Alde 2928 ignition

[Ray]

I visited the boat yesterday for the first time since October last year.

 

I turned on the gas and the electric and lit the hob with no problem.

 

I attempted to light the Alde boiler. I could get the light on the panel to flash and then go out whilst I held the knob down. I could (not always) turn the knob to the relevant setting and the light would flash briefly again before going out. I recall all these things being quite normal.

 

However, the boiler refused to fire up no matter how many times I tried it. I recall I had the same or a similar problem around this time last year but the boiler eventually fired and behaved for the rest of the year.

 

This time I can't hear the ignitor click in unison with the light flashing which is what I think I used to hear. Does this indicate that the ignitor has failed? Is there anything else I can check when I next visit the boat?

 

Many thanks.

[dor]

If you are not getting the cliciking, then the spark generator has failed. Can you see the spark through the window? Does it actually light the gas while the knob is held down? If no spark, then it could be damp that has gor into the spark generator and it has failed. It may recover if you can get the boat warmed up by other means and get it dried out (leave the cover off). If the spark is there but doesn't light the gas it could mean that the pilot light needs cleaning. The bit that lights off the spark is on the opposite side of the circular pilot light and the flame that heats the sensor is on the other side - can you see a flame on both sides? If not, the pilot light needs cleaning. If the burner starts, but goes out as soon as you let go of the knob then the sensor has failed. When was it last serviced? If some time ago I would remove the whole burner unit (find service details on the alde website) and send it off to Alde for a service.

 

If you think the pilot light needs servicing you can withdraw the burner unit by taking out about a dozen or so screws round the front and disconnecting one or two other bits - see service notes. Give the pilot light a good clean with a stiff toothbrush. If you don't know how to check for gas leaks, best to get a suitably qualified person to do it.

[journeyperson]

I had a similar experience with mine when lighting it for the first time this year over the weekend, but I left it for an hour or so and when I went back it fired up first time and has been working ok since.

[Dave_P]

When not used for a while they can be tricky to light. Are you able to get the pilot to light? If so, do that but keep the knob held in for about a minute before releasing and firing up the burner.

 

Don't worry too much about the flashing light being in unison, just make sure that when you are holding the knob in, the ignition is clicking and try and bend down (without letting go) to see if the pilot is on.

 

Whilst Dor is right in his advice about cleaning the burners, I would strongly back up what he said about getting someone qualified in if you are unsure. Gas appliances aren't things to be experimenting on.

[Ray]

Thanks for the replies. As I mentioned before, I recall that something similar happened last year and corrected itself.

 

I shan't be at the boat again until the weekend when we aim to take it out for a couple of days. travelling with someone who has installed/repaired several of these boilers (and has one on his boat). We'll light the boat's stove and that together with the warmth from the engine heated calorifier adjacent to the bolier may encourage it to spring into life.

 

The boiler probably does need a service as it is five years old now and hasn't been serviced yet. Mind you, it hasn't seen that much use!

 

I'll report back after the weekend.

[Ray]

I managed to light the boiler several times over the weekend - I could just about discern the clicking suggesting that the igniter was working. Perhaps my reasonably new hearing aids are working in reverse!

 

However, occasionally the (ignite) button would not move from the ignite position.

 

In addition, although the boiler fired up and the radiators started to get warm on several occasions, the (ignite) light started flashing within about 5 minutes. Depending on what I was doing at the time I would either attempt to re-light the boiler (with the same result) or turn it off and try again later.

 

The boiler is at the back of the boat, the oven/hob midships and the gas bottles are in the bow. The oven & hob light and work as required. This seems to indicate a supply problem at the boiler to an untrained idiot (me!), but I suppose that something could be heating up in the boiler and then cutting off the supply.

 

A colleague has siad that he used to remove his burner and send or take it to Alde for a service. Does anyone know if Alde still offer this facility?

[frangar]

This chap

 

http://www.grahamcutmoreengineering.co.uk/

 

Offers a mobile service....have used him as have others and been quite happy.

 

Hope it helps

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[Ray]

Many thanks. He's not too far away either and we could get the boat a fair bit closer to him as well by bringing the boat to Milton Keynes (or even taking it to Stoke Bruerne).

 

He's closed until next Monday but that doesn't matter as we're not in that much of a hurry to get it fixed.

