How Did British Gas Miss This Simple Fault?
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- Опубликовано: 12 мар 2024
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Roger helps his neighbour figure out a fault the British Gas engineer failed to spot.
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A systematic approach to fault finding is essential when tackling electrical issues in central heating systems that cause fuses to trip.
This process not only identifies the underlying cause of the problem but also ensures safety and system efficiency. Here's a comprehensive guide to diagnosing and addressing such electrical faults.
Step 1: Safety First
Before commencing any diagnostic procedures, ensure all power supplies to the central heating system are safely disconnected. This step is crucial to prevent any risk of electric shock. Use a voltage tester to verify that the system is indeed powered down.
Step 2: Visual Inspection
Begin by visually inspecting the central heating system, including the boiler, thermostats, and all associated electrical connections. Look for signs of damage, such as burnt wires, loose connections, or water ingress, which could be causing short circuits.
Step 3: Check the Fuse Box
Examine the fuse box for tripped circuits or blown fuses related to the central heating system. Replacing a blown fuse without identifying the root cause of the problem is ill-advised and could cause further damage.
Step 4: Isolate the Problem
To pinpoint the problem, isolate different system components. This can be achieved by disconnecting elements such as the boiler, thermostat, and pumps and gradually reconnecting them while monitoring the fuse box for trips. This step helps identify the faulty component causing the issue.
Step 5: Test Electrical Components
Once the problematic component is identified, a multimeter will test for continuity and resistance. A faulty thermostat, for example, might show an open circuit or abnormal resistance levels.
Step 6: Repair or Replace
Depending on the diagnosis, repair or replace the faulty component. Using compatible parts and adhering to the manufacturer's replacement guidelines is essential.
Step 7: Professional Assistance
If the fault-finding process does not resolve the tripping issue, or if you're uncomfortable performing any of these steps, it is advisable to seek professional assistance. A qualified electrician or heating engineer can provide expert diagnosis and repair.
By following these steps methodically, homeowners can effectively diagnose and resolve electrical problems in their central heating systems, preventing fuse trips and ensuring a warm, safe home environment.
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#heating #centralheating #faultfinding
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British Gas are the best in the country when it comes to charging the earth for a half arsed service.
They love ripping old people off
I just dumped them after years of p*** poor service, lies and incompetence. I only ever had two guys come to service my system that solved defects.
Just the way all big companies operate unfortunately don't bother to invest in training just dump everyone in over their heads with no help. They burn through staff constantly as you can only take being used for so long.
I'm amazed the guy didn't give the home owner a leaflet for new boilers. My advice is to get the people who make the boiler to look after it yeah it's £20 more but those guys only see a few types of boiler so they know them really well.
@FreeWhilly734 octopus are the complete opposite, best firm.
Homeserve might give them a good race to the bottom.
I signed up on their Mickey Mouse boiler repair scheme. They said my boiler qualified so I paid monthly. When it failed the engineer told me the system needed flushing as the rads were blocked and they were doing a special offer that month. When I reminded him the problem was intermittent he started getting angry. Then he said parts were no longer available so he’d give me a quote for a new system. I grabbed my phone, googled “spare parts for a…” and showed him. This made him more angry so I advised him to leave before I got angry. Cancelled my gas scam boiler scheme ten minutes after. Lesson for the delusional who still see British Gas as reputable.
they are rubbish and have been for ages all third party chancers I know from personal experience and that was the eighties
Glorified salesmen
A written letter to the complaints department and at least one email. Each should refer to the other, companies are required to respond within 21 working days, just go from there.
Well handled 👏👏
Agree! Find yourself a decent local plumber and build a relationship with them!
I bought a house from a British Gas engineer and he had done a lot of the plumbing himself, it was absolutely atrocious.
I’ve seen the most amazing installations…. Until you want to spring the pipes . All that glistens is not gold . It’s as if they deliberately choose the most awkward.. ..and new builds. The opportunity for really ruining some poor guys day , is boundless 😖😂
Tbf, you have to look very carefully at any house you buy from any tradesperson. There will be some perfectionists who use their own house as a way to do a perfect job but, in most cases, even if the vendor is otherwise very good at their trade, it ends up as a classic case of never having time to work on your own house so you bash something out to satisfy the life-partner as fast as possible in quick moments at night or at weekend
Let me guess the plumbing only worked, sometime between 8 and 6
@@cuebjso true!
