pilot light and matches?

[justme]

hi,
This morning we woke up to find our boiler not working The pilot light has gone out, and doesn't relight when the boiler is turned on. (there's not button to light it, it's supposed to come on when you turn the mains on)

My brother who was staying with us last night had a look - opened it all up - and tried to heat up what he said was probably the 'thermocouple' with a match... he even put the match in front of the pilot light's gas supply - but at no time did there seem to be any gas coming from the pilot light.

After heating up what he said (he thought) was the thermocouple there were a few clicks sometimes - like it was going to light, but it didn't!

Oh, and is it the thermocouple? It has a very thin insulated wire (electrical I suppose) coming from it and going to a circuit board. I thought (knowing nothing about boilers) it was a high voltage wire to spark and light the pilot. It appears to have some kind of ceramic covering at the pilot end - a bit like a spark plug I thought...??!

Any ideas??

thanks,
JJ

p.s. I should have said that it's a fairly old Stelrad Ideal. My bro also checked the pump, and it was turning when the boiler was on - so he said that meant it was working, and we left it alone.

 

[breezer]

Any ideas??

yes, when i want to kill some one i will send your brother in.

i presume you do not have the manual? in that case get in a professional also tell him what your brother did, as he may have done more harm than good, from what you say he was trying to light the ignition electrode.

 

[justme]

okay... so maybe the now blackened ignition tip needs cleaning?! Hmm.

I don't have the manual Though there are instructions on the boiler door to relight... unfortunately, all they say is (paraphrasing slightly!):
1) turn boiler off with mains button
2) turn all buttons to their off position
3) turn boiler on at mains button

The (possible HT wire) has one electrical connection to the circuit board - however, I figured that probably didn't matter - as I guess it uses some part of the boiler as ground (e.g. the pilot light's gas supply tube)

thanks,
JJ

 

[ollski]

not sure of the boiler model but i will post this link again as I suspect it is relevant. I think it may have been a bad move to put your life in the hands of someone who can't tell the difference between an electrode and a thermocouple
link

 

[justme]

OK - thanks for the help guys. The model is NF90. I'll ensure the cover is replaced - I hadn't thought about the possible problems if left off! I'll be calling the local people tomorrow.

thanks again,
JJ

 

[breezer]

if its any consolation i have bg service my boiler (it has been going wrong a lot) but as a non contacted customer you may have to wait a while, but at least they know what they are doing and it only costs us what ever it is (£13 - £15) a month

 

[justme]

well, what I find frustrating is opening it up, seeing the components that the boiler is made up of (hardly rocket science) but knowing nothing about them - I have no clue about what's wrong, how it works or how to fix the thing!


thanks,
JJ

 

[breezer]

well, what I find frustrating is opening it up, seeing the components that the boiler is made up of (hardly rocket science) but knowing nothing about them - I have no clue about what's wrong, how it works or how to fix the thing!


thanks,
JJ

I am a sparks, i know what you are saying, i do know what most of the bits do, but i also know that i dont touch them

 

[ChrisR]

I could suggest likely causes, but not with your brother about. A very unscientific snag could kill you.

 

[justme]

well, just had the local geezer round. he showed me the ignition daughter board, which had the relays sparking and lighting up - right then and there. Hmm. So that part (whole daughter board...I was thinking of just soldering on new relays ) needs replacing at £175 + vat. Ouch.
So after the parts (under £70 I believe) I'll be paying well over £100 just to collect it (from the shop) and then push in a new daughter board - no soldering required. Great

or maybe I'm just: tight and unappreciative?

 

[boilerbeasty]

This guy has to make a living. So of course you have to pay for the advice and the visit etc.

But then if you've already paid for that visit, and he wants another 100 quid for fitting it (and from what you say, its quite easy to do), I'd just go and buy it yourself.

 

[justme]

Sounds like good advice to me. Thanks
"the workman is worthy of his meat"!

JJ