Guest rimotu66 Posted August 3, 2010 Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 Help My old Glow warm space saver has given up the ghost today (got home from work to a very peee'd of g'friend as she wants to wash her ruddy hair). As soon as you put the boiler on the pilot light go's out Its a long story and am looking at replacing the whole system (as soon as the TSB pull there fingers out of there ***** with my remortgage) so dont want to spend a fortune but could do with the old thing living a little bit longer... As I said....Help.... please.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TONY.M Posted August 3, 2010 Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 Help My old Glow warm space saver has given up the ghost today (got home from work to a very peee'd of g'friend as she wants to wash her ruddy hair). As soon as you put the boiler on the pilot light go's out Its a long story and am looking at replacing the whole system (as soon as the TSB pull there fingers out of there ***** with my remortgage) so dont want to spend a fortune but could do with the old thing living a little bit longer... As I said....Help.... please.... Could be a thermocouple or gas valve both should be fitted by a qualified,registerd engineer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rimotu66 Posted August 3, 2010 Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 Thanks Tony, yes am aware that it needs to be sorted by a registered engineer, you would think it kinda silly if you saw the stuff I work on, if I screw up on my boiler, I blow my house up, if I screw up at work , I blow Lincolnshire up ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluke2 Posted August 3, 2010 Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 My old mum was quoted £246 quid in january to get the same thing sorted, pilot wouldnt stop on etc,my nephew sorted it for 40 quid a british gas corgi engineer and took him less than an hour,didnt like to tell him the quote came from british gas in the first place,the receipt for the part was £22.68 inc vat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b682 Posted August 3, 2010 Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 ok probably a daft question given this over regulated country we live in but why must you be gas registered to change a thermocouple when it has nothing to do with gas. No gas flows in it, around it etc. ? get it wrong (if that is possible) and I still can see no risk to as no gas will flow. Even wicks used to sell bogo thermocouples. Now replace the gas valve and yes I can see why you need to be gas registered, but a thermocuple ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rimotu66 Posted August 3, 2010 Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 My old mum was quoted £246 quid in january to get the same thingsorted, pilot wouldnt stop on etc,my nephew sorted it for 40 quid a british gas corgi engineer and took him less than an hour,didnt like to tell him the quote came from british gas in the first place,the receipt for the part was £22.68 inc vat. And the problem was ???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyska Posted August 3, 2010 Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 And the problem was ???? There is a CORGI guy on here, my shooting bud, stefnc Pm him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluke2 Posted August 3, 2010 Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 And the problem was ???? A brass temperature sensor thing beside the pilot light just looks like a coil of copper tube thicker at one end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluke2 Posted August 3, 2010 Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 Just spoke to the nephew its a small thermo couple 90 percent of the time beside the pilot that burns out he says you can see the flame of the pilot heating it up. But you need an engineer to change it and independent guys are normally a lot cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TONY.M Posted August 4, 2010 Report Share Posted August 4, 2010 You have to be gas safe registerd to remove a burner cover off a boiler also the thermocouple fits into the gas valve.aswell as deing part of the pilot assembley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rimotu66 Posted August 4, 2010 Report Share Posted August 4, 2010 Thankyou ever so Fluke, I'll get on to it and see if it is that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin2 Posted August 4, 2010 Report Share Posted August 4, 2010 could be just a dirty pilot tube and the flame lifts off the thermocouple when the main burner lites up causing the gas valve to lock out what colour is the pilot flame,more than likely the thermocouple had it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lottie Dave Posted August 4, 2010 Report Share Posted August 4, 2010 rimotu66, I take it you will be familiar with Pasture St. Have a word with Rick, can't remember what his buisness is called but if you head down from the level crossing he is on the left about halfway between the old Robinsons furniture and Norris's on the right. There's always some lads in there that are Corgi registered and will offer advice freely. Whatever you do don't get british gas in. They will just put a condemmed sticker on it. Did it to me when the problem was a twopenny o ring that had age hardened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Holliday Posted August 4, 2010 Report Share Posted August 4, 2010 ok probably a daft question given this over regulated country we live in but why must you be gas registered to change a thermocouple when it has nothing to do with gas. No gas flows in it, around it etc. ? get it wrong (if that is possible) and I still can see no risk to as no gas will flow. Even wicks used to sell bogo thermocouples. Now replace the gas valve and yes I can see why you need to be gas registered, but a thermocuple ? To answer your question, it's not just to do with gas carrying parts that you need to be Gas Safe Registered to work on. A room sealed boiler, such as the GW Space Saver (which in it's day was a remarkable peice of kit, believe it or not), has as part of its flue system, a seal around the casing which ,if not sealing correctly could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. As registered engineers, we have a duty of care to ensure that when we work on your gas appliance we will cast our eye over all other safety aspects of the appliance to ensure that it is fit for purpose and will work safetly and correctly without causing any risk of danger to person or property. Hope that helps you to understand that the next time you have a thermocouple changed, it's not just the part that's being replaced. In answer to the original question, it will probably be a partially blocked pilot injector rather than the thermocouple. How this works is that there will be enough gas coming through to light the pilot flame and possibly for it touch on the end of the thermocouple to generate the millivolt current required to hold the FSD open on the gas valve. When the main burner comes on it will lift the pilot off the tip of the thermocouple and and therefore shut the boiler off within 60 seconds. As long as the pilot tube has corroded on to the pilot assembly it should be possible for a suitably qualified engineer to remove the pilot injector and clean it out with compressed air or even replace it if required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rimotu66 Posted August 5, 2010 Report Share Posted August 5, 2010 Thanks for all the advice guys, my nephew came today with a new thermo couple but that didnt sort it, the flame wasnt touching the thermo coupling. We took the gas jet out and it was blocked so I blew it out with my air line but it still wasnt great. It looks like there is a fine mesh over the hole, is that right? Hes getting me a new gas jet tomorrow so hopefully that will sort it. Your thoughts please. :look: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b682 Posted August 5, 2010 Report Share Posted August 5, 2010 Thanks Doc, nice to know about the duty of care etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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