Boiler keeps blowing out- is there anything we can do?

penguingirl

We have a Potterton PrimaB boiler which we are pretty sure was installed when the house was built in 1994/5. It's fine heating the radiators and hot water tank (and doesn't seem hideously inefficient), but when the wind blows from a certain direction it is prone to blowing the pilot light out, and this seems to be happening more and more often (at least daily at the moment, but had previously gone weeks/months ok) which we think is because we've had such awful weather and high winds.

Is there anything that can be done to help, such as replacing the flue? We have no idea how big a job/expensive that would be (although we know we'd need a Gas Safe engineer to do it) so thought we'd ask on here.

This is a picture of our current flue:


Thanks!

fto

Not sure if yours is the same, but we had this with a old boiler & the problem was the pilot hole needed cleaning out, it had a very slight blockage.

womble12345

My Vaillant boiler has given me a few 'went out when lit' error codes recently. I think it is due to the recent north easterly winds. My flue looks different to yours though.
When was your boiler last serviced? Mine was done a few months ago and the guy should have cleaned out the crud then.

diywhynot

penguingirl wrote: »

We have a Potterton PrimaB boiler which we are pretty sure was installed when the house was built in 1994/5. It's fine heating the radiators and hot water tank (and doesn't seem hideously inefficient), but when the wind blows from a certain direction it is prone to blowing the pilot light out, and this seems to be happening more and more often (at least daily at the moment, but had previously gone weeks/months ok) which we think is because we've had such awful weather and high winds.

Is there anything that can be done to help, such as replacing the flue? We have no idea how big a job/expensive that would be (although we know we'd need a Gas Safe engineer to do it) so thought we'd ask on here.

This is a picture of our current flue:


Thanks!

When was the boiler last serviced?

southcoastrgi

as DWN said above & no you can't change the flue

penguingirl

Thanks everyone- it is overdue a service, so hopefully that will sort it out! We just wanted to suss out what to expect before someone tries to flog us a new boiler....

Mr_Ted

:rotfl:They'll still try a hard sell dependant on who you call :rotfl:

When you have the service done might be worth reiterating the problem and ask the RGI to make sure the casings and flue are sound and sealed, as any leakage can cause an imbalance on the balanced flue, and possibly let flue gases into the property???

This can be a problem with older flues, especially old balance flue that are large like yours, as water can get in and cororde the metals:(

Pilot clean and service hopefully is the only problem, just make sure he removes the pilot assembly and cleans it, and not just brush or hoover it?

I've heard it stated on here about cleaning out pilot jets with a pin, or such, THAT IS A NO NO, as it will damage the fine orifice of the jet which will affect the flame stabilisation:eek:
A can of pressurised air blown through the jet is the way to do it, NOT even blowing by mouth should be done either as that inserts a fine amount of moisture into the jet, which will affect the flame also;)

penguingirl

Thanks Mr Ted, that's really helpful- I'll make sure they do a proper job, and my OH is a bit more knowledgeable about things around the house so I'll make sure he's in when we get it serviced. Now to start asking the neighboirs for RGI recommendations.

yoyoegg

blowing the pilot light out

Chances are the tube to the pilot has got a tiny fleck of dirt which has reduced the size of the flame. The pilot isn't being blown out, the weak flame is just being blown off the thermocouple which then trips the gas valve.

A service will clear the tube.

keystone

yoyoegg wrote: »

Chances are the tube to the pilot has got a tiny fleck of dirt which has reduced the size of the flame. The pilot isn't being blown out, the weak flame is just being blown off the thermocouple which then trips the gas valve.

A service will clear the tube.

Did you notice post 7?

Cheers