central heating not firing up?

[mhudson]

can anyone help!- my central heating woont work, the pilot light is on, the thermostat is on and the digital box control thing is lit up red to indicate that it should be on-the boiler will fire up for one minute then go off - hence no heating or hot water-can anyone advise?

[CSG2306]

Hi mhudson,

What you have told us indicates:

Boiler thermostat may be faulty.
Thermocouple may be faulty.
Programmer may be faulty.
Lack of water in system.

Regards

[gasman]

It would not fire up at all if the thermocouple was faulty or not enough water in the system The programmer is lit up and the stat is calling for heat aswell so they will probably be ok as the boiler does fire up. I would guess that the overheat sensor ( thermistor ) is faulty or a safety shut out activates due to harmfull fumes. Best let a CORGI engineer to take a look at it.

[mhudson]

Thanks for both pieces of advice. I called a plumber and explained the problem over the phone and they said it sounded as though the 'pump' had gone and would cost around �200 to fix and would take a couple of hours- does this sound correct? As in the two answers above no one has suggested it would be the 'pump'?

[gasman]

Yes it could be the pump if it is an old boiler. Newer one 's will not fire up if the pump is inopperative. An experianced plumber would know instantly what to look for when he / She see's the boiler.

[CSG2306]

Hi mhudson,

Sometimes it is very difficult to diagnose a fault from a verbal or written description.

On most occasions when someone says that "the boiler fires up for a minute" they mean that the boiler has come on for a few seconds and then trips, i.e. unless they have timed it.

There are countless reasons for a boiler tripping out, for example, there could be a loose connection somewhere in the system that in some instances would be difficult to detect. Without seeing the system for an inspection, most of us try and help as best as possible under the circumstances.

Regards