Obsolete spare - ancient Myson Apollo spark earthing plate

[Stuarted]

I have an ancient (30+ yrs) Myson Apollo boiler which still works except for the spark ignition, where the small earthing plate plate which the igniter arcs to, and which sits by the gas flame, has (not surprisingly) disintegrated due to heat and old age, and is (also not surprisingly) no longer available as a spare. OK the boiler doesn't owe me much after 30+ years but seems a shame to have to put up with the disruption (as well as the cost) of installing a complete new boiler, just for the sake of a little bit of tin.

Before I order a new boiler, can you guys confirm, please, that
- I'm extremely unlikely to be able to:
- find a spare earthing plate in stock anywhere
- find a second-hand one anywhere
- salvage one from a scrap boiler
- make (or get someone to make) a replacement, and/or that it would be illegal to do that anyway, even though I would get a qualified gas fitter to fit it, and even though I wouldn't have thought that this was in any way a safety-critical item?

(Seemed unwise to clutter up any of the many other threads about obsolete parts, so I hope I did the right thing to start a new thread. Apologies if that was the wrong thing to do!)

Thanks in advance to anyone able to offer help, advice or well-informed comment.

Cheers- Stuarted

 

[polesapart]

Your "earthing plate" is no such thing. It is a mounting plate.

The whole point of a piezo is that the high voltage, low current momentary potentiail is electrically isolated from earth save at one point where the tip of the of the spark electrode is close enough to an earthed component so that the potential arcs across the air gap creating the spark required for ignition at this location only.

Your piezo may be duff; in my experience dodgy leads/connections/electrodes are more common.

Any piezo igniter with a suitable lead will serve your purpose. the mounting plate merely serves for convenience, stability, and to keep your finger away from the business end!

 

[gas112]

I take it your apollo is balanced flue?

 

[Stuarted]

Thanks, polesapart, for the clarification.

The fully-qualified fitter who looked at this for me was from Hereford Gas, and is familiar with my boiler having serviced it several times previously. Having checked the piezo, its leads & connections, he explained that the plate (mounting plate) had disintegrated, and tried (unsuccessfully) to source a replacement. If it would be a simple matter to replace the igniter unit with some generally similar alternative unit, I'm surprised he didn't suggest this - he's never tried to mislead me or rip me off in the past.

Maybe I should get a second opinion?

 

[Stuarted]

Hi gas112. No, my boiler has a vertical flue which exits straight up through the roof of my bungalow. What difference would that make, please?