Gas query - boiler fixed. Please put my mind at rest

[stevenharris]

Hi, I hope someone who is Gas Safe Registered can answer me this question or two please?

I had a boiler engineer round today, my boiler's pilot was out and wouldn't re-light.

He changed the Thermocouple and all was well.

Now I know a little about gas and the regulations, etc, but obviously am not a gas engineer. Anyhow I was just wanting to make sure he did everything safely as he was very quick. I want to sleep easy and put my mind at rest

Basically, I always thought that after any work on a gas appliance/fitti ng/installation, the engineer had to check the flue / ventilation / operating pressure or gas rate of the appliance or both, and that overall was in safe operation.

I also thought that a Soundess/Tightness test had to be carried out at the gas meter before working on a gas installation.

Is this correct or am I just worrying about nothing, as the engineer who fixed my boiler didn't do these.

Thanks for your kind help

Regards

Steven

 

[corgiman]

only if he had broken intot he gas supply should he have carried out a tightness test

if he just changed the thermocouple then no

why didnt you ask him at the time?


also a little knowledge is a dangerous thing

as for checking the other stuff
Ventiallation would need to know what boiler you have and where it is located before opinionating.

As for burner pressure/working pressure I always do but I dont know if its a requirement, dont think it is.

 

[stevenharris]

I didn't ask him at the time as I didn't want to make him think I was testing him or checking up on him!!!

I know the gas regs state that you have to check a) the effectiveness of any flue b) the supply of combustion air c) its operating pressure or heat input or where necessary both and d) it's operation so as to ensure safe functioning.

I know he also said (I watched him do this too whilst chatting to him) that he'd clean the pilot burner out (he sprayed some can of air or something into it after removing it)... so does this count as breaking into the gas supply?

I have a wall hung room sealed natural draught balanced flue (old Potterton)

 

[corgiman]

no it doesnt

again what boiler do you have?

 

[stevenharris]

a potterton flamingo (room sealed, natural draught, balanced flue)

 

[jackecole]

Yes those 4 things are correct, so he should have checked the flue terminal and this would include the ventilation (as is a room sealed boiler). Either done a gas rate check at the meter or checked the OP/BP, and made sure the boiler was in safe use before walking out.

No, the pilot burner would be tested again after locally with leak detection fluid. (As a tightness test would not pick up a leak after the gas valve).

 

[seco services]

I didn't ask him at the time as I didn't want to make him think I was testing him or checking up on him!!!

but you come on here to check up on him.

sounds like you wanted a free service aswell.

i'd hope i haven't got any customers that check up on me behind my back.

 

[stevenharris]

I was just wanting to put my mind at rest.

No I didn't expect a free service, I paid £115 in total

 

[Axel]

This is the real world!

Last year I was called to look at a boiler... I am not Gassafe so I had no intention in messing around with the innards, and it turned out that the problem was caused by all the radiator valves being turned off! So I turned them all on and switched the boiler back on.

It occurred to me on the way home that the boiler had probably seen little or no use for at least 6 months, but now that the rads were working it would be firing for long periods.

What I am wondering is: What if there were a serious ventilation or flueing issue with that boiler, that wouldn't have been a problem with all the rads turned off (boiler only fires for a minute), but now it was on for longer, such a fault would demonstrate itself possibly causing injury death etc etc. Would I be liable for just switching it on? Is there a requirement to do a full test on a boiler if you bring it back into use by switching one on that has been out of use for a while?

 

[jackecole]

Axel - what was the problem - did the boiler FIRE but then shut down due to valves being closed?

If ou only fired the boiler as in the USER MANUAL instructions then you would be OK. Saying that, it's always best to check properley though

 

[Axel]

Exactly...it wouldn't fire for long with rads off. It would probably not be my fault in a court of law, should there have been a fatal fault with the boiler (CO etc). But I did feel a moral responsibility for it and had wished I had been qualified to do a safety check on it, for the safety of the client and her toddlers. I did recommend she got an RGI to do such a check, but the point I am making is that she might have mistakenly assumed that all was well because I had come along and 'fixed' her heating.

 

[onlyfitidealboilers]

you havn't worked on the boiler tho have you, all you have done is open up the trv's and put a demand on the boiler dont worry. this industry gets u like that we live in a blame culture.

 

[45yearsagasman]

You tell all that to the judge!! Any decent engineer would do all the basic safety checks before walking away from any boiler,even if you only "turned it on" For those that don't check I hope you sleep well.A blame culture,yes,but we all know our responsibilities.

 

[Axel]

Well I suppose it depends on the capacity in which you offer your services.

If the garage changes the tyres they won't check the brakes,

but if they do an MOT you expect it to be relatively safe.

I once drove my VW out of a garage with a fresh MOT it had just issued. 20metres away the front wheel began to fall off!

 

[jackecole]

Every time you work on a gas installation /appliance, you have to check things (it is the Regulations: LAW).

It is a safety issue.

Even if you change a pump head in a boiler or a thermistor, or even re-pressurize a boiler it is best to check the 4 things mentioned previously and even the FSD, do a Tightness Test and case seals.