ACS GAS ASSESMENT

[mcniven]

Hi, thought this would be a decent place to post.

Got my ACS - first test next week, reading like mad anyone know if theres any online tutorials? (Like questions, tips etc)

Thank you

 

[andytheplumber]

Nope dont no any. Its difficult to give any advise, the questions can be a bit missleading sometimes.

 

[namsag]

Only misleading if you don`t know the answer or do not read the question properly. But on the otherhand some are completly wrong

 

[gasmick2]

Hi i know corgi direct do books for the preparation for the A C S certification

1 ... gas safety domestic (ccn1) workbook (corgi direct)
there are 136 pages of multi choice questions just the sort you get with
the core question paper
the other books i would recommend would be

essential gas safety domestic 4th edition (corgi direct)
H S C Approved code of practice and guidance (corgi direct)
also B E C publication gas safety G1


for further info and books available www.c
skills.org/publications
all of these books are a valuable source of information and all up to date

just a few i can recommend there are lots more but it can be expensive i have got some books which are now redundant as my ccn1 is ok till 2013 i shall be retired by then i would sell them if interested at a reduced cost i did think about putting them on ebay


mick

 

[andytheplumber]

Namsang, You no what i mean. I can wizz through 90% of the questions ok. But i get the odd one that stummps me, once you read through it a few times it falls in to place. and makes sense I got completley lost on show me a interupter on the controls. It was two yellow cables from the gas valve. I have never seen this on any boiler i have serviced or fitted. It took a while but i got it in the end.

 

[wms]

The viper manual is a very useful tool.

 

[gasacs]

Best advice I always give is read the question carefully and read ALL of the answers below. The correct answer is under the question. Learn to use the British Standards that is where nearly all of the questions are taken from. Don't get bogged down on any particular question, it is not worth running out of time over one question. If you are not sure ask the assessor the worst he can say is "I can't answer that" he may well re-word the question for you (I do that frequently for candidates).
And good luck

 

[namsag]

Andyplumber. The 2 wire method into gas valve is the most popular method of having an interuptor. Surprised you have not seen it.
Not many had the actual interuptor into the t/couple. Thorn apollo,glowworm feulsaver 15 range and a few economist boilers had them amongst others but in general wire method is by far the most popular

 

[Agile]

I think that the questions are often badly written and have intentionally confusing answers where at least two are "correct" but you have to decide which is the "most correct".

Is a roof rack on a car dangerous because:-



A It may fall off when you go round a bend?

B It may be overloaded?

C It was fitted by Halfords?

D It may hit a low bridge?

Clearly to me the answer is "C". The reason why is at the bottom of the page!

Tony




Because I chose that as the answer!

 

[Agile]

OK my last answer was not gas related but was to demonstrate the point.

So here is a typical ACS gas question!

You go to an old open flue boiler and the flame is very yellow, do you:-


A Turn it off and issue a warning Notice?

B Cut and cap the gas supply pipe and issue a warning Notice and leave?

C Ask the customer if they want you to clean it?

D Just clean it until it works safely?



Now most independents would do D or C.

British Gas would do B.

Most contractors for landlords seem to do A.

BUT the correct ACS answer is probably B because its closest to what the gas regs say!

However, you dont get paid if you do that unless you are a salaried BG engineer! Its also not at all customer friendly so the customer service answer is "C" if you want to get paid for cleaning it or "D" if you dont want to get paid any extra above whatever you were doing there in the beginning which might have been a CP12.

Tony

 

[namsag]

The correct answer is not B as you are not allowed to cut and cap without customers permission.

 

[ChrisR]

ANdyplumber - never seen a p-pilot Puma? Remember the overheat stat connections??

You don't have to get all the ACS questions right. You have to get 80% after 2 attempts, then be able to agree/work out, which of the others is correct. So if there are 4 answers and you've got it wrong twice, getting it right the third time isn't hard, unless you misread the question.
One classic is where the question says "INcorrect" and you read it as "Correct". So you try A, then B then C, but the answer's D.
Some of the questions aren't worth the effort of getting the supposedly "correct" answer out of the candidate.
There is one (state secrets being revealed here!) where you're supposed to judge whether a gas leak is the fault of the guy who worked on it 2 weeks ago. How on earth can you tell? The answer, by the way, is YES!
We use the Viper book as the source at hand - some things aren't in there and some things are wrong in there!
Personally I like the Corgi books, I hate to say, though the Index in the CITB ones are good.

 

[namsag]

Best book is the one BG issue . Got hold of one for my resit and information is clear and precise the index system makes finding anything a doddle compared to corgi and viper books. Saves a lot of stress having everything to hand. Would say if anyone knows a BG guy beg borrow or steal that book from them.

 

[nickso]

OK my last answer was not gas related but was to demonstrate the point.

So here is a typical ACS gas question!

You go to an old open flue boiler and the flame is very yellow, do you:-


A Turn it off and issue a warning Notice?

B Cut and cap the gas supply pipe and issue a warning Notice and leave?

C Ask the customer if they want you to clean it?

D Just clean it until it works safely?

E talk utter rubbish in an uninformed way

Now most independents would do D or C.

British Gas would do B.

Most contractors for landlords seem to do A.

BUT the correct ACS answer is probably B because its closest to what the gas regs say!

However, you dont get paid if you do that unless you are a salaried BG engineer! Its also not at all customer friendly so the customer service answer is "C" if you want to get paid for cleaning it or "D" if you dont want to get paid any extra above whatever you were doing there in the beginning which might have been a CP12.

Tony

presumably you would do E tony?

 

[Agile]

The correct answer is not B as you are not allowed to cut and cap without customers permission.

Not so much "allowed" as do not have the right to without the customer's permission. I only said that B was closest to what the gas regs say.

Last one I saw had been cut and capped without even asking for permission but in addition to that they took away the 400mm of pipe to the boiler AND the gas valve on the boiler connection.

Seeing an illegal installation with a third world owner its not surprising that the BG man thought that was the safest thing to do. It looked as if he would just have got it reconnected without correcting any of the several faults.

Actually, the owner turns out to be quite well educated and has a PhD in history, its just that he cannot speak English very well ( although his Russian and Pharsee are fluent ).

He has an amazing architect who called me to get it sorted out for him.

Tony