Sounds about right.
I once worked for BG. I saw a lot of lieing, bodging and bullying. I left and work for myself now, maybe not the greatest but at least I'm not being threatened every single day.
BG , It's a wonder they never tried to sell the customer a new Boiler ! I used to go to faults where Companies were trying to flog a new boiler despite it only being a minor repair required .
Well done Roger . 👍
Back in the day my parents had BG's 5* contract on their Baxi boiler, they had a problem and called out BG, they where told the boiler was faulty and no spares where available and it would need replacing, chap down the road looked at it, replaced a part which fixed it, 0ver twenty years later that boiler is still going strong.
A plumber I know has recently gone self employed from being with BG for number of years I said why when you get tools insured, new van, work provided etc. his reply was “when I started I was a plumber going out fixing things and last few years iv been 50% plumber 50% salesman, and was told to sell a number of products from heating flushes, new boilers, Hive etc.
You have it!@@fredbloggs72
No, but I'm willing to bet that was a thought they had rather than the safety of the Householder, should be held accountable for the potential lethality of it!
If only we all had a friend or neighbour like Roger!
As an ex lift engineer fault finding was my bread and butter. Earth faults were fairly common and resolving them was good fun. It was amazing how just using your ears, eyes and nose sorted things out. Nice one Roger 👍🏼
Great point!
As with the ‘life or death’ maintenance standard imposed upon lift mechanics - we are entitled to reliable standards in every other form of repair.
My Dad was a Gaffer at British Gas on the change over from Town Gas. He always said he would not let half of the blokes loose touch his own house.
We had a BG engineer out for a routine home-heating service. A few minutes into the job, she came through (with a smile on her face) to say that a component had snapped during removal, and since she determined the boiler was obsolete, we would just have to get her to fit a new boiler. She even admitted that this was the 5th or 6th she had broken that week. Not surprisingly, we were not happy. Contacted BG to complain but were completely ignored. We eventually gave in and had a replacement installed by another company (at a fraction of the cost suggested by the BG Engineer) and cancelled all servicing agreements with BG for our home and the other properties within our family.
None of that happened
@@lewisconway6431that is not an uncommon story. Also they lie about obsolete part
@@lewisconway6431 why?
I'd love to see the sequel: "When the British Gas guy came back to repair the valves."
Remember a few years ago, BG produced TV ads starring Ricky Tomlinson, a great actor, loveable Scouse rogue and star of the series Royle Family. BG really thought that their company's image was best represented and promoted by a character famously work-shy and untrustworthy. Just the sort of chap you'd welcome into your home during a crisis!
All Scousers are rouges , don't know about lovable though
What most amazed me about that ad was that he was promoting a recently privatised firm and dissing the self employed
5:02 You are incredibly correct with this comment.
Diagnostics is the biggest aspect of repair that so many businesses seem to overlook these days. If you haven't taken the time to diagnose the fault then you're just changing items willy-nilly and hoping that you guess correctly. Proper diagnostics is an art but those who can do it can save a huge amount of frustration for customers and other tradespeople.
I've posted elsewhere, it's the same in all spheres of work. about 1970, my mother went back to nursing (after start in 1939 in Liverpool blitz and then pioneering community based family health in Liverpool then Northern Nigeria before meeting Dad and having us four children). She did a night or two at the local hospital. I still remember her comment about doctors having lost the ability to diagnose. Even then, they took samples and sent them away to a lab for someone to test for just one thing. Doctors didn't have to think and weren't paid to do so. Contrast doctors and teachers exiled by Stalin and successors to remote parts of Russia with few backup resources had to think and diagnose so their patients got better treatment than we got here.
We have cut price, short 'training courses' that don't teach understanding but only train to do one or two tasks by rote. Also, we don't pay enough so high turnaround on a job is what counts, not solving the issue.
Systems Thinking management models equip and empower front line tradespeople to take their time, analyse, solve without having to log everything on a workflow database where automated email response means you hit your time target but nothing ever gets done.
