After briefly working on the bathroom today I noticed that it was getting a bit chilly in the house (this is odd for me - I like the cold). I checked the thermostat - yep it was calling for heat.
So I made a trip down to the boiler to see what was up. I could immediately tell the boiler was not heating however, the circulator pump was pushing water around the pipes. Ok - not good its about 1600 on a Saturday.
I switched the breaker to off then back on again. Still nothing just the circulator. I opened things up a bit and started with the electronic ignition. This is just a spark plug rather than a constant pilot light.
I've cleaned up and re-gapped spark plugs before, this won't be hard.. Until I broke off the metal part where the spark is created. This is beginning to not look good for the prospect of getting heat going again.
I called the HVAC guy and he can't get the part until Monday.
I ended up thinking and digging through parts, screws, junk I have down in the shop area. Until I came up with the idea of using a metal picture hanger in place of the broken off L shape.
The first burn of the boiler was a success. Getting the piece to stay firmly in place through the very high heat was an issue. After the house got hot and the boiler shut off I checked my fix and the piece can withstand the heat but the positioning failed, it was not ready to ignite the boiler a second time.
I have reset the fix with a hopefully better position. Hopping for the best tonight.
Posted by Kevin Foote in diary on February 23, 2008