Potterton Flamingo boiler

[stevieo]

I've got a Potterton Flamingo central heating boiler that is probably about 18 years old. It has never given us any problems until in the last few days the pilot light goes out once, maybe twice a day. It re-lights without any problem and then is fine for a while.

I called in my local heating firm who said it's the flue that's damaged.

Anybody had any experience of this?

 

[gazthepottertonengineer]

Sounds more likely to be thermocouple or O/heat stat

But i know there have been problems with these boilers and the flues rotting and making the boiler unsafe so he could be right

 

[Agile]

Its difficult to immagine a flue problem that does not make the boiler potentially dangerous.

I wonder what the heating firm said and their proposal for the repair?

Tony Glazier

 

[stevieo]

The engineer said it wasn't the thermocouple because the pilot stays lit.
He said he thought the problem was the flue and that not enough air was getting in to keep the pilot light lit. I don't buy this explanation, I can't see what's changed and why suddenly not enough air is getting in?

The solution he proposed was a new boiler.

I've had a good look at the flue and I can't see any signs of corrosion.

The pilot has actually stayed on now since I re-lit it on Monday morning (it having gone out overnight Sun-Mon).

The boiler is in the garage in a corner away from the house. There are no rooms above the garage.

 

[Agile]

I assume that he did not measure the voltage out of the thermocouple!

Most of us would say test and change the thermocouple and would expect that to solve the problem.

Very occasionally the gas valve can be faulty but thats rare.

It seems as if you have been unfortunate in your choice of engineer. Try to find someone who knows what he is doing and has enough work not to need to rip you off!

Tony Glazier