British Gas: years ago we had a service plan with them and gave them a call after smelling gas. A very grumpy technician came out, waved a sniffer about, declared we had a gas leak under the concrete floor (conveniently *not* covered by the plan), put a DO NOT USE sign on the gas main and left.
We were suspicious so called out an independent tech' who identified the old gas fireplace as the source. We were going to get rid of it anyway so that was pulled and the piping capped off. Job done and no further problems.
My guess is the BG guy was unhappy as he couldn't use the leak as an excuse to sell us a new boiler.
Two separate companies
British Gas hasn’t been involved in gas emergency work for well over 20 years. I work as a first call operative for NGN.
@@user-xg6zy2oi9c Briish Gas took the money and the technician they sent out was wearing a uniform with their logo on it, so separate company or not it's BG group and as far as I'm concerned they therefore hold the can.
@@loc4725 it’s amazing how many people see what they want. The T-shirt will
Have been national grid, northern gas, Scottish gas networks or wales and west. Nothing to do with British Gas whatsoever unless it was over 20 years ago in which case it was still transco who attended your leak.
Our neighbours had a gas leak- while they were away. You could smell it in the street. Grumpy technician comes out and basically said I'm wasting his time, 'It'll be the boiler firing and not burning off all the gas'... Two days later the fire brigade had to be called to ventilate the house as when they opened the door the air was dense with gas.
Shockingly poor. Could have killed people with their desire to ignore work.
Considering the customers knew it was something to do with the boiler making it trip, for him not to notice that was shoddy.
Yes indeed the customer is as equally competent as BG. 🤣
Nice one Rodger. Youre absolutely right. When i heard BG had just topped up the boiler, i thought ohh goodness, here we go. I had BG change a noisey pump in the boiler. OK all fixed...and off he went. Wouldnt work at all afterwards. Next day, different guy took the cover off. The previous guy had drowned the control board !! Ffs
That is difference between some one who is Licensed, and one that is "Certified" by their employer. I am a multi Licensed Plumbing & HVAC Contractor with a Boiler Installer License up to Nuclear in Detroit area. Most employee's of Plumbing & HVAC Contractors are not licensed, and very few have went to a pay for it type of Trade school. The opportunities of actually getting into a Union Apprenticeship are nil, compared to when I did in January of 1979, and I only got in from a friend whose Dad, Brother & Brother In Law were in Local, and I ended up as apprentice to the Brother In Law. Now I am in 60's working alone because no young folks want to get involved, and the cost of being in business is around $4500 a year in US Dollars for Licenses, Liability and large van Insurance. For just me alone that is a large amount to cover, before any profit.
It sounds like these problems are international. Why we have to pay so much just to go to work is beyond my comprehension. Truck drivers don't need to take a test every three years
@@SkillBuilder looking at some of them I think they ought to be tested every 3 years. They certainly need reminding not to use their phones on a daily basis.
@@SkillBuilder Did city and guilds plumbing up to level two out of my own pocket, bpec unvented hot water and hetas solid fuel with hot water. Gas safe? Last time I checked you had to enter indentured servitude for at least 6 months with some dude already "in the club". BS. Any problem, fault finding or installation training scenario is easily set up in the lab, I saw them. Would have loved to have done it. Couldn't afford to work for nothing for 6 months trying to beg some pee rick to sign me off (which he wouldn't want to do as creating competition for himself). Then they complain about a lack of "qualified plumbers" 🙄
I diagnosed a failed actuator on my hot water system, and British Gas wanted £299 plus parts to fix it. I picked up an identical actuator at Screwfix for £54, swapped it for the old one in 15 minutes, and the hot water problem is now fixed.
In fairness doing anything yourself will always be cheaper as you cut out the labour costs of a paid professional. If you'd got a reputable independent it wouldn't have been much cheaper as they need to earn a living, so it's not really BGs fault in this case.
What you need to remember though is a lot out there are not capable of doing that
Yeah I’m guessing you didn’t charge yourself labour?
@@sdbrogsat £100 an hour, still a bargain.
@@noggintube I don’t think any decent guy would charge 300 quid to change a zone valve actuator though 😂
In very rare cases, an rcd can be faulty. A neighbour of mine had the whole house on an rcd which kept tripping. I tested the rcd: it was tripping out at 5 mA!! When the lady told her electrician, he didn't believe her, until he tested it.
