How to change a thermocouple (Belling range cooker)

Andrea15

Hi hope some good souls can help me out...
I have a Belling Countryrange 100 DFT range cooker and one of the thermocouples is not working (the gas is not staying on).
I have the spare part (cost, £9), but the problem is the installation. Nobody knows how to take the cooker apart, except Belling, but to get one of their engineers is going to cost me £145 and as you can imagine I am a bit peeved at the idea of spending so much money for something so trivial. Belling say that they do NOT give out repair manuals (so, in other words, they are holding you at ransom).

Any advice?

Thanks!

Alex1983

You need someone gas safe registered to carry out this work.

Andrea15

I have to say, i am not sure why as no gas is being touched. However, the problem is still the same... a random gas safe engineer is not going to know how to take the cooker apart and I have to shell £145 for the belling guy

Alex1983

A thermocouple is a gas safety device. I have no access to a belling repair manual but would have no issue stripping your cooker and rebuilding it as I’m sure any gas safe guy could, I would expect your going to be charged around £100 for the privilege, my company charges around £85 an hour, your probably better off letting belling do the repair.

societys_child

No doubt it comes apart somehow.
No videos on youtube?

Andrea15

Nope... There are a few, but the layout of my model is different.
I have tried to take it apart, but in the end I had to give up because I didn't seem to be able to get under the hob (and I didn't want to be unable to retrace my steps. I suppose I will have to keep ringing gas safe plumbers until I find one that wants to tackle this job without instructions (and without me breaking the bank).

fezster

Do you know what's wrong with the old thermocouple? Might be worth using a toothpick to clean it out - you never know.

Andrea15

The gas is not staying on. I fear that a toothpick won't help as there isn't a location where I could stick it in (in the thermocouple, that is )

Heedtheadvice

How do you know it is the thermocouple?
Might just be another problem!

Considering it is a safety related problem (you need to get it right) amenities involves gas you need to get a registered engineer to do the work! Do note what Alex says! Though his firm is a bit costly!!!

Look for a small firm that are Gas Safe Registered in your area.

Slinky

Do you have a gas boiler? You could try calling anybody who has serviced it for you in the past as you have a customer relationship with them they may want to retain.

fezster

Andrea15 wrote: »

The gas is not staying on. I fear that a toothpick won't help as there isn't a location where I could stick it in (in the thermocouple, that is )

Do you know how the thermocouple works?

The thermocouple sensor will be just on the outside of your hob's ring. The tip of it will be in contact with the flame when lit. This activates the sensor which keeps the gas on. The tip gets a layer of soot on it over time which may need cleaning out.