pilot light will not stay alight

[Brian4830]

Ihave an apollo 30/50b central heating boiler , approximately 3 years old , it has given trouble free service untill last night .
we have had very strong winds , and as a result , i believe that the pilot light had blown out .
i was able to reignite it but it refuses to stay alight .

i have removed all the covers and found alot af debris, dust and cobwebs etc , i have brushed it away and vacummed around inside , despite this , upon rebuild the pilot does light but still refuses to stay alight .
any suggestions as to any parts that may be requires , much appreciated .
Brian

 

[taydo]

thermocoupling

 

[ollski]

with reference to your service.see this

 

[weargas]

thermocoupling

thermocouple

sorry, it's a pet hate-people who call them thermocouplings

brian,
i wouldn't jump straight into thermocouple country. even a strong wind shouldn't blow a pilot light out. if it does then your pilot light isn't burning properly. sounds to me like you've got a blocked pilot injector. is the pilot the removeable top socket type? If it is it could be that the injector isn't blocked but the top socket is.

 

[Brian4830]

thermocoupling

thermocouple

sorry, it's a pet hate-people who call them thermocouplings

brian,
i wouldn't jump straight into thermocouple country. even a strong wind shouldn't blow a pilot light out. if it does then your pilot light isn't burning properly. sounds to me like you've got a blocked pilot injector. is the pilot the removeable top socket type? If it is it could be that the injector isn't blocked but the top socket is.

thanks for the above,
i havnt unbolted anything , but the above suggests that perhaps i should unbolt the pilot light assembly . that area was particulally full of dust and debris , perhaps , as suggested above , some has got inside , ill do that today and report back here .

ps
the pilot does light ok but when i release the button it goes out straight away without attempting to stay alight ,, i dont get the cahnce to sat the main burner to burn ( i havnt done the unbolting bit yet )

 

[weargas]

the pilot does light ok but when i release the button it goes out straight away without attempting to stay alight

is the pilot burning across the tip of the thermocouple?

 

[Brian4830]

the pilot does light ok but when i release the button it goes out straight away without attempting to stay alight

is the pilot burning across the tip of the thermocouple?

the pilot seems to be burning as usual , im not sure what the thermocouple is ( i could post a picture if possible , but i dont know if we can )
but simply wont stay alight unfortunatly

( i could email a picture to anyone though )

 

[weargas]

im not sure what the thermocouple is

the thermocouple is the copper wire looking thingy sticking up within the pilot assembly. if the flame doesn't burn on the tip of the thermocouple it won't allow the pilot to stay alight.

 

[Brian4830]

SUCCESS
i have unbolted the ignition/ pilot unit . i could see a large abount of black dust/debris around the area that the flames come from
the area was cleaned and it could be seen that there was some form of corrosion around where the flames come from , upon cleaning harder pieces of the metal came away to reveal what appeared to be a large hole that clearly shouldnt be there .
i cleaned a ceramic part thet had a pinhole jet in it but seemed slightly blocked up .
upon re assembly i got instant success the pilot remained alight and the boiler sprung into action .
HOWEVER ........
IN THE INTEREST OF SAFETY I HAVE SHUT THE BOILER DOWN AND TURNED ORFF THE GAS TO IT AND REMOVED THE PLUG , IM OFF NOW TO BUY A REPLACEMENT PART .
ill let you all know the cost .
thanks for all the advise
Brian

 

[Brian4830]

ive just been to the plumb center , following a commical explination of what part i needed (turns out to be a pilot light bray), the cost is five pounds ..... i got the usual ,, none in stock we can get one for friday


(ps i needsed a floppy drive for pc , eighteen pound in pc world .... over road a small independant shop....nine fiftty for a sony )

 

[ollski]

The black dust is soot which is a product of incomplete combustion ie a lack of oxygen to the flame probably because of a blockage. The by product of incomplete combustion is carbon monoxide which will kill you quickly. The boiler you have is room sealed which means as long as you don't disturb it it will not communicate with air in the room...however you have disturbed it to get to the burner. Most boilers now have a fan in the flue which pulls the gases out, therefore a broken case seal will only result in the unit sucking in air from the room.....unfortunately yours has a fan in the air intake which means an incorrect seal will let flue gases be fanned directly into the room.
You have incomplete combustion and a positive pressure boiler which you have broken the case seal on....the least I would do is buy a CO detector as from your posts I imagine you are not fully familiar with the checks you must carry out.

 

[weargas]

unfortunately yours has a fan in the air intake

apollo 30/50b

 

[ollski]

oops didn't notice the b, but I stand by the basic point.

 

[weargas]

oops didn't notice the b, but I stand by the basic point.

of course
i wasn't trying to be too clever

 

[Brian4830]

thanks for the above.
all is sound good intent advise which is most gratefull all have everyones safety in mind , im sure there is no "arnt i clever " intent

however i dont believe my boiler has a fan , i have made all possible checks to ensure all seals are inplace and screwed up tight and sealed .

i replaced the pilot light bray five pounds plus vat .

the pilot remained alight and the boiler jumped into life , it got the radiators hot ..........then the boiler cut out and the pilot will not remain alight .

am i back now to the possible thermocouple / replacement

Brian