BG: "you've had someone else fiddle with this so you're not covered"
Ahh good point:(
If they are told its Rodger that's diagnosed the problem ,after their man didn't I think they'll just fix it or face his wrath on another video .
Yes ; that's coming.
You've had an inexperienced cowboy working on it is what big will say. Herd them say it to one of my customers on the phone . Only been a hvac engineer for 29 years what do I know . They even threatened to ridor me lol
As usual BG are no help, just interested in the money.
Haha, excellent!
The difference between Roger and the BG bloke is that Roger has an excellent brain, whereas …
Like you I was a self employed field engineer for Rayburn and Waterford Stanley C heating Cooke’s as well as AGA cookers. When we went out on a fault we carried every conceivable spare part in our vans to repair the appliance, if it was an intermittent fault we didn’t charge until it was fixed. Intermittent faults can be a real pain, but with years of experience, we could almost diagnose what was wrong from what the customer told us, so mostly we could go straight to the fault,. My experience of British gas engineers isn’t great one of their engineers after replacing a control valve on a gas boiler left a gas leak, when he was came back he couldn’t find it. Even though I’m now retired and therefore not classified as gas safe, I had to go search for the leak it was on the burner side of the gas valve, the gas engineer hadn’t fitted the O ring seal. I made up a temporary seal from an old inner tube but then insisted the gas engineer return and replace it with a proper O ring.
We did Five Year Apprentiship as a Heating and Ventilation Engineer, and covered everything from Micro bore to 6" Cast Iron, Lead, Malleable Iron Screwed and Welded, Lead, with Gas, Oil, Solid Fuel ( worm fed) feed, Commercial and Domestic learning every aspect of the Trade.
I have to Laugh when this lot tell me they are "Heating Engineers" and Gas Engineer is what exactly.
As part of the Apprenticeship you worked with the Service Engineer (proper).
Those days are gone, your a Butcher now if you can take the shrink wrap off 😊.
Roger you're a great problem solver.
This was page one of the manual. Very easy
I think he'd take the praise but say it's not him being particularly good but other folks being far worse at the job than their job title indicates. It's the same in every field of work from trades to tech. A friend's daughter started training as a radiographer with a well known teaching hospital - within a few weeks she was bullied towards taking a management job! she refused as she had barely started. The hospital had a staff chart to fill up and that's all HR was concerned with. It's partly low pay in NHS that means nobody wants to go into it as a career unless they have some sense of calling (so they get taken advantage) or they don't give a damn and climb the greasy pole with no idea of what their team does
I happened to receive yet another letter yesterday asking me to take out a plan to cover our plumbing etc. Glad I chucked it on the fire now!
Nice find. Good bit of info for me as an apprentice. Cheers Roger 👍🏼
I would love a follow up Vid on this to see what British Gas says after you found this.
I am not going to invite their response because it could end up with the guy getting into hot water. See what I did there?
Good one Rodger ever thought of a comedy career 😂😂
Nice one.@@SkillBuilder
The motorised valves are one of the top things on the list to check if something isnt right. No end of issues with them !
and looked really handy to get to, not like had rip up fitted carpet, and floor board to get at them?
British Gas aren't the quality they were before privatisation. The training used to be really good. Now they just use subbies.
A customer of mine had a boiler pressure drop for five years.
They told him all sorts of nonsense, leaking pipes buried in the walls etc.
Out of desperation he asked me to have a look. I checked every pipe in the loft, every radiator etc.
Finally I found the leak inside the boiler casing. Just a weeping compression, it was dripping onto a hot pipe and evaporating almost straight away.
Five years of British Gas and a bricklayer solves the problem.
Bricklayers lay bricks!
@@thermion7869 Yes we do but sometimes you have to sort out what British Gas can't
They mainly have direct labour. Sub contractors are used when work load demands.
You're pretty correct on the quality though, there's some great engineers, and an awful lot more terrible ones.
That's speaking from experience too.
Yes Roger, spot on about the difference of being self employed. I'll ad this to your other video on fault finding, thanks a million!
Basic fault finding mind set. There are leaders and there are followers Roger😊
Well done Roger!
Last BG engineer who came to service my boiler asked *me* how to get the cover of the boiler off. Unbelievable. Then later the inevitable new boiler sales pitch took place. They've been trying to sell us new one for the past 12 years.
