Gas Fire Question about Thermocouple

by **joebooooy** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 10:12 am

Hey guys,

I have a gas fire with what i think is a dodgy thermocouple. I've got a spare thermocouple (universal size i assume) and was just wondering how much a CORGI registered gas man would charge to come out and fit the new thermocouple?

Cheers.

Sponsor

by **htg engineer** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 3:21 pm

What's the make/model of gas fire ?
What makes you think it's the thermocouple at fault ?

There's not really a standard price, all I can say is what I would charge.

If you were providing thermocouple I would fit it, and service fire for around Â£25 - Â£30. You'll get others that will charge more, some may charge less.

by **joebooooy** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:05 am

Hey, thanks for your reply.

Well I assume it is the thermocouple after trawling through many forums on the Internet.

When i start my fire, the pilot lights, i keep it on for a few seconds, and when i turn the dial from the pilot light to the on position, the fire doesn't 'kick on' if you get me. If tried holding the pilot light on for about a minute, but still when i goto the next setting where it should ignite, nothing happens.

If you could give me any clues as to what it is that would be super :)

Thanks, Joe.

by **htg engineer** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 3:48 pm

You still haven't given the make and model of the fire, some have thermocouple's and some have oxy-pilot / vitiation sensing device.

If the oxypilot becomes blocked with dust or soot the flame lifts away from the thermocouple or flame sensing electrode, this will make the fire cut out, or pilot not light.

again abit more info would help.

by **joebooooy** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 6:59 pm

Hey htg, sorry when i wrote that last reply i was in a rush to leave the house.

Cheers.

Edit.

Sorry none of my pictures have come up. I'll try again...

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/sdfgsdf/DSC00285.jpg[/img]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/ ... C00285.jpg

by **htg engineer** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 3:57 pm

If the pilot keeps going out, get a CORGI registered installer to check it. Oxypilots and vitiation sensing devices cut the gas off to an appliance if carbon monoxide / lack of oxygen is detected. Not to be ignored.

There seems to be abit of dust around the pilot and thermocouple. So the pilot may be blocked.

When the pilot is lit, there should be two flames, one over the burner and the other (smaller one) touching the thermocouple. If you get dust in the pilot assembly then the flame lifts away from the thermocouple.

Between the pilot supply pipe and the pilot burner, there's a brass tail/connector. There'll be a small hole in one side make sure there's no dust blocking this and clean if needed. Then place a bit of tubing or a drinking straw over each pilot holes and blow down it to clean the pilot out.

Then try re-lighting, check the flame is touching the thermocouple.

Remember you need a CORGI registered gas installer to work on gas appliances, do not break or disconnect any gas supplies or fittings or try to change parts yourself.

Also gas appliances should be serviced every 12 months.

by **htg engineer** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 8:25 pm

Joe booooy - did you get it sorted ?

by **joebooooy** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 9:48 am

Hey there, I got a gas man to come out in the end. He came out and sprayed some compressed air i think in the pilot/thermocouple area, and the fire started working straight away.

He filled out some paper work, and charged me Â£52.88.

Is that alot? Or just standard?

by **htg engineer** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 8:07 pm

I said to do that, blow down a strw into the pilot to clear oxy-pilot. That's all he's done but with air spray.

Could have saved you Â£52.88.

Sounds alot to me, I would have charged Â£30 and serviced the fire too.

I take it he did service the fire if he filled in a form ?

by **joebooooy** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 6:10 pm

Hey,

Yeah I did all the things suggested on here before getting him out.

Yeah he serviced it. Ah I figured Â£52.88 was a tad high, but I suppose I'm just happy its fixed now for the winter nights coming, too late now to get a cheaper deal lol.

Thanks for your help though :)

by **daviespaul** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:39 am

thanks to the advice on this page, I have just saved myself an engineer visit. The only tool I needed was my own breath!

by **catnamedog** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:22 pm

Hi
I'm going to buy the Oxypilot thermocouple complete because the one in my Royal Cheltenham 32-187-26 has definitely failed. It seems that the actual thermocouple itself is a standard thread size, but the connector at the other end of the pipe isn't. I don't have the number for the replacement part, but the thread that holds the thermocouple onto its bracket is the same thread size as the other end of the pipe. I've enclosed a link on Fotki of pictures of both ends of a similar thermocouple, but different sized "other"end. Hope that makes sense. I'm doing all this to save some money. When I get the right part, I'll have a gas-safe fitter install it for me. Thanks in advance.

http://public.fotki.com/catnamedog/ther ... e-end.html