Old Ideal Elan Boiler-Pilot Light Not Staying Lit

Ianthi

I'd really appreciate your help with this, in view of current weather conditions. Been away for work for past few months and come back to this.

Not sure which model (brown glass front with hinge panel at bottom containing (orange) ignition switch etc) but our old Ideal Elan boiler is refusing to stay lit when ignition switch is released. I tried a few times over the last few days but nothing is working.  Is there anything I should be doing before I call out a professional (heard reputable one is currently away) like 'resetting' , although I can't find any buttons to do this. Been a great boiler over the years with no breakdowns at all! Purchased property in early 90s built late 80!

tacpot12

Normally the gas valve that supplies the pilot light is kept open by a thermocouple. If the thermocouple fails, the pilot light will not stay lit. 

Have a look here for more info: Repairing Pilot Lights and Thermocouples - How to Repair Major Appliances: Tips and Guidelines | HowStuffWorks

FreeBear

tacpot12 said: Normally the gas valve that supplies the pilot light is kept open by a thermocouple. If the thermocouple fails, the pilot light will not stay lit.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/standard-universal-thermocouple-900mm/89191?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281572170082?

Thermocouples are cheap enough, but.... Most (all ?) of them require a Gas Safe registered engineer to fit the part legally - It sucks having to pay best part of £100 to fit a £10 part in under 10 minutes.

Ianthi

Thanks very much everyone. Yes, thermocouple rings a bell. 

I should say, just before I went away a few months ago, all this was preceded by a loud, hammering/drilling noise coming one night from the airing-cupboard, (which I actually took at the time to be coming from new neighbours next door doing some DIY!,  but later realised it was most likely the pump.

Someone mentioned this sounded like sludge build-up and giving it a hard tap might remedy this. After the hammering, no hot water next day  However, at that point  (before hard-tap to pump) although it would cut-out after a about 20 seconds, boiled fired-up normally. Unfortunately was going away same day so hadn't time to see to see if my remedy re pump would work. Just thought I'd add this in case any relevance to the current problem.

Would, for instance giving the thermocouple a good clean help?  I've just heard good CH plumber will be away for a week and reluctant to engage someone I don't know!

macman

Unless you tell us otherwise, you are not legally qualified to work on gas appliances. You need an RGI, not a plumber. 
A 'hard tap' is not a reliable cure for a sludged-up pump or system either.
When was the boiler last serviced? It may be reliable, but a near 40 year old boiler is going to be incredibly inefficient in terms of gas consumption.

Ianthi

Actually this guy is both!  Boiler last serviced about two years ago just before Covid.

I wouldn't dream of doing anything I'm not qualified to do.  I was just ruling out something simple I may not be aware of.  For example, when we first bought the place we were unaware we needed to keep the boiler pressure at a certain level, which was pointed out by heating engineer when he came round to get things up and running again, when boiler wasn't working.

Actually, I'm wondering if this is what happened again as first problem was during some very hot weather when the water pressure was low?