Glowworm Pilot light problems

[JP]

I have a problem with my Glowworm Economy plus 50F boiler (circa 1996) and would appreciate any advice before I call the service engineer. This boiler has an automatic pilot light ignition i.e. the pilot light is normally out, but is ignited automatically whenever the boiler is required to provide heat.

I 've had problems with the pilot not lighting off and on for several years. I think each time the engineer has cleaned out the pilot injector. I've been away for a couple of weeks and turned off all the timer devices. The pilot refused to light, so after a bit of googling on here I've taken off the injector and blown down it, replaced it and hey presto I've got a very small pilot light. However this still won't light the main boiler. Also the spark keeps firing even though the pilot is lit.(which I think may have been the case for ages)

Is there a method of increasing the flow of gas to make the pilot light bigger. Would that work?

Any further suggestions as to what I may try or what might be wrong. Thanks

[rusty]

My even-older "economy" Glowworm boiler has a weak pilot, which was caused by clogging of the microporous blowback filter in the pipe just below the pilot flame. The purity of the gas supply isn't what it used to be. Tends to fail to light in cold weather.

Never bothered to fix it, as there is a cover plate to poke a match through, but pilot assemblies can be bought if you Google for "Glowworm pilot" and can find someone to fit it. One guy reckoned he took his pilot assembly out and heated it with a blowlamp to clean it up.

rusty