Conflicting servicing sheets

thelizardman · 13 Aug 2009

We had our Worcester Bosch 28CDI Nat Gas Boiler fitted in 2002 with an inlet pressure of 20 everything was fine.

We had lapsed on servicing and had it done by the Bosch engineer in Oct 2006 who passed it the inlet pressure had dropped to 14.2. No mention this was a problem

Jump to 2009 Bosch came out and replaced parts and then informed me that our inlet pressure was to low and although your boiler is functioning fine I have to turn it off! The inlet pressure was 14.4 (higher than 2006).

I'm confused, as with most things in life I wanted an answer and Bosch couldn't give me the one I wanted so....

My questions are as follows

1/ Have the regulations changed within the last few years regarding inlet pressures?
I notice that the servicing is completed to a different 'standard' Oct 2006 was WI351 yet 2009 was PI176. The engineer hinted the regs have changed but coudn't produce any evidence, yet the tech support said no regs have changed.

2/ The engineer hinted the pipes were too small when installed but I realise copper does shrink and expand but not to this extent, is it a gas leak down the road reducing flow?

3/ Reduced inlet pressure means incomplete combustion so does this mean increased risk of CO hence 'we shut it down' mentality. Am I at risk or is it just a money making you need it serviced again or risk £5,000 fine?

I need some help or just an answer so I can go on my merry way.
Thanks in advance

Darren

g20 · 13 Aug 2009

If you say the inlet pressure was 20mbar when the boiler was fitted then it shouldn't be anything to do with the pipe size, unless you have had additional gas appliances installed since the boiler which would reduce the flow of gas to the boiler?

Could be a blockage in the pipe/inlet to boiler, could be the governor on the meter, did the service engineer check the working pressure on meter?

petit_pablo · 13 Aug 2009

Low gas pressure is only classed as not to current standards unless it falls below minimum burner pressure which on a CDi is about 1.5mb i think. 14mb is near to or just above the max burner pressure for a Cdi dependant on age.

He should have checked the working pressure at the meter really to eliminate or confirm pipe size problem / meter governor issue.

Am I at risk or is it just a money making you need it serviced again

You should have the boiler serviced every 12months not only when it develops faults

kirkgas · 13 Aug 2009

thelizardman said:
We had our Worcester Bosch 28CDI Nat Gas Boiler fitted in 2002 with an inlet pressure of 20 everything was fine.
just because the paperwork said it was 20mb nothing is confirming that, wont be the first time an installer/service engineer has taken info from book, perhaps in 2006 it was checked for the first time, get gas supplier to check inlet at meter and repair if require (then it might be best to get someone back in to recheck boiler)
used to bug me when checking guys paperwork on service contracts when they recorded 9.7mb as burner pressure on a Baxi 401 BBU (mid position BP from book) how do you accurately guage 9.7mb on a water manometer (i know they didn't have electronic)??

We had lapsed on servicing and had it done by the Bosch engineer in Oct 2006 who passed it the inlet pressure had dropped to 14.2. No mention this was a problem

Jump to 2009 Bosch came out and replaced parts and then informed me that our inlet pressure was to low and although your boiler is functioning fine I have to turn it off! The inlet pressure was 14.4 (higher than 2006).

I'm confused, as with most things in life I wanted an answer and Bosch couldn't give me the one I wanted so....

My questions are as follows

1/ Have the regulations changed within the last few years regarding inlet pressures?
I notice that the servicing is completed to a different 'standard' Oct 2006 was WI351 yet 2009 was PI176. The engineer hinted the regs have changed but coudn't produce any evidence, yet the tech support said no regs have changed.

2/ The engineer hinted the pipes were too small when installed but I realise copper does shrink and expand but not to this extent, is it a gas leak down the road reducing flow?

3/ Reduced inlet pressure means incomplete combustion so does this mean increased risk of CO hence 'we shut it down' mentality. Am I at risk or is it just a money making you need it serviced again or risk £5,000 fine?

I need some help or just an answer so I can go on my merry way.
Thanks in advance

Darren

DP · 13 Aug 2009

I suspect the inlet pressure was always low but marked as correct for the sake of paperwork.

It is quite common for the fitter to enter ideal figures instead of actual, in the benchmark logbook. Sometime later when the boiler is looked at by someone else, they the discover what you have written

bengasman · 14 Aug 2009

thelizardman said:
We had our Worcester Bosch 28CDI Nat Gas Boiler fitted in 2002 with an inlet pressure of 20 everything was fine.

I seriously doubt that, 90% chance the installer blagged the figures; I have never seen a WB 28 CDI that had 20 mbar on the testpoint, and I only install CDI's.

thelizardman said:
I'm confused, as with most things in life I wanted an answer and Bosch couldn't give me the one I wanted so....

The manufacturer is usually a good source of information, it might not be what you want to hear, but that does not make it less valid.

thelizardman said:
2/ The engineer hinted the pipes were too small when installed but I realise copper does shrink and expand but not to this extent, is it a gas leak down the road reducing flow?

If it was a gasleak big enough to create a drop in working pressure, you could smell it quite a bit. If any part of the gaspipe is less than 22 mm, the pipe is too small.

thelizardman said:
3/ Reduced inlet pressure means incomplete combustion so does this mean increased risk of CO hence 'we shut it down' mentality. Am I at risk or is it just a money making you need it serviced again or risk £5,000 fine?

You can have the boiler serviced 5000 times, that will not increase the inlet pressure. It has nothing to do with CO risk either. The engineer shut the boiler down as it was not installed to the M.I. The current manual states that the commissioning of a boiler can not continue if the inlet pressure is below 17.
He erred on side of caution, which is sound practice, especially with a boiler that is clearly neither installed to spec, nor maintained properly.

joelkservices · 14 Aug 2009

petit_pablo said:
Low gas pressure is only classed as not to current standards unless it falls below minimum burner pressure which on a CDi is about 1.5mb i think. 14mb is near to or just above the max burner pressure for a Cdi dependant on age.

He should have checked the working pressure at the meter really to eliminate or confirm pipe size problem / meter governor issue.

Am I at risk or is it just a money making you need it serviced again

Click to expand...

You should have the boiler serviced every 12months not only when it develops faults

some of you lot are a cause for concern on here

diynot

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.

Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

Conflicting servicing sheets

Similar threads