Thorn Housewarmer S Gas Fire & Back Boiler

[GM Saint]

Hi,
I wondered if anyone could explain how the gas fire ignites and gets its gas supply on the Thorn Housewarmer S Back Boiler & Fire combination. I'm happy with lighting the back boiler pilot and firing it up, but not clear on the fire i.e. is it electric ignition or does it have its own pilot etc? I know these are now extremely old appliances, but any basic guidance would help. Thanks.

 

[garygvl]

very very very old open flued gas appliance. dont mess with it get someone in whos GSR to check it over. chances of parts for this are slim.

 

[AMGasServices]

Does it have a control knob. Usually the ignition is connected to that.

 

[GM Saint]

Yes it’s got a control knob on the side panel of the fire and a numbered dial at the front underneath the fire with an off position and then numbers 1-6

 

[GM Saint]

Perhaps I should have emphasised in my initial post that I have absolutely no intention of working on the appliance, I am simply curious as the boiler ignition method is obvious, but I don’t really understand what ignites the fire or whether it has its own pilot. The dial on the side turns the flame on and increases it if necessary, but there’s no resistance or indication of ignition when the dial is turned and it was this that led me to query how it ignites.

 

[garygvl]

Perhaps I should have emphasised in my initial post that I have absolutely no intention of working on the appliance, I am simply curious as the boiler ignition method is obvious, but I don’t really understand what ignites the fire or whether it has its own pilot. The dial on the side turns the flame on and increases it if necessary, but there’s no resistance or indication of ignition when the dial is turned and it was this that led me to query how it ignites.

so youve just moved in and never used the appliance before

 

[elbistan]

Some pictures would help.

 

[GM Saint]

Yes exactly, and to be fair it’s working fine, but as previously mentioned I just can’t get my head around the gas fire ignition process. I suppose getting it serviced ASAP would be the best option as I could get the engineer to explain things to me at the same time and get peace of mind that it’s all okay. To be honest though I intend to replace it almost immediately as its clearly ancient.

 

[garygvl]

Yes exactly, and to be fair it’s working fine, but as previously mentioned I just can’t get my head around the gas fire ignition process. I suppose getting it serviced ASAP would be the best option as I could get the engineer to explain things to me at the same time and get peace of mind that it’s all okay. To be honest though I intend to replace it almost immediately as its clearly ancient.

depends on the definition of working fine

 

[GM Saint]

That’s a good point. As I’m not going to be at the property for the next week I’m going to air on the side of caution and turn the lot off and not switch it back on until I’ve had it looked at.

 

[Rob Foster]

How an older gas burner set works.

ok, here we go. A spark ignites the pilot light, you hold the igniter button down while the pilot light warms up the thermocoupler, this creates a small electrical difference between the two ends, one warm one cool. This electrical difference is an elecric magnet and holds the main gas valve open allowing you to then turn on and turn up the main burner set.
It fails safe if the pilot blows out it cools down, no electrical difference gas valve shuts down
Hope this helps Rob Foster aka
centralheatking

 

[Ric2013]

Bit old, but, for reference: the Housewarmer S radiant panels at the front have a TINY pilot light, like the flame of a gas lighter as used for cigarettes etc. set to minimum. It has no thermocouple and usually blows out, leaving gas flowing, but as the appliance is connected to a chimney, this gas hopefully goes straight up. IIRC, it is immediately below the underside of the radiant panels between the joint between the 3rd and 4th panels.

The pilot for the radiant panels can be isolated by a quarter-turn black slotted screw that is visible but hidden in plain sight. Probably, whoever last serviced it will have turned the pilot off, for obvious reasons.

In normal use, you would open the gas using the black dial on the right of the wooden casing and hope it will light from the pilot, then you realise the pilot has gone out and hopefully you'll have a match or lighter to hand. It is possible to fill the room with gas as the fire relies on human intelligence and not a safety device.

The knob numbered 1-6 and the push button ignition are near the floor under the appliance and these are for the boiler itself. The boiler has a permanent pilot (with thermocouple flame failure device).