Can gas pipe develop crack on its own?

[Agile]

I first check the meter and then the cooker/hob gas connections as my experience is that those are the two areas where 90% of the leaks I am called to are found.

BUT he did not have any incentive to complete the work in the shortest time!

 

[Dan Robinson]

Precisely - and the meter etc., can be done easily during the checks for the fires and cooker. On account of the two together giving you 8 minutes stood by the meter with a fag lighter - I means LDF - to give it all a quick check.

 

[FiremanT]

Exactly. Which I've been banging on about

 

[Dan Robinson]

Only supporting your learn-ed view bud

 

[FiremanT]

Only supporting your learn-ed view bud

Sorry, mate, didn't mean to be tetchy!

 

[Dan Robinson]

No worries took a while for me to get to grips with this thread. Could do with better pictures.

 

[Agile]

OK Lily, time has gone by now!

So how was it resolved?

Tony

 

[lilystyle]

Only just got the memory stick back from the HA with video and better photos on. Will try to post tomorrow (if anyone's still interested after all this time!) Am considering cutting losses and accepting their offer of their dropping charges if we drop our claim for the £100 incentive, but it also feels wrong that we should lose out on this as we worked hard to leave theouse clean and in a good condition and should not, we feel, be blamed for the gas leak. What do people think?

 

[CBF]

post em all up, i think we all wanna see them, you may have to youtube the vid & post the link

 

[lilystyle]

OK - have uploaded the videos of the pressure loss and detecting the leak to Youtube (links below) and scanned and uploaded to DIYnot the better quality photos we asked for. Hope they are helpful... Any thoughts guys?

http://youtu.be/t7oWt9_wh7g
Video of pressure loss

http://youtu.be/dLX3IdjnA90
Video of detecting the leak

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[Dan Robinson]

Time index 0:39 shows bonding clip after a branch - non compliant

Not that it is relevant to the TT, but why isn't the engineer using the full Let-by and Tightness test function of his analyser?

 

[Dan Robinson]

That leaking fitting could have been resolderd in situ and perfectly OK without messing about with his repair.

It would also have been found in minutes of starting a search for a leaking fitting - if it wasn't the FIRST place to start looking, it sure as shlt would have been the second.


I also can see no way that your removal of anything could have caused anything other than an already dodgy connection to fail.


Just my opinion based on experience.

*edited for clarity*

 

[FiremanT]

I also can soo no way that you removal of anything could have caused anything other than an already dodgy connection to fail.

Absolutely. I had assumed we woukd see a kink or evidence of impact. No way was that caused by a bump!

Also how many of us take so many videos in a days work? And charge for the time. Seriously dodgy!

Having said that, I have started to take a snap sometimes of a dismantled appliance, where there is no customer present, just in case someone queries whether I have done the job completely. But these jobs are price fixed. I wouldn't spend ages filming stuff and charge by the hour.

 

[matt1e]

This is an interesting thread
Lilly, I'd stick to your guns,IMO the leak on that fitting was caused by however capped off the cooker outlet, and you have all the evidence you need to argue your point.

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• lilystyle
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I notice this is a pic of the connection point "prior to you moving in"

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• lilystyle
• 20 Oct 2012
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That means nothing, and it looks secure enough to me to withstand a knock (providing the fittings have been installed correctly)
Where is their pic of the connection point showing the state of it prior to it being disconnected and capped off.because that's more relevant.

I reckon its much more likely that whoever did this,

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• lilystyle
• 17 Nov 2012
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caused the leak shown in the video

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• lilystyle
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Item six

The thing that's bugging me is the tee prior to the outlet, is just a bit off pipe bent over and solder capped?

I notice it was there prior to you moving in and also notice it's not there amongst the disassembled bits in the pic of the fitting breakdown.
Oh I'd definatly be sticking my guns

Matt

 

[lilystyle]

Thank you guys,

So it definitely does look like we were not responsible for the leak. We definitely want to pursue this Though we have to admit to still having a sketchy grasp of the technical points you've raised (though we're trying!)

- bent and soldered copper piping NOT in the inventory pic
- fraudulant(?) 'safest' (money earning) route to locate the leak
- joint was not damaged by a knock as, in the photo, there is no kink in it or evidence of impact, so the connection must have been dodgy
- likely this was caused by whoever disconnected the last gas cooker that had been installed there

Have we got this right?

BUT how to proceed when up against their legal team?

I reckon that the legal team instructed the HA to offer to drop the Engineer's bill being charged to us if we stopped asking for the £100, because they could see we had a case after we cited the Gas Safety Installation and Use Regulations (GSIUR1998). However, as was pointed out on this thread, I'd not make a good barrister and I have no idea how to tackle their legal team. We can't afford to hire a lawyer (who'd cost more than the £100 anyway)