Just had my boiler disconnected due to undersized pipes HELP

[OLLIE20]

There is an ideal air/fuel ratio for all combustion. Get away from this, and combustion is incomplete, leaving excess oxygen [= low carbon dioxide] and high carbon monoxide, itself a [very dangerous] result of incomplete combustion. With inadequate air, of course you get high everything; carbon dioxide and monoxide, and soot.

In practice, all burners are set to a small amount of excess air to be on the safety side.

Well what do you know, when i said this i was a poorly trained **** but it seems i may have something here

 

[mancy1980]

thanks for all the replies - I have been quoted £35.00 per meter (inclusive) to fit a new 22m pipe from where the 22 comes into the flat (in the hall cupboard) up to the boiler about 7-8m run in the kitchen - bypassing the cooker run

1. should this do it and allow the man to pass it and turn it back on?

2. will this provide an OK / safe pressure to run the boiler?

3. is this quote OK? - i am in Aylsford Kent if anyone (qualified... ) can quote me better - to get us back up and running - please reply asap as they may come later today


Many thanks for your help

(PS the guy that came out - his firm says all there staff are trained and it was immediately dangerous!) - all the other flats run the same pipe though????? - they will not come back out - V annoyed


John

 

[bengasman]

thanks for all the replies - I have been quoted £35.00 per meter (inclusive) to fit a new 22m pipe from where the 22 comes into the flat (in the hall cupboard) up to the boiler about 7-8m run in the kitchen - bypassing the cooker run

1. should this do it and allow the man to pass it and turn it back on?

No

2. will this provide an OK / safe pressure to run the boiler?

No

3. is this quote OK? - i am in Aylsford Kent if anyone (qualified... ) can quote me better - to get us back up and running - please reply asap as they may come later today

Cancel them, it will be better than what you have, but still not up to spec.

 

[mancy1980]

thanks for all the replies - I have been quoted £35.00 per meter (inclusive) to fit a new 22m pipe from where the 22 comes into the flat (in the hall cupboard) up to the boiler about 7-8m run in the kitchen - bypassing the cooker run

1. should this do it and allow the man to pass it and turn it back on?

2. will this provide an OK / safe pressure to run the boiler?

3. is this quote OK? - i am in Aylesford Kent if anyone (qualified... ) can quote me better - to get us back up and running - please reply asap as they may come later today


Many thanks for your help

(PS the guy that came out - his firm says all there staff are trained and it was immediately dangerous!) - all the other flats run the same pipe though????? - they will not come back out - V annoyed


John

 

[Agile]

Its not at all clear who has quoted that figure which seems rather high to me. We charge £22 per metre on a flat surface plus extra if under floor etc.

That seems very high and if by the person who turned it off then far too high as a blackmail situation.

Best to get a local independent to give you a proper quote.

The turning off firm should have told you the exact reason for turning it off.

If its any consolation BG would have turned it off but as you see many independents might not have done.

Tony

 

[mancy1980]

sorry that posted again!

Hi Ben Well what do I need to do?

thanks

John

 

[mancy1980]

just need to get this back on... so badly now

this was another firm who quoted i will cancel them then

but need to know where to go from here.

thanks

john

 

[gas4you]

You need a gas engineer to come out and measure the entire distance from the meter to the boiler, add on the number of elbows etc, see if any other gas appliances are off the same pipe run and then do a proper gas pipe sizing calculation.

From what you have said it sounds like the entire gas pipe run from the meter will need upgrading.

Don't waste money on someone doing half a job that will probably still not be up to standards.

It's just good money down the drain, a bodge and illegal.

 

[mancy1980]

sorry me again

the reason given is and I quote

'Undersized pipework'


hope this helps

john

 

[mancy1980]

thanks Dave

Its a long run thought down to the car park 40 -50m?

 

[gas4you]

Well that is a long way.

Obviously I can't give any accurate comments on the pipe size, but you will be looking at a lot of it in 35mm copper, or maybe even bigger, for a boiler that size and any other appliances you have.

This unfortunately sounds as if it is going to cost a lot of money to put right properly, and certainly not a quick couple of hours job

It will need a proper calculation and possibly re-piping in tracpipe could be the easiest way out.

Sounds as though no thought was ever given to the siting of the gas meters for these property's.

Again, I would advise you go back to the NHBC and claim off them as this has never been installed correctly or legally in the first place.

 

[mysteryman]

It may be best to get several quotes. A competent guy should be able to calculate the required pipe size - he should not be registered if he can't.

I don't see how anyone can judge this without seeing the job.

Also, has anyone checked for blockages, is there a gas cock at the inlet to the flat, has the pressure at the meter been checked?

 

[mancy1980]

hi yes the meter is fine but no one has checked for blockages?

Had British gas come over earlier on, they said they don't work on steel pipes (they are steel in the car park - fire reasons?) but checked the meter (which was OK) and in the flat - said he was getting 9 - 10 at the boiler - upgrading the pipe in the house might raise it a bit?

John

 

[Agile]

That actually creates a job we cannot do!

If I was called to upgrade your supply pipe then to do my job correctly I can either walk away or upgrade the pipe.

But I cannot ( correctly ) partially upgrade it. I can only do the full job to the current standards.

As that may require parts to be in larger steel then that could make the job over £1000 if its really 40-50m from the meter.

As suggested pester the NHBC after you have had a full quotation for doing the job properly.

Tony

 

[Onetap]

thanks for all the replies - I have been quoted £35.00 per meter (inclusive) to fit a new 22m pipe from where the 22 comes into the flat (in the hall cupboard) up to the boiler about 7-8m run in the kitchen - bypassing the cooker run

If he quoted for "22mm pipe" it suggests the pipework in the flat may be copper, rather than steel. The pipework from the car park might be steel because copper is highly attractive to thieves due to its value as scrap. A competent Gassafe technician would be able to tell you whether replacing the 15mm copper tube with a larger size would be sufficient to solve the problem or whether the external pipes also have to be replaced.

If the builder has gone bust, you should have the Benchmark commissioning documents from the boiler installation, giving the installers Corgi registration. The boiler should never have been commissioned with the undersized gas pipework. If there are no Corgi details, you may want to get the installation checked since there may be other parts of the work that are sub-standard.