First visual checks on receiving a report of "my electrics tripping when we switch the heating isolator on" is pump and motorised valves. But as an electrician I can then call our support line back up and send the heating engineer to change them and I can get to the next job.
miss your tv programmes in the 90's ,your advice was priceless !! thank you !!!
I am amazed anyone still remembers them. It was a long time ago.
@@SkillBuilder you helped people long before youtube 😁 , mr green also circa 1996 , brilliant shows, milions will remember them !
The two possible faulty 2 port valves seem to serve the heating circuit probably zoned the other two port is labelled as 'Hot water' so no point in turning the immersion heater on but well spotted for doing BG's job. Its all about observation as you have stated and if that fails to identify the fault then begins the process of elimination
Yes you are right. I turned the immersion on just to speed things up a bit so they could get a shower, having been without hot water for a couple of days.
I was talking to a BG "Engineer" (son of a family friend) he had been to another friends house repeatedly to fix a boiler (BG CONtract customer), they want me to replace the boiler but BG will charge a fee to cancel the contract due to the number of call outs, The "Engineer " seemed impressed with his 60 something % first time fix rate!!
Outstanding camera work, Alex😊
I had a combi fitted by BGas in 2006. It went so badly it was put out of action by Corgi the next day. Holes left in the outside wall, flue all wrong and sagging, leaks of water etc. It took them at least 5 attempts to sort it out. I put it up on a heating website forum and it went to 50 pages. When the managing rep finally came he offered just £50 compensation. I told him "look unless you fix this and sort it all out to my satisfaction both technically and financially, I will put this farce on every single plumbing and heating website in the UK, not just the one so far. By the end of the month you won't be able to fit even a tap anywhere in the UK!" They sorted it pretty quick after that.
Nicely solved there Rog. I’ve got an old potterton boiler and a boiler mate 3 thermal store with a full pressure hot water heat exchanger. I had a British Gas monthly insurance. I had a problem with it and the guy didn’t know the system. I cancelled it and fixed it myself. Fixed my mates around the corner too. Do a bit of research and it’s worth doing it yourself if you’re a bit handy.
Remember, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing'.
Great work Roger.
Super troubleshoot and fault find. Quality. There is less and less about...👍👏👏👏
“Solid rust”! Haha. Brilliant Roger, as always!
What is 'Solid Rust?
Common sense clearly evades the British Gas engineer, or he’s in the early stages of his career. Well done Roger 👏
Neither. They've done a few training courses to turn up. work by rote for the one or two things they've been 'trained' to do, then leave as fast as possible. Not necessarily at an early stage, could easily be an old hand who couldn't make it in the real world or who joined BG from some other work life on the promise of being trained and certified
Because they “fired” their good engineers, and “rehired” newly qualified smart meter installers……..
Same thing they did for coppers.
@@thedave7760 And telephone engineers and, in my and my colleagues case, data miner-scientists were made redundant by vapourware that promised to automate what we did but, after we were cleared out, the new system completely failed by never even starting to deliver
Government had the opportunity to outlaw that practice. They discussed it in parliment. Would upset the donors though so just brush it under the carpet.
In fact they have removed certain workers rights since leaving the EU. Downgrading and demoralising the workforce.
I’d be asking for my BG Homecare premium back for the year
Motor trade is no better know it alls and know nowt
I'm not surprised by this from BG, after all they claim to do a boiler service when it's not even close to a service
Tell me about it!
We had the same problem with those ESi valves, (About 5 years old) just before we were moving out so had to get it fixed quickly. I diagnosed the problem myself before calling a plumber to swap the valve bodies.
I had the basic BG annual service contract. Cancelled it after they started scalping their employees and messing with their conditions. No wonder they're getting worse.
A local, independent heating engineer a friend recommended is leagues better. He's kept a 20+ year boiler working fine (long story, but replacing it wasn't easy as I'm in a B-listed flat) and was happy for me to source parts, he explains what he's doing and why. Great guy, very reasonable prices, generally turns up when he said he will, too. I'm replacing the boiler soon and having him do it, too.
All down to experience I suppose, well done mate
Keep up the good work
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Nice diagnosis
Great spot Roger.
