Home Care with British Gas at £21, perhaos, join on line then call them?
Local man wants £300 after an over the phone diagnosis, gas valve gone

What boiler is it?

Don’t the subscription ones have a waiting period?

Potterton Suprima, about 14 years old.

Sparking, fan going, not lighting though.

Most common fault on those is pcb, has it been needing resetting lately?

Most common fault on those is pcb, has it been needing resetting lately?

Only just now, but that didn’t make any difference.

I would try and hold on til monday and get a local engineer,it could be gas valve but it could also be APS,APS tubes,PCB.Wish I could help further.

No worries, thanks anyway Divenwob.

Looks like I’ll be going to the gym tomorrow for a nice hot shower then!

My guess is if your Potterton suprema is 14 years old, it’s already had a new PCB because the original will undoubtably have failed long ago. However, Potterton quickly came up with a much more reliable replacement. It’s ridiculous to make a diagnosis here or over the phone.

but it could also be APS,APS tubes. Wish I could help further.

No it couldn’t. If either of these were the problem it would not be trying to light.

Sorry you are quite right! Apologies OP.Off to bed for me.

divenwob. As you said, It could still be the PCB. But as I said, hard to try and diagnose without being in front of it.

Yep, new PCB some years ago. Been fine since.

House didn’t seem to be getting hot this weekend, we’ve been away the last few days and left heating on as normal hug thermostat turned down.

Thought this morning the house seems to be taking a while to get up to temperature, now I guess it was the boiler all along.

Been a longish day,just did not compute! Was certain op would be better off with an onsite diagnosis, as it is not always straight forward, I guess thats why I went off with a list of possibles.Good luck CHL!

Coolhandluke. I recommend that unless you are in the market for a new boiler, you try to find a trustworthy engineer to have a look at it.
Parts are available for this boiler and although I would not presume to claim I know what’s wrong with it, even if it is the gas valve. Replacing it should be significantly less expensive than a new boiler.
Hypothetically: new valve £180. Labour to fit and test (1.5hrs) = £50 call out for first hr +1/2 hr balance. £15 total = £245. Compared to best case scenario. Boiler swap @£1500.
Really, you need someone who is smart enough to test the possible faults to confirm or eliminate.
Good luck

Pretty easy for a good service guy to check if it is the valve causing the problem (just by checking that voltage is being sent to the solenoid).

Had to have ours changed a few years ago (different boiler but was less than £200 fitted). I did manage to get it working temporarily by carefully / gently tapping the brass body of the valve (sometimes solenoids just get sticky). I’ll probably get flamed for suggesting that but I often see it with hydraulics at work (and that is with 4000 psi oil so equally dangerous).

coolhandluke – Member

Potterton Suprima, about 14 years old.

Sparking, fan going, not lighting though.

My Glowworm was like that until recently. The pilot hole was partially blocked. Ten minutes with spanners and a pin and now it lights the pilot after two sparks. I am not a doctor/plumber/lawyer.

I am not a doctor/plumber/lawyer.

Yet by arseing about with a gas appliance, you could end up requiring the help of all three.

🙂 It’s because of your fear Paulosoxo that plumber’s prices are so high.

Took cover off, had a poke about, tapped what I though was the solenoid, sturdy metal bit around the back of it?

No lighting.

Tried a few connections but they all seemed ok or did nothing after an inspection.

We have sparks, we have fan going, light on board (only 1 light) flashed green and orange whilst it goes through the lighting procedure then red when it gives up.

shifter – Member
It’s because of your fear Paulosoxo that plumber’s prices are so high.

Having done this for a living, I can assure you that it’s the entusuastic diy-ers that have given me the fear,

Plumbers don’t repair gas appliances either. 😉

Could be worth giving British Gas a call, I know they’re expensive but they do a repair and cover option that might help you out.

We called them out this week as the noise from our pump became too unbearable, £99 to fix the first issue and then £21 a month for 12 months (no excess) and a free boiler service ever year.

Guy put in a new pump and then went to service the boiler and told us that’s shot too! We knew it was leaking a bit (rusty water too) so no great surprise. Because of this they can’t cover us until it’s fixed or replaced (we won’t be using them to replace it). Anyway, they’re going to bill us for the pump and cancel the contract, the bill will be on a par with what I was quoted by local plumbers.

So if you have just the one fault (with the boiler) and were thinking about getting cover anyway, it might be worth giving them a call.

Plumbers don’t repair gas appliances either.

Yes they do – they may have heating engineer stickered on the side of their van but Engineers they are not! 🙂

We’ve used a guy in your area a couple of times recently and he seems honest and reasonably priced.

Email in profile if you want me to get details.

Yes they do – they may have heating engineer stickered on the side of their van but Engineers they are not!

Who mentioned engineers?

Options on a Saturday night near Wigan?

Suicide?

tonyd – Member
Guy put in a new pump and then went to service the boiler and told us that’s shot too! We knew it was leaking a bit (rusty water too) so no great surprise

An ex BG employee told me they’d try and sell everyone they could a new boiler.

Fixed!

Gas valve had gone.

Sorted for £220

Hypothetically: new valve £180. Labour to fit and test (1.5hrs) = £50 call out for first hr +1/2 hr balance. £15 total = £245. Compared to best case scenario. Boiler swap @£1500.

Like I said.

It’s because of your fear Paulosoxo that plumber’s prices are so high.

No. It because we are required by law to pay to be qualified and registered so we can provide a safe and valuable service to people who would otherwise be tempted to do stupid and illegal things.

With trepidation I await the gas police.

shitter You may be making light of the situation but as well as not being a doctor, plumber or lawyer, you also are not a gas engineer and therefore would not know that cleaning a pilot jet with a pin is one of the things you are instructed never to do in training. So you also won’t know that as slow and dim whited gas (engineers) we don’t only follow instruction blindly and actually learn the reason why not to do that.
It has to do with the correct operation of the appliance. The amount of gas consumed by the pilot, in addition to the pilot flame shape, size and position.
So the next time you disassemble your gas appliance you might also be interested to know that as well as the correct brass pilot jet size, accurate to thousands of an inch before being reamed by a steel pin. There are other safety critical parts, checks and procedures a gas engineer would be aware of to maintain your safety and the boilers integrity.
But hey, it’s simple and easy isn’t it?
So although the gas police probably won’t be knocking your door, at least this might be food for thought when your pissing about with something that has the potential to kill you and your family. Particularly when you are so full of blind arrogance and plain old ignorance.