[frangar]

He's travelled to me in Market Harborough so don't be too stressed about moving....he also carries on the van most of the bits needed to fix aldes so can sort most stuff in one visit.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[Ray]

He's travelled to me in Market Harborough so don't be too stressed about moving....he also carries on the van most of the bits needed to fix aldes so can sort most stuff in one visit.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

 

Gareth

 

Thanks for that.

 

The bank of Dad's taken a bit of a hit just recently so I'm havng to budget accordingly. Any idea what he charged for travel?

 

The boat is near Marsworth on the GU, about 40 miles from Wellingborough so I guess his travelling costs could be quite high. That said, we don't use the boat that often so maybe able to arrange a call to us around a call to someone else when he's passing the door.

[frangar]

I'm sorry I can't remember!

 

Worth an ask tho...he's quite affable so I'm sure you could sort something. He had a call from someone in Scotland when he was working on my boat!

 

Hope you can post on here once it's done...it's always useful to hear the outcome when a question is asked!

 

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[dor]

1- I managed to light the boiler several times over the weekend - I could just about discern the clicking suggesting that the igniter was working. Perhaps my reasonably new hearing aids are working in reverse!

 

2- The boiler is at the back of the boat, the oven/hob midships and the gas bottles are in the bow. The oven & hob light and work as required. This seems to indicate a supply problem at the boiler to an untrained idiot (me!), but I suppose that something could be heating up in the boiler and then cutting off the supply.

 

3- A colleague has siad that he used to remove his burner and send or take it to Alde for a service. Does anyone know if Alde still offer this facility?

 

 

1- Sounds like it could do with a good general service. The ignite button can be a bit temperamental and I think you have to let it cool down if the stat is still saying it is too hot.

 

2- Sounds like the boiler stat has failed and it is being shut down by the overheat stat which is higher up the burner flue.

 

3- yes they do - go to www.alde.co.uk for details. Also very helpful tech. department over the phone. However if you have a good local gas man that really understands Aldes then that would probably be a better bet.

[MtB]

The initial failure to light could be due to air in the gas pipes. On a system with a micorsopic leak the gas in the pipes will dissipate when the boat is left unused over extended periods of time.

 

First, the system pressure falls to zero over a day or two, then as the night time temperature falls a little air is sucked in throught the leak which dilutes the gas. Then next day it warms up and the slightly diulted gas/air mix is expelled through the leak. And next night the cycle repeats and the gas gets a little more diluted with more air.

 

After a few months of this the system is full of air and pilot lights refuse to light until it is all purged which take ages, but eventually they light.

 

I can't comment on the occasional refusal of the knob to turn, other than that the contols on an Alde are quite persverse in the way they work, and the instructions on the appliance are not very illuminating either.

 

MtB

[Ray]

I've been to the boat today and worked on the boiler.

 

I'd been advised by a colleague (who has exchanged many Alde burners but none recently) that all I needed to do (after isolating both gas and electric supplies to the bolier) was to remove the multitude of screws that held the burner in place and the burner would come out. He obviously forgot one or two other things in the intervening period! I deduced that the gas supply needed disconnecting and managed that but the burner still refused to budge.

 

It appeared obvious that the shaft linking the knob on the burner and the temperature adjustment knob that the user normally uses needed to be disconnected. What I didn't deduce was that this could be done by depressing the lower knob. I tried pulling the upper knob up and managed to break the somewhat brittle plastic mount underneath the upper knob.

 

I then remembered that I had some Alde documentation on the boat. Upon further investigation I discovered that that included the service manual (which is how I subsequently learned how to disconnect the above mentioned shaft)! I worked my way through the instructions for the burner renewal and eventually managed to extract the burner, which was half covered in debris.

 

However, there is one part of the removal that I haven't managed to achieve and this is the removal of the ignition lead from the ignition transformer. The instructions say to pull this down. I've tried this both by hand and using pliers. I was initially extra careful after the experiences with the broken plastic mentioned above but even increasing the effort refused to shift this lead. Has anyone any experience of removing theirs?

 

Until that's been achieved there's not a lot else that I can do.

 

I did note from checking the flame before I attempted the removal that it was more yellow than blue and the crud on the burner probably accounted for much of this. I've managed to dislodge must of the crud but can't get to the rest of it until I can detach the ignition lead.