Since we moved into this house 6 months ago our boiler has failed 3
times. On each occasion the problem is a corroded earthing plate in
the igition system. This is the part that the spark jumps to to light
the pilot.

On each occasion the fitter refuses to believe that the part was
replaced on the last occasion, its in such a bad state. I rang the
tech advice at Potterton and they say we should check the polarity.
Fitter did that and says its OK.

The parts supplier the fitter used says the new replacement parts do
not have a long lifetime - but 3 months?

Anybody got any ideas?

"Michael Burrows" wrote in message
om...
Since we moved into this house 6 months ago our boiler has failed 3
times. On each occasion the problem is a corroded earthing plate in
the igition system. This is the part that the spark jumps to to light
the pilot.

On each occasion the fitter refuses to believe that the part was
replaced on the last occasion, its in such a bad state. I rang the
tech advice at Potterton and they say we should check the polarity.
Fitter did that and says its OK.

The parts supplier the fitter used says the new replacement parts do
not have a long lifetime - but 3 months?

Anybody got any ideas?

The Neataheat was fine boiler for its day, when it came out 30 years ago.
It is long past its sell by date. Modern condensing boilers are far more
efficient, I would consider getting one of these fitted, otherwise you will
have large bills nickel and diming the Neataheat to keep it going. You gas
bills will drop approx 30% if installing a new condenser.

On Sat, 19 Jun 2004 09:26:18 UTC, "IMM" wrote:

The parts supplier the fitter used says the new replacement parts do
not have a long lifetime - but 3 months?

The Neataheat was fine boiler for its day, when it came out 30 years ago.
It is long past its sell by date. Modern condensing boilers are far more
efficient, I would consider getting one of these fitted, otherwise you will
have large bills nickel and diming the Neataheat to keep it going. You gas
bills will drop approx 30% if installing a new condenser.

Not a very constructive answer in the short term, though.

'The earthing plate corrodes' ... 'get a new boiler'.

We have a Netaheat and it has not failed since we moved here ten years
ago. Clearly our earthing plate is fine!

--
Bob Eager
begin a new life...dump Windows!

"Bob Eager" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 19 Jun 2004 09:26:18 UTC, "IMM" wrote:

The parts supplier the fitter used says the new replacement parts do
not have a long lifetime - but 3 months?

The Neataheat was fine boiler for its day, when it came out 30 years
ago.
It is long past its sell by date. Modern condensing boilers are far
more
efficient, I would consider getting one of these fitted, otherwise you
will
have large bills nickel and diming the Neataheat to keep it going. You
gas
bills will drop approx 30% if installing a new condenser.

Not a very constructive answer in the short term, though.

If DIYing you can get a condesning boier ina days ot so and fit it in. Very
short term.


'The earthing plate corrodes' ... 'get a new boiler'.

Yes. The best thing as he has had three and will continue to replace
expensive parts on this boiler. Just not worth it, time for the scapheap.

We have a Netaheat and it has not failed
since we moved here ten years
ago. Clearly our earthing plate is fine!

Wait until it start to play up and the bills roll in.

On Sat, 19 Jun 2004 00:38:25 -0700, Michael Burrows wrote:

Since we moved into this house 6 months ago our boiler has failed 3
times. On each occasion the problem is a corroded earthing plate in
the igition system. This is the part that the spark jumps to to light
the pilot.

On each occasion the fitter refuses to believe that the part was
replaced on the last occasion, its in such a bad state. I rang the
tech advice at Potterton and they say we should check the polarity.
Fitter did that and says its OK.

The parts supplier the fitter used says the new replacement parts do
not have a long lifetime - but 3 months?

Anybody got any ideas?

It might be there is a small leak from the exchnager which is
dripping onto this plate causing the corrosion. I know of many Netaheat
installations and they are not chomping though earthing plates.

Also it might be that it is getting unduly heated by a misplaced flame
(eg. crud or dmamge to pilot or main burner nearby.

--
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 19 Jun 2004 00:38:25 -0700, (Michael
Burrows) wrote:

Since we moved into this house 6 months ago our boiler has failed 3
times. On each occasion the problem is a corroded earthing plate in
the igition system. This is the part that the spark jumps to to light
the pilot.

On each occasion the fitter refuses to believe that the part was
replaced on the last occasion, its in such a bad state. I rang the
tech advice at Potterton and they say we should check the polarity.
Fitter did that and says its OK.

The parts supplier the fitter used says the new replacement parts do
not have a long lifetime - but 3 months?

Anybody got any ideas?
This is a very rare occurence. I'd look for other causes rather than
something electric like reversed polarity!. The netaheat is a fine
piece of kit and there are many still working. Apart from the
fortunately rare circumstance of explosion due to defective white
rodgers vales,they are a damn fine boiler.

joe

Thanks for all your help.

The pilot flame plays on the earthing plate: is this right?