A really bad piece of work.

[Tim S]

Ed Sirett coughed up some electrons that declared:

I'm not so sure Ed.

When I was trying to sell my late parent's house (ha!), the first thing I did was book a CORGI chap in for a Landlord's Gas Safety check plus boiler service, partly so I'd feel happy leaving it on unattended as frost protection and partly to show the buyers.

For that I did get:

Boiler cleaned; Flue smoke tested;

I didn't get:

[1]Any sort of leak test on the pipework, no manometers, just enough fairy foam to test the joints he re-assembled;

No check on the cooker connection;

Boiler condemned due to lazy valve (you may remember, it came up here ages ago).

[1] is rather relevant because upstairs the gas pipe is in 22mm copper across notched joists just under the flooring with no iron plates, so pipe damage quite likely.

It was definately a lot less thorough in scope than an electrical PIR, and I can do the latter well enough for my own purposes.

Cheers

Tim

[John Rumm]

It does... which as originally fitted would stop the gas coming out of the cooker but not the pipe, not the best arrangement!

[Tim S]

Heliotrope Smith coughed up some electrons that declared:

is a stupidly unlikely example, would need physical contact between the iron and copper, lots of sea spray and the iron gets it in the neck rather than the copper.

It was just an example that if one were taking a "zero" risk approach, then one can some times find a (silly albeit) counterexample. By I agree, it wouldn't be a problem unless you live under the sea(!)

OK, that's good.

True.

Cheers

Tim

[Tim S]

dennis@home coughed up some electrons that declared:

Mine's at this angle and I did think it was a bit crap but I wouldn;t know if it were against regs. I don't know who did ours - I'd assumed CORGI, but could have been a kitchen fitter.

Cheers

Tim

[Ron Lowe]

So a gas bayonet arangement only seals of at the 'fitting' side, not the 'hose' side when the connection is broken?

( I've never seen one. )

Yuk. Double-Yuk.

What a cheap-skate arrangement. Works fine so long as no-one screws up.

All the hydraulic and compressed air pipework I deal with at work seals at both ends of the coupling when disconnected. Why the heck is it not fail-safe in this error condition?

[Dave Liquorice]

Yep.

Because the law (trys to) say that only properly trained and registered professionals are allowed to install this kit and properly trained professionals never, ever, make mistakes do they?

[The Medway Handyman]

Thats a very good point Ron. Hydraulic connecters are all like that as you say. I've even seen them on carpet cleaning machines & pressure wash systems. Why not gas?

[BigWallop]

I think it's because supply gas pressure is not enough for such devices. It only pushes through the pipes at milli-bars not bar pressures. There was once a bayonet set that had sprung seals in both the hose (male) and socket (female) and when pushed together the springs must have cancelled each other out in the middle to let the gas flow. But I can see down side with that arrangement and maybe it's why I haven't seen a lot of them.

[Dave Liquorice]

'Cause there isn't a need? You don't want air or dirt in a hydraulic system or hydraulic fluid sloshing out all over the place or water/cleaning chemicals from a carpet cleaner. A couple of foot of pipe containing low pressure gas isn't a hazard and won't make a mess.

[YAPH]

Well not that basic as installing something back to front like that.

[John Stumbles]

Hydraulic obviously they don't want oil escaping from either side of the coupling when it's disconnected.

The compressed air fittings I've seen are like gas cooker points in that they isolate the /supply/ when disconnected, but there's no point in isolating the load end: just more gubbins to make and install for absolutely no purpose (unless one is trying to design fittings to allow any half-arsed cowboy to fit them any way they like). You might equally ask why domestic 13A plug & socket connectors aren't made so that they shield the connectors at both ends, so if some d*****ad decides to wire the supply up to a 13A *plug* it doesn't kill anyone.

[YAPH]

In the case of the gas regs the law (as enacted by our finest at Westminster) has fairly sensibly delegated the more technical details to secondary legislation (the GSIUR) written by those with a little more clue, and the finer detail (actual industry practices, and assessment for registration) to those who may actually have knowledge and experience in the matters. By no means perfect but imagine what might happen if the politicos tried to legislate directly what sort of flux we should be using!

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Probably because on a hydraulic connector you don't want the fluid spilling when disconnected. With gas or air it doesn't matter.

[Cicero]

========================================= They do sometimes, apparently. Here's a page from the installation and servicing instructions (Worcester WR325 gas multipoint) which could be a bit misleading:

?action=view&current=Worcester003.jpg22http://tinyurl.com/59zfzmhttp://tinyurl.com/6mwaopCic.

[Cicero]

[John Rumm]

one is asking for a password...

[Ed Sirett]

We all make small mistakes from time to time. Hopefully we spot the bigger ones. However this type of mistake arises from a total ignorance about the purpose and mechanism of the fittings involved.

What I'm saying is that say in driving we all make mistakes, but you'd only sit in the driving seat backwards if you did not know how to drive at all.

[Ed Sirett]

Like they do for high power loudspeaker stacks with "Speakon" connectors.

[Ron Lowe]

Yes indeed.

A basic visual inspection of the components would show how the sealing mechanism operates, even if ( like myself ) you have no prior experience.

It is a serious error which the installer has made.

Nonetheless, human errors do occour, from DIYers, cowboys, and proffesionals. And the safest option is to design equipment which mitigates stupidity and human error as much as is reasonably possible. It is certainly reasonably possible to engineer bayonet fittings to mitigate this failure. Fittings which seal at both ends. They are in common usage elsewhere, and do not add any dis-advantage except minimal cost.

[Ed Sirett]

The general requirement to label pipes in relaxed (AIUI) for use in the home. However there are circumstances where it might be helpful and/or unobtrusive to do so.