My wife rented her gaff out and we got a service contract from BG thinking we were doing the right thing, long story short they were rubbish for reasons like Roger shows. Switched to paying as and when needed maintenance from a local firm recommended by the agent and all in all it was cheaper, quicker and with better results. There's not a bargepole long enough for me to touch them with.
You can join barge poles together!
Roger, you’re a really cleaver man! Well done 👍🏽
I don't want to sound falsley modest but my abilites are nothing but average, most plumbers would find this with similar ease. I think the reason the engineer didn't find this is because he didn't want to.
definite new boiler,only because its so old..great video ,that wc turned out well .
I'm a carpenter by trade and even I know not to let British Gas anywhere near my house. They are the biggest bunch of scammers in the UK today. Every self employed plumber I've ever met says the same thing about them. I've been using a gas boiler for 30 years and always use independent plumbers if there are any issues. BG is the worst of Britain.
Can't believe someone missed such an easy find and fix
I like your diagnostic thinking, Roger. Reminds of a similar scenario nearly 50 years ago. My girlfriend's mother had a simple wall mounted gas heater in the hall which wouldn't ignite. Apparently, several visits from various Gas Board engineers couldn't resolve the problem. As an apprentice mechanical engineer, I offered to have a look ....... 20 minutes later it was working perfectly! You just need to know what you're looking for 😁 I wouldn't trust British Gas to service a candle! By the way, really enjoy your videos. All the best, Phil
Well done Roger for sorting it. Think how much profit they could make if they gave a good service. They are making soooo much money, they don’t care… 🤬🤬🤯
Roger like you I always look beyond the obvious and I have a very good knowledge of mechanical and electrical apparatus, however, I had a submersible water pump that growled when operated, sometimes it would start up but often not. After spending 6 months trying to find the problem even involving the manufacturer I gave in and bought a very expensive replacement. We had checked and even replaced capacitors checked resistances, put other devices on the power socket. It sounded just as if there was a high resistance somewhere and put it down to a winding in the motor. During the fitting of the new motor we had to disconnect the feed in the consumer box it served from the 20 amp MCB trip and found that the connection to the busbar was showing signs of heat and the screw was not as tight as it should have been the connection went through the main consumer unit then a smaller on to the pump we had only checked the secondary one - there was the resistance job done. Intermittency is more common than one would believe and very hard to detect in electrical apparatus.
Just shows how common sense is no longer very common! Great Video Roger...
Nice to watch a systematic approach to problem solving coupled with a wide-angle view. I've always wondered why zone valves aren't designed with flanges, like pumps, to make them much much much easier to replace:-)
you can buy flanges for them
I was self employed too roger, and I got more work, when British Gas visited the job, just wanted to replace anything and everything.
He works in a mysterious way!
Very well presented and easy to follow diagnostics. I will not deal with BG in any circumstances. Local tradesmen are usually much better. Find one that you van trust and stick with them.
Shocking!! Well spotted.
Had a BG service contract once for my combi that was originally installed by them. A different bloke came each year and declared the previous service wasn't done properly. Eventually 1 guy declared my system didn't have an expansion vessel either external or internal to the boiler! One was fitted FOC but how on earth was the system built like that by BG in the 1st place?
Each year they wanted huge price increases and I told them no. Eventually they wouldn't budge and I went to a local independent for servicing. 1st time they serviced it, they showed me the muck inside the boiler and the filter..... never cleaned in 5 years they said.
When the water heater started to weep, they recommended I go direct to Worcester for replacement as it would cost less and be fixed quicker. I did and for a fixed sum Worcester replaced not just the heater but also a host of other things that may affect the resultant performance, to avoid a recall and an unhappy customer.
Don’t you just love engineers who know a d understand what they are doing l wished you lived near me
Brilliant
Great - Easy to follow.
I have some inspection work to do; - I just re-pressurised my mums heating AGAIN but am having to do it more frequently, - no radiators have leaks, but now I know where to look! - NICE ONE!
Pressure relief valve or expansion vessel more likely
If you keep losing pressure check the expansion tank first, those tend to be a common failure point
@@anthonym9754 - as in, there is an internal diaphragm?
