gas boiler and pilot light

MIKE6

I would change the pilot,check for a gas leak aroun pilot line and fittings,,,,,,,,,,check gas pressure,look for water leak over pilot

John Fuller

Gas boiler and pilot light

I have a Hydrotherm GW741 boiler.I have had the termocoupler and the gas valve recently changed but my problem persists.The problem is that the pilot light will just go out.There is no rhyme or reason to why.It seems in the middle of the night or maybe when I am at work it just goes out.I can re-light it and will stay working for 3-4 days the for no apparent reason it will go out again.It is natural gas it is using.I have had the service company out 3 x and set me back $450 with no solution to my problem.The boiler is approx 25-30 yrs old.Any body offer a suggestion?

Thanks,

Dale

Another thought

The cold junction of the thermocouple could be getting too hot and dropping out if the burner runs too long. You can be scientific and watch the closed circuit millivoltage for a half hour or so of burner run to see if it drops below 8 or so. Or, make yourself up a temp sheet metal shield for the bottom of the tcpl. Make sure the tcpl lead is in the air and doesn't touch anything hot on the way back to the valve. The water drip would also put it out as would a drop in gas pressure. For gas pressure put a magnahelic or utube manometer on the valve inlet pressure tapping and watch gas pressure about 8 am WITH your water heater turned on. Was the pilot tubing blown out when the gas valve was replaced? Intermittents are hard for all of us.

Unknown

John, it is often the case

that when a thermocouple and gas valve have been replaced you have eliminated possible mechanical malfunctions that may be causing a pilot outage.It is a somewhat expensive way to find out you have other problems.

The next thing you need to look into is the possibility of combustion problems. It needs a good combustion analyzer and someone with combustion knowledge to determine if that is the case.

Have any alterations to the building taken place that may reduce the amount of combustion air? Is there a dryer nearby? Do you have fans running in the house or a fireplace burning at varoius times?

What condition is the chimney or vent in?

You also need to check gas pressures as the pilot is the only device usually in the home that is on line pressure.

I would get the service company back at no charge as they now owe you an explanation as to why they can't find the problem. The replacement of parts did not solve the problem so I would get my money back.

oil-2-4-6-gas

.

this is considered a call-back situation///the company i work for would go back free-of charge and keep going back until we fixed the problem- talk to the service manager and/or the owner of the company they should take care of you --

pperkins

Yea,install a spark ignition kit.Honeywell makes one.comes with valve module and pilot assy.

Unknown

Before installing

a retrofit which can cost upwards of $600 please find out what is wrong. Installing a retrofit will not solve a possible combustion problem.

Murph'_5

Right on the money.......

AS you are so often, Makes me wonder how folks can diagnose a heating system from a monitor? and then come up with cures, Amazing days we live in!!



Murph'

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steve_65

pilot failure

had the same sticky wicket last winter.have the gas company check the regulator on your gas meter.when another
appurtenance fires the pilot may be getting literally snuffed by a vacuum caused by the drop in pressure due to the regulator malfunctioning. it might also explain the intermittent problem. good luck1