boiler baxi going out

[hes4tres]

Baxi solo RS wall hung boiler installed 13/14 years ago. Not combi - i.e. has hot tank and header tank.

The pilot light does not stay on when the knob is released, even after 2 minutes or more rather than the 10 secs they say, so cannot relight the boiler which went out for reason not known. The instructions say to wait 3 mins before relighting the pilot but this does not appear necessary, so I can light the pilot but only by holding the gas knob in.

Don't know if it has overheat cut-out. I can't find a reset knob though.

This happened 6 months ago and the plumber replaced the gas control (?) - that's the bit with the knob you push in to light the pilot etc. He said it might be another part which is more expensive to replace.

I thought boilers were reasonably robust but if this keeps going wrong it may be better to simply replace it.

Questions:

1 Is the boiler at the end of it's natural life and should be replaced? 2 If so I would want to replace like with like as the simplest option - are there new regulations altering the type you can replace it with? 3 If not, what parts are likely to be needed to get it working reliably? - No sense in keep calling out the plumber who does seem good. 4 Is there anything else I need to consider? My wife would like to rip the whole system out as she doesn't like central heating but it would knock £30/40k off the value of the house so I'm against it.

Many thanks for your help & advice.

Hontres.

[John]

Your symptoms are classic failed thermocouple which IIRC is a specific type for the Baxi. Replacement available for a few quid from Parts Centre (used to be HRPC) in your locality. Changing the thermocouple is a trivial job. Before going ahead you should look to see if there is an overheat stat often involving a simple stat connected in series with the thermocouple. It doesn't need to be a resettable type since once operated the thermocouple is interuppted and you cannot re-establish the pilot until the unit has cooled down and its contacts closed thus manual intevention is achieved.

Oh dear you "may" have been ripped off by an unscrupulous person there.

Well they generally are very robust but simple things can and do go wrong.

Yes - unless you act before 1st April you will almost certainly have to install a condensing boiler

A thermocouple maybe other things.

He may be but a gas valve seems an unlikely failure so I'd be wary of making such a generous judgement

Send her to live with her mother

[hes4tres]

snipped

Now why didn't I think of that!

Thanks John. Hontres.

[Paul Barker]

The plumber who replaced the gas valve probably tested the theromcoupl

and found it to be working so he knew then it was the power unit. A lo of multifunction control valves (what we call a gas valve) don't have renewable power unit so you have to buy the whole thing. Typically mfcv costs 80 quid or more. He would probably charge £50 to £75 to fi it. Baxi offer a guaranteed fix 180 quid or so, check with them. If yo turned out to need a mfcv that would have been a good deal.

This time it might well be the tc. Sometimes they don't last very long manufacturer's correct part is usually cheap and may last longer than universal tc.

Without looking the Solo up, most likely there is an interuptor o/ stat. This can fail, or short to boiler casing when the leeds are i poor state of repair, both cause tc failure when actually the tc i working fine.

It is almost certainly not the mfcv again in only 6 months

-- Paul Barker

[hes4tres]