Potterton Netaheat - no pilot light

I get quite a few calls from people saying the pilot light on their Potterton Netaheat has gone out and the can’t work out how to re-light it. Here is a short video explaining why this is normal. 

I’ve written quite a lot about the Potterton Netaheat boiler and the faults and breakdowns that occasionally happen, and what can be done about them. You can read more on my main Netaheat page here. 

If you just want yours fixed and you are within driving distance of me in west Berkshire, give me a call or send me a text on 07866 766364. Text is better in busy times of year, i.e. winter.

To explain in more detail though, all versions of the Netaheat are fully automatic boilers which light their own pilot flame at the beginning of the ignition sequence. When the boiler of off, the plot flame goes out so the boiler is consuming no gas at all, meaning there is no pilot flame that you the user, needs to light. 

If your Netaheat boiler is not lighting, the first thing to discover to help with diagnosing and fixing it is whether the pilot flame is lighting but the boiler isn’t progressing to main burner ignition, or whether there really is no pilot flame at all. To do this, set the boiler running as though you need heating and hot water, then look through the little viewing window on the front of the boiler. Look very carefully right into the back where the tiny blue pilot flame should be. Regardless of whether you can see a pilot flame or not, the boiler has a fault which needs to be traced, but the information about whether or not there is a flame will be useful to any technician you might call in to fix it.

Mike