DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad ‘Gas Fitters’

Now here’s one we see on a very regular basis and I do mean regular. The gas fitting on the wall has been installed incorrectly and in such a way as to cause mechanical damage to the gas hose when the cooker is withdrawn.

The above pictures show an incorrectly installed gas hose.  The gas hose plugs into the wall socket at a 90 degree angle to the wall. The hose is not free to move and is therefore apt to damage. The regulations state that the flexible connections must be fitted in a position which avoids mechanical damage such as abrasion from kitchen furniture. That could be from cupboard doors, drawers, the cooker itself or the stability bracket.

Approximately 80% of the gas cookers we’ve visited over the years have an incorrectly installed wall socket. The reason for this we feel is down to the use of the newer micro-point hoses. The micro-point gas hose comes with a right angled fitting on the end of it where as the older and more common straight bayonet hose didn’t. Installers use both hoses as direct replacements for each other. They are not and here’s why.

Photo 1:  example of a correctly installed straight bayonet x 1/2″ BSP taper male gas hose plugged into angled bayonet socket

Photo 2:  the straight bayonet hose has been removed to facilitate the installation of a new cooker

Photo 3:  installer removes the bayonet socket and replaces it with aplug-in micropoint™ socket

Photo 4: installer plugs in new micro-point gas hose and the connection is now incorrect.

Photo 5:  The original wall-mounted elbow should have been removed and refit so that the socket will now be installed to the side. The hose is now hanging freely in such a way so that if the hose is pulled it can freely rotate around the socket as shown in the last photo.

So check your newly installed cooker now. If it looks like photo four then it’s been installed incorrectly.

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