Chaffoteaux Britony 11T water heater problem

[bclondon]

Help again please.
Old Britony 2T water heater (regularly serviced) which heats the water in the kitchen & bathroom. The pilot light keeps going out when I turn the dial to the flame symbol after lighting it. We have been away for 10 days & returned to find the pilot light has gone out (1st time ever) pilot lights fine but goes out as soon as the dial gets halfway round.
Googled the problem & it seems it might be either the diaphragm or the thermocouple..any other ideas are really welcome please.
If the diaphragm or thermocouple need replacing will a plumber need to turn off the water before replacing? Our problem is the building is very old & so is the pipework & some years ago the water regulator valve on the water heater seized!
Finally does it sound an expensive job (live in London!) & roughly what should I expect to pay.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

 

[Puddle]

Well if pilot going out when turning knob round it will probably be the thermocouple
However,you should not lite and turn straight around, turn knob and light pilot and leave in that position,about a quarter of a turn ,just after the ignition has been operated and pilot on,leave for 20 secs then turn round to give time for valve to set,pilot should stay on,if not then as said thermocouple

If thermocouple the water does not require turning off,it does to replace diaghram,however should be isolation valve on boiler
What area of london are you

 

[bclondon]

Hi Puddle..
Thanks for the info..we have in fact done just what you suggested & it still cuts out.
Have now contacted a plumber who is calling round later today to have a look.
We live near Edgware Rd underground just outside the congestion zone.
Will let you know what happens.
Thanks again

 

[bclondon]

Update:
Plumber arrived. He thinks the problem is something to do with a gas valve..heard him mentioning an S valve or something.
I mentioned about the thermocouple & diaphragm but he thought not...he looked old school & seemed to know what he was doing.
As he came finally from our landlords & they are paying he needs to contact them before going any further.
Will report if & when he finally returns!

 

[bclondon]

2nd update
Plumber returned with replacement part which to cut a long story short did not fit the old Chaffoteaux. Seems he will need either to source the part (he thinks unlikely) for the very old boiler or replace the water heater altogether. The next problem is one of size as the old Chaff is smaller than the new water heaters made today. (or so we were told)

Two questions please to try and speed this process.

1. Is there a company who specialize in supplying parts for older boilers/water heaters?

2. Is there another water heater available with the same external dimensions of the old water heater (66cm x 40cm x 25cm)..width & depth is no problem.

As mentioned before the building is old & the walls very thick (48cm) so ideally using the existing flue is essential...the kitchen is small & there really is nowhere else to site the boiler.
With your help, at least when (and if!) we get a call saying they can't get this or that size is no longer available we will hopefully have a bit more information thanks to you guys.

 

[aggis]

Pilot problems on brittony's, are usually blocked pilot injector. remove it clear with 5amp fuse wire. Faulty thermocouple, replace it.
Never have had to replace gas valve.
Can recommend Acorn gas spares 01132400920

 

[bouzouki]

hi all,
im about to try and replace the diaphragm on my CHAFFOTEAUX BRITONY 2t
can anyone please tell me where it goes?
im pretty handy with diy, but i want to make sure i can handle this job before i start,
any advice would be appriciated,
thnakyou

 

[aggis]

hi all,
im about to try and replace the diaphragm on my CHAFFOTEAUX BRITONY 2t
can anyone please tell me where it goes?
im pretty handy with diy, but i want to make sure i can handle this job before i start,
any advice would be appriciated,
thnakyou

Sorry, but you need a Gas Safe Eng to do this for you as more than likely you'll need a diapragm service kit [top hat & push rod]. Do it wrong & you could not only have a water leak but GAS. Leave it to the experts.

 

[Shinybob]

Hi All,
I'm new to this forum but need some advise, I have an 11yr old Britony MkIIT water heater that supplies hot water to my bathroom & kitchen, it's never given us any trouble in the past but after we had a gas fitter in to install a new gas cooker last Sunday he would not carry out the installation because the pilot light in the water heater stayed on when he turned the knob to the off position & so failed the gas safe check.
We have had another corgie fitter in this morning to service it & after he phoned the manufacturers he was told that this model did not have a means of turning the pilot off! Is this correct and or safe??

 

[danielp]

Doesnt the word pilot mean anything to him then

 

[Shinybob]

Whether or not he understands the term "Pilot" he's charged us £178 for his trouble! Where do we go from here? We need to get our new cooker installed!