Carbon monoxide alarm from gas fire

[AGAS]

WTF ... if you know its not fitted properly why are they still using it ?? he sounds like a right knob and hasn't a clue ,

Flavel ,However they sent in a guy who has told them the fire is not suitable for the flue

so you have an engineer out from the fire manufacturer who says the flue is wrong , then you call the previous knobend engineer who you know fooked up seriously and let him reinstall the fire back to the way it was wrong . FFS !!! . who would you believe more , the original engineer or the fire manufacturer engineer ?????? . is it that you want this fire installed quickly as possible or is it the price of other engineers ?? something does not sound right or your not telling the whole story . report the ****

 

[danlightbulb]

I'm telling the whole story. Listen - my parents have had 2 supposed gas safe registered people in! He did the CO test.

I have told them not to use it but I need a way forward. Who can we trust? The Flaval engineer wouldn't do anything with it after he said the flue was wrong so what now? We don't know what the next step is.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Get a gas safe inspection carried out..... It's what we pay our annual fee's for.

A link has already been posted.

 

[gas112]

the flue is wrong you have been told so WHY get someone back in to refit it to the wrong flue FFS its not rocket science

 

[danlightbulb]

Ok. I have spoken to my dad about that and tried to convince him to raise the complaint. At the moment they are reluctant - I think they are worried about confrontation.

My dad has looked at the list on the gas safe register with a view to get someone else. In this area there are hundreds of people. They would get someone else but how do you prevent another cowboy?

 

[danlightbulb]

the flue is wrong you have been told so WHY get someone back in to refit it to the wrong flue FFS its not rocket science

I get it totally. But the fitter says it's safe. He says he has checked it and it's safe!

 

[gas112]

In slight defence of the installer the instruction manual is sh#te it just says fit to standard BS EN 1858 and gives no cross sectional area and minimum dimensions of the actual flue so if he is a new boy hey might not realise that all precasts are not the same .
Every manual always used to show minimum sizes regardless of the cross sectional area being met. So i bet thats what the flavel guy is getting at
YOU HAVE NOW HAD SEVERAL VERY VERY EXPERIENCED GASMEN on here say do not use it but your choosing to disregard us me and Steel only have coming on for 80 years of experience between us guess we know fek all

 

[Steelmasons]

Fook me 112 , that's a few years when you put it like that.....
Possibly Dimlightbulb wants his inheritance early...

 

[gas112]

I know steel with my 30 and your 50 it soon adds up

 

[Steelmasons]

You're a tad older than me 112...

 

[danlightbulb]

There's no need to get a little harsh with me.

No one has actually been able to say what the cause is. So the flue may be too small - but the 'gas safe' engineer (my dad says he is about his age so 60 ish) says it is safe. My dad says the fitter checked the whole house today with the device including the loft. He says it is safe.

It's been installed for a year and never an alarm before. And the fire oxypilot device didn't trip the night the alarm went off.

We (me and parents) don't know why this can have been fine all year then on this one night the alarm went off. They don't know if they are overreacting and they feel raising a gas safe check may be unfair on the installer - who as I said checked the whole house today.

I know that by the letter of the regulations the fire manufacturer specifies the BS standard of the flue - but as I've said it's been running for a year!

They want more certainty before paying probably several hundred pounds for a new fire.

There is no need to say jokes about me wanting inheritance early. You may also think it's black and white open and shut case as fitters here and I get that but how do we know any other fire fitter or fire shop they get will be any better.


What we know:
* the flue doesn't meet the required BS standard.
* they had the CO alarm go off once, in over a year of operation
* there is some discolouration around the chrome trim at the top of the fire
* the manufacturer engineer wouldn't work on the fire because he simply said the flue doesn't meet spec.
* their original fitter who they have used for around 3 years for servicing and repairs has run a CO print out, has provided a report on a 'gas safe' headed form and has checked the upstairs and loft; and says its safe.
* the original fitter may not have removed the baffle spigot - but we don't know on what basis he made that choice.
* that the original fitter has left the fire slightly loose at the bottom.

What we dont know:
* How serious a problem it is that the flue doesn't meet specification.
* Whether this spigot piece should be in or not, how important that choice is.
* Why the fire has been operating ok for a year.
* What caused the CO alarm to go off that night.
* Why the alarm went off but the oxypilot didn't trip.
* Whether any independant installer picked off a gas safe certification list will tell them any different from their current installer.

At the moment the only hard fact is the flue specification issue. But clearly the installer thinks this isn't an issue. Why? We all know that standards are not always complied with but does that single issue alone make it unsafe, if he has done all these tests?

 

[Dan Robinson]

There's no need to get a little harsh with me.

Gruff barstewards we may be, but it is because we love our industry and do actually care about the general public and their safety.

Gas Safe will come out free of charge and settle the matter once and for all.

 

[danlightbulb]

Gruff barstewards we may be, but it is because we love our industry and do actually care about the general public and their safety.

Gas Safe will come out free of charge and settle the matter once and for all.

I have tried to get my parents to follow that option, but they are reluctant to drop the installer in it. They have seen him do all these tests and seen the print outs on the CO device.

If we get the gas safe people out, my mom said 'well how can we trust his opinion over that of the installer - what if the gas safe people just send someone just as bad'? They also said - 'if the gas safe person just says the fire doesn't meet flue spec without substantiating it further then we are no better off in knowledge'.

 

[Dan Robinson]

They will send an independant inspector - who probably knows the installer. It is the fairest path.

For example... a couple of years ago, I had an engineer install a water heater under my instruction. There was an issue with the size of the gas pipe that was unknowable until the heater was commissioned - my guy correctly refuse to commission the unit and it caused a bit of an issue with the customer as running a new supply was a monumentally troublesome and expensive undertaking.

A gas safe inspector was called in and it all ended well for both parties.


Years before that I had a malicious complaint by a muppet that didn't want to pay for a boiler service. He complained about me to Gas Safe, who immediately saw through tactics and told him to foxtrot oscar.

If your parent's installer has done the right thing then he has nothing to worry about. If he has messed up, then he needs to be stopped before he does it again and DOES causer a fatality.


Why do posters here think they are the ONLY ones in the world? Your installer works for dozens of other people. Just as thousands read the posts in these forums. Which is why we don't give advise of gas repairs.

 

[AGAS]

FFS ......