Paloma woes revisited

[Wanted]

Some of you will remember that I have been having issues with my Paloma water heater. The issue is that the pilot light comes on but wont it wont fire up when the tap is on. I have made a fascinating film that hopefully explains it better, you will see and hear that nothing much happens until I turn the tap off when the burner tries to light before going out.

 

It has been suggested on here that it may be the diaphragm, and I was very kindly send a replacement by our very own BEngo. I changed that with little hassle, but am still in the same situation.

 

At the mo my options seem to be:

 

Replace: Paloma Bob/ebay

Repair Paloma Bob

 

Unless the team have any further suggestions?

 

Cheers and thanks to Nigel (BEngo) for his generosity (beer waiting)

 

Rob

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bizzard]

Some of you will remember that I have been having issues with my Paloma water heater. The issue is that the pilot light comes on but wont it wont fire up when the tap is on. I have made a fascinating film that hopefully explains it better, you will see and hear that nothing much happens until I turn the tap off when the burner tries to light before going out.

 

It has been suggested on here that it may be the diaphragm, and I was very kindly send a replacement by our very own BEngo. I changed that with little hassle, but am still in the same situation.

 

At the mo my options seem to be:

 

Replace: Paloma Bob/ebay

Repair Paloma Bob

 

Unless the team have any further suggestions?

 

Cheers and thanks to Nigel (BEngo) for his generosity (beer waiting)

 

Rob

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mmm Ahoy Rob. It looks to me like either your water systems pressure is not reducing enough when you turn taps on (have you the small caravan type taps?) or the main gas jet to the main burners is blocked. It looked like it tried to light up.

Edited December 14, 2013 by bizzard

[ChimneyChain]

Rob, we had that problem on our morco a couple of years back and if I remember rightly it was a faulty gas regulator valve. £25 from DYS and all was well.

 

Darren

[Wanted]

Cheers both,

 

I have normal kitchen taps at the sink and smaller caravan type mixer taps at the shower. Was working fine for a few years. I have blown through all of the unit with a can of air.

 

I never thought of the reg Darren, The cooker is working fine so I wonder if it could be that?

 

To be honest I don't mind getting a new reg anyway and keep a spare.

 

Thank you both

[Bee]

Shame to get rid of it, it`s probably not sensing the water flow or pressure drop and a `Gas man` will diagnose it quite easily and it might be one of those things where you just have to grit your teeth and hand over some cash.

I think chimney chain might have meant the gas valve in the paloma, turns the gas on to the burner on demand.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Bee

[Alan de Enfield]

Could be totally irrelevant but here goes :

 

When I replaced the diaphram on a Morco, and reassembled the 'flying saucer' shaped thing (the bit that holds the diaphram and has the water going into it I think its called the 'water control assembly'

 

There is a 'pin' in this, which the diaphram moves upwards, if the water control assembly is not pushed far enough into its mating part, then when the pin is pushed upwards it does not go far enough to let the additional gas flow.

 

Very poor description but if you have one you'll know what I'm talking about.

 

http://www.caravanaccessoryshop.co.uk/product/water-control-assembly-for-morco-d61/1371

 

Edit - the 'pin' is just sticking out of the top centre of the picture on the link.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Alan de Enfield

[cereal tiller]

Could be totally irrelevant but here goes :

 

When I replaced the diaphram on a Morco, and reassembled the 'flying saucer' shaped thing (the bit that holds the diaphram and has the water going into it I think its called the 'water control assembly'

 

There is a 'pin' in this, which the diaphram moves upwards, if the water control assembly is not pushed far enough into its mating part, then when the pin is pushed upwards it does not go far enough to let the additional gas flow.

 

Very poor description but if you have one you'll know what I'm talking about.

 

http://www.caravanaccessoryshop.co.uk/product/water-control-assembly-for-morco-d61/1371

 

Edit - the 'pin' is just sticking out of the top centre of the picture on the link.

 

Sounds right

have not serviced a paloma for ages,but i seem to remember that the pin can stick

[smileypete]

Couple of things:

 

In the vid it seems to try to fire up as the tap is closed, when the water pressure would peak, sounds like the gas valve clicks in and out as if fires then goes out. So possible low water pressure or restriction before or after the paloma? Something to try is connect the Paloma direct to a mains standpipe, see if it fires up OK, also check voltage across water pump motor when running.

 

Also it could be a sticking gas valve, maybe check the gas valve spindle moves freely and see if there are any points with hardened grease that needs redoing with the right grease (silicone?)

 

Something else that probably isn't the problem but worth looking at, the pilot flame doesn't look all that big at all, possible partly blocked pilot jet or even a filter on the gas inlet to the paloma? Seems to dip when the burner fires but it's hard to make out. You could try holding the temp control tap in as the water is turned on to see if it fires OK.

 

Found a thread on another forum which might be of help:

 

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=12&TopicID=24059

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

[MtB]

Shame to get rid of it, it`s probably not sensing the water flow or pressure drop and a `Gas man` will diagnose it quite easily and it might be one of those things where you just have to grit your teeth and hand over some cash.

I think chimney chain might have meant the gas valve in the paloma, turns the gas on to the burner on demand.

 

I doubt this very much.

 

Very few gas bods have the faintest clue how a Paloma works so I'd suggest the call-out charge would actually be wasted money with the gas bod sucking his teeth and advising fitting a new water heater.

 

I've a rough idea how they work but my knowledge is not deep enough imagine a fault which will cause this exact behaviour.

 

I have one (a Paloma that is) under my desk here. I'll have a close look at it now I'm back from my weekend's boating.

 

Another approach would be to PM Paloma Bob and ask him to visit this thread. He is a registered user here and I've communicated with him occasionally here by PM.

 

 

MtB

[Wanted]

Thanks all, plenty there for me to get looking at. Will report back.

 

I have been in contact a little with Paloma Bob and will give him a buzz. He does a recon/exchange deal for a oner which may work out cheaper than my time.

 

Cheers again

 

Rob

[Alastair]

That pilot light looks too big to me. It has a bit of yellow in it which is wrong. Then there is an absolute flood of flame - again, looks to be too much to me.

 

I'd try a different regulator first.

[Wanted]

I should just add that my gas bottle was just about to run out when I took this film, the problem is the same either way but I always get a slightly orange glow towards the end of a bottle. I have ordered a regulator although I'm not entirely convinced..

 

I will report back

 

Thanks

[smileypete]

So, anything to report? Did you manage to fix it or get a recon from Paloma Bob in the end?

 

With things like these it's often a case of finding out what isn't the problem rather than what is the problem. In doing so it naturally leads you to the answer...

 

If you can persevere with it, then at least you'll have some satisfaction in being able to fix something that 95% of ticketed gas bods can't fix, as MtB says.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited December 22, 2013 by smileypete

[Wanted]

Had to abandon the water heater for the mo, work and Xmas at the relies! Will resume as soon as I am back. Bob has been in touch and offered to help a bit before I go for the recon. I will let you all know. Thank gawd for the shower block across the way!