Worcester 28i Junior Combi smells while running

[aptsys]

We had this boiler fitted recently, but when it's running it leaves a bit of a gassy smell in the room, although not quite as acrid as the smell of unburnt natural gas. I was under the impression that from the gas valve onward (i.e. the bits likely to smell) should be in the sealed part of the casework. Is it likely that if flue wasn't making a good seal with the casework that there would be this kind of smell in the room? Or should it not even smell if the cover is off?

My gas detector picks nothing up, and the CO meter stays at 0ppm.

Should these boilers be completely odourless when running?

My gas fitter is on holiday at the moment but will be back next week, but don't want to call him out if this is just the smell of new parts getting warm.

 

[nickso]

i hope you are not using it in the meantime.

what do you mean by gas detector? are we talking about a CO detector here or a device for detecting unburnt natural gas?

 

[Agile]

Sometimes people with a sensitive nose can smell the odour of new parts getting hot but the average person would not notice that.

Its intriguing that you have a gas leak detector and a CO meter as well.

The assumption is that if neither of these is giving a reading then there is nothing to worry about but as gas and CO can be so dangerous it would be better to get a second opinion.

Only you can know if you have an over sensitive nose. You could also call in a neighbour or two for an independent opinions.

We sometimes get called to complaints of smells and they usually turn out to be a failing fridge or dead rat etc!


Tony

 

[nickso]

Sometimes people with a sensitive nose can smell the odour of new parts getting hot but the average person would not notice that.

Its intreaguing that you have a gas leak detector and a CO meter as well.

The assumption is that if neither of these is giving a reading then there is nothing to worry about but as gas and cO can be so dangerous it would be better to get a second opinion.

Only you can know if you have an over sensitive nose. You could also call in a neighbour or two for aindependent opinions.

We sometimes get called to complaints of smells and they usually turn out to be a failing fridge or dead rat etc!


Tony

so you are now happy for what appears to be an untrained individual with unknown equipment to make a decision on whether or not his boiler is safe to use?

your usual overreaction is to call for a move into the CC. call the neighbours over? are you mental?

unless this guy reveals he is an RGI then the best thing to recommend is to turn it all off and get an RGI to look at it.

 

[aptsys]

Yeah it's a flammable gas detector I have in addition to a CO detector.

My girlfriend noticed the smell as well, which we both initially put down to the smell of new parts, especially since neither detector picks anything up. It's impossible to pinpoint where it's coming from, it just seems to suddenly appear, and can get quite strong after running a bath for example.

We've stopped using it now, and we're going to get the gas fitter to look at it when he's back from holiday, but I'm just intriged as to what could be causing the smell or where it's coming from.

I presume flue gases would give a zero reading for CO and gas if combustion is occurring correctly?

 

[nickso]

a new boiler shouldnt be making nasty smells. could be a disjointed flue or something.

the fact it is worse after running a bath shows it could be POC leaking somewhere as thats when the boiler is on full fire to provide hot enough water.

the boiler will be producing CO under normal use but thats what the flue is for, to take it outside.

dont use it again until checked.

 

[Razor900]

Whereabouts does the plastic condensate pipe terminate? Glad your not silly enough to use it til your fitter gets back.

 

[aptsys]

The condensate pipe is 22mm for a bit, then to 40mm solvent weld which joins onto the bath waste about 0.5m from the bath trap.

I noticed the hole through the wall for the flue is about 1 or 2cm in diameter wider than the flue. Should the gap be filled with mortar or something before the collar is slid into place, or is the collar on each side sufficient to prevent anything coming back in? All the screws seem tight and nothing moves. Vacuum grease is evident around all of the seals on the flue that I can see, although there is the joint in the middle of the cavity which I cannot inspect which is on the standard flue kit allowing the length to be adjusted.

Bit annoying really that I didn't notice when it was commissioned, but the windows were all open from when the gas was purged from the supply pipe.

 

[superdupergasman]

I presume the condensate pipe is after the trap of the bath down stream thus preventing the fumes coming back up the drain???

You will always get a few PPM CO from combustion, sure worcester say upto 100 ppm is ok.

 

[aptsys]

I presume the condensate pipe is after the trap of the bath down stream thus preventing the fumes coming back up the drain???

That's correct.

 

[lagunaglen]

For a non rgi you seem to know more than just an average joe about how your boiler has been fitted and what has and has not been done!!

 

[aptsys]

I have a natural interest in most things, so I helped out as much as I could and learnt a lot which allowed me to re-plumb the rest of the house as the project was pretty much a refurbishment. He offered me a job after he saw my work, but my background is electronics/electrical.

 

[namsag]

Flue has been done wrong . There should be no joint inside the cavity. Get them back if they have missed something as basic as that and you are getting smells then you must have a serious problem.

 

[aptsys]

It's this bit I mean almost where the arrow 'B' is pointing:

Where it says in the manual:

Set the flue length to the distance required, secure with screw and seal joint with the aluminium tape supplied.

 

[namsag]

Thats not a joint as such its a telescopic flue and is allowed. Its the only time you can have any sort of join in a flue that is not accesable for inspection