DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad Gas Fitter

We were removing a back-boiler and relocating the new boiler to an upstairs. cupboard. We had removed and replaced various sections of gas pipe over a two day period always testing when the work was complete. On the last day of work we had to remove a final section of old 15mm pipe work to upgrade it 22mm. Our original (before we touched anything) tightness test showed a .22 mbar leak over two minutes. Well within the safe zone on an old house. After we finished however we recorded a 1 mbar leak. After an hour looking we found the leak in the fittings pictured above!

The funny thing about solder ring fittings is that they must be heated up in order to form a bond! While looking for the leak we tested all of our own joints and found nothing. I then started spraying the older connections. As I worked my way under the house I came across the one pictured above and the leak detector spray bubbled madly. I cut out the offending sections and it was replaced with new.

When I got back in the day light I showed it to my partner who pulled on the end and pipe just slid out. Never been soldered. It had been there at least 7 years as the homeowner remembers no gas work being done since she moved in. The leak had obviously been there but was so close to an air brick that the smell never permeated through  the floors.

Now everybody makes mistalkes. It is easy to miss soldering a joint and although most plumbers and gas fitters wouldn’t admit to it, after a twelve hour day it happens. So if the previous back boiler installer had done a tightness test and not trusted himself perhaps after a long day he would have found the leak. If he used his nose to check for leaks it didn’t work.

So now you know why a CORGI Registered installer is a must. We have the test equipment. We always use it. We always trust it.  We do our best to leave nothing to chance.

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