, he is too busy to do this
in the next month or so, but he said it is something I could do myself.

So, is he likely to be correct in his diagnosis?
Is he right to suggest that this job could be done by a competent DIYer?

thanks in advance for any response

Just had a gas valve replaced on my Potterton boiler, which was done
by Potterton's own maintenance company. The engineer changed the PCB
first (although this was not required IMO), then ran through the
simple diagnostic checks which led him to conclude, as I had, that the
gas valve was faulty. He then made a phone call, popped out, came back
with the valve and fitted it.

The actual fitting of the valve is fairly simple, just a few screws,
but you obviously have to make sure that everything is tight and
leak-free. However, the engineer then used some kind of flow meter to
set up the new valve, which I would not have been able to do.

This was all done for a fixed fee, which was nice :-)

Anyway, having said that, I don't see that this is the gas valve, as
it sounds like it is working every time to actually light the burner
(mine was not lighting). The fact that it goes out when hotter makes
me think it is a sensor issue, as others have suggested.


--
Colin Swan

In message , Colin Swan
writes
On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 13:51:29 +0100, "Stoney"
wrote:

thanks in advance for any response

Just had a gas valve replaced on my Potterton boiler, which was done
by Potterton's own maintenance company. The engineer changed the PCB
first (although this was not required IMO)

Probably took it to study what we do to pcbs.

, then ran through the
simple diagnostic checks which led him to conclude, as I had, that the
gas valve was faulty.

Boilers usually go down because of a single failure, i.e. it's
statistically very unlikely that two faults occur at the same time
unless, of course, one fault actually causes another.

He then made a phone call, popped out, came back
with the valve and fitted it.


--
geoff

On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 00:48:56 +0100, geoff wrote:

In message , Colin Swan
writes
On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 13:51:29 +0100, "Stoney"
wrote:

thanks in advance for any response

Just had a gas valve replaced on my Potterton boiler, which was done
by Potterton's own maintenance company. The engineer changed the PCB
first (although this was not required IMO)

Probably took it to study what we do to pcbs.

I thought he might take it, but he didn't so I now have a spare PCB,
and a broken gas valve.

, then ran through the
simple diagnostic checks which led him to conclude, as I had, that the
gas valve was faulty.

Boilers usually go down because of a single failure, i.e. it's
statistically very unlikely that two faults occur at the same time
unless, of course, one fault actually causes another.

I got the feeling that they change the PCB as a matter of course,
regardless of the actual problem :-)


--
Colin Swan

In message , Colin Swan
writes
On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 00:48:56 +0100, geoff wrote:

In message , Colin Swan
writes
On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 13:51:29 +0100, "Stoney"
wrote:

thanks in advance for any response

Just had a gas valve replaced on my Potterton boiler, which was done
by Potterton's own maintenance company. The engineer changed the PCB
first (although this was not required IMO)

Probably took it to study what we do to pcbs.

I thought he might take it, but he didn't so I now have a spare PCB,
and a broken gas valve.

, then ran through the
simple diagnostic checks which led him to conclude, as I had, that the
gas valve was faulty.

Boilers usually go down because of a single failure, i.e. it's
statistically very unlikely that two faults occur at the same time
unless, of course, one fault actually causes another.

I got the feeling that they change the PCB as a matter of course,
regardless of the actual problem :-)


Let's face it, that would probably cure 90% of the problems without them
having to look further

--
geoff

"geoff" wrote in message
...
In message , Colin Swan
writes
On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 00:48:56 +0100, geoff wrote:

In message , Colin Swan
writes
On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 13:51:29 +0100, "Stoney"
wrote:

thanks in advance for any response

Just had a gas valve replaced on my Potterton boiler, which was done
by Potterton's own maintenance company. The engineer changed the PCB
first (although this was not required IMO)

Probably took it to study what we do to pcbs.

I thought he might take it, but he didn't so I now have a spare PCB,
and a broken gas valve.

, then ran through the
simple diagnostic checks which led him to conclude, as I had, that the
gas valve was faulty.

Boilers usually go down because of a single failure, i.e. it's
statistically very unlikely that two faults occur at the same time
unless, of course, one fault actually causes another.

I got the feeling that they change the PCB as a matter of course,
regardless of the actual problem :-)


Let's face it, that would probably cure 90% of the problems without them
having to look further

May they should have all these board in their top pockets in case.


---
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