Burnham Boilers

[Des Grevell]

My heat no longer comes on when I turn up the thermostat. The pilot is on but nothing happens. Is there a way to bypass the gas valve or whatever to get the heat to come on?

[nicktheplumberParticipant]

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In reply to message posted by Sjackus:
My heat no longer comes on when I turn up the thermostat. The pilot is on but nothing happens. Is there a way to bypass the gas valve or whatever to get the heat to come on?

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Besides being a convenience to turn it off and on automatically, the thermostatic controls for your furnace serve important safety functions. There are many common causes for the malfunction you describe, including things like faulty wiring at the thermostat and gas regulator assembly, a bad thermostat or regulator, and problems with the furnace sensors. While there are ways you can bypass some of these systems to force your furnace to “come on,” I cannot recommend these to “solve” your problem and I will certainly not describe these techniques.

While I am a died-in-the-wool Yank who’s supportive of DIY plumbing for the competent homeowner, I draw the line on DIY projects, such as yours, that present a high risk for disaster. Gas is dangerous to mess around with. Call in a competent plumber or gas man to fix your problem. It will be money well spent.

NtP

[SelgasParticipant]

Hi there
Check that the main gas control is turned on to the MAIN gas position and has not been accidentally turned to the pilot only position.
Check also that the heater has not been swtiched to Summer fan only!!

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Selgas Services Ltd
Craftsman Gasfitters, Plumbers, Electrical Service Technicians

[AKPlumberParticipant]

This could also be a faulty zone valve power head or malfunctioning valve body. It’s common for power heads to go bad (I’d say 75% of my boiler calls end up being a bad PH) as well as the valves.
Again, with boiler probs like these, it’s almost impossible to guess what the problem is without being in front of it.
Burnham has great informational resources online, as well as technical publications on request. Download the manual to your model boiler and read it.

[Author]

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