@@ANTHONYBOOTH The water expands as it heats up and passes the relief valve (normally to outside where you cant see it.) The water cools and you have lost pressure. Buy an external expansion tank and tee it to a heating pipe somewhere.
Due to past experiences I wouldn't let a BG "engineer" across my threshold, they are the definition of useless.
Glad you said the electrics were off, had me worried there.
As a sparky when I did my apprenticeship it was with a company who only ever really worked on commercial new builds, so I used to struggle with fault finding and diagnosing issues, yet it was still taught on the course, including the basic ‘obvious steps’ I wonder if this is another example of courses and training being de-skilled leading to issues like this.
Very interesting and informative good to know, thank you.
BG will be demanding a paid for powerflush if the customer wants ongoing cover.
True
would love to work with you, your experience is priceless
leaks always leave traces after some time and therefore they're quite easy to spot. I had slow pressure drop in my system but after a couple of months some lime scale started showing up on one of the pipes near the boiler, it was just a compression fitting with plastic olives to connect thin wall tube to existing thick wall tube, such connections are relatively weak and need some tightening from time to time. Or a better solution, connect to the thick walled pipe with a threaded connection on one side and compression or press fit on the thin walled pipe.
But the installer apparently chose this solution because there was no room to use a thread cutter.
Well known Boiler Company gave myself and another few lads some great advice about similar situations like this. Such as removing extermal outputs on the boiler termjnal and putting back the factory loop which will indicate clearly if it is a short circuit with the boiler or external controls Mvs etc. Great video I come across this problem from time to time usually a hidden Motorised valve behind a cylinder in a hot press.👍
Hot press is airing cupboard on this side of the Irish Sea. I am now multilingual.
@@SkillBuilder 🤣
1986, bought a flat with a gas instant water heater. It had a gentle drip. Took the covers off, drip was coming off the bottom of the water pressure valve, that connects to the gas valve above it. Being naieve, called BG. A young boy arrived a week later, pointed vaguely at the whole thing, and declared it needed a new one, headed off to order it. 5 weeks later, they called to make an appointment to fit it. On the day, they didn't arrive. They'd lost the part.
The boiler had a good booklet with it, with exploded diagram of the parts. I called the manufacturer. "Common issue, tiny seal failed, just needs the diaphragm and seal, gas part unaffected, being a motor engineer, should be within my abilities." He described the procedure, and looking at the parts diagram, looked ok. Parts dept took the order, jiffy bag arrived two days later. 20 mins to fit, all good. Called BG, they were stunned. They asked the price of the parts, less than £10. Stunned silence. I think they'd ordered the whole gas/water valve assembly. Dodged a bullet.
Seems they've not got better in the intervening 38 years.
Should really be an isolation valve either side of those zone valves so when things like this happens you can replace them without draining anything down. Good spot on the diagnosis👍
Roger, that was awesome
Would love to have Roger as my neighbour.
Had a problem with my old Worcester Combi last year, was about 10 years old, soon after lighting went into reset mode with no error code (no display, light flashes were generic). If you forced it to burn for about 20 mins by leaving the hot water running it fixed itself until turned off. Last winter 22-23 had the central heating running 24 hours at min temperature - like a car that wouldn't restart so you left it running. Spent about £800 on guys to "fix" it but they couldn't as it was intermittent, last guy said "maybe replace it".
So I did, £4k later + scaffolding and "just in case" gas supply reroute and it seems fine now. If only there had been something obvious I could blame.
Flame rectification issue about £70 for new spark electrode and flame rectification 15min fix sorry to say
@@russellsmith6476Not sure, it lit reliably but went into reset mode within minutes, even with constant demand. If you kept at it long enough it warmed up and then kept going.
Excellent as always. Really goes to show the importance of getting a reputable tradesman in. Those service contracts are a joke, and the cost of them - you could replace items cheaper.
Good find that
Well done!
Well sorted Roger.
There was another drip but he left in a Blue Van 😊 …. Nice vid mate 😊
Tripping power, so he topped up the expansion vessel?🥺
There are a lot of Gas Safe guys thats simply don’t know how to fault find,
My nephew had a problem with his Ideal Mexico heat only boiler pilot light going out after about 10 mins, the gas safe guy changed the flame detector thermocouple, still the same, he changed the gas valve, still the same, after £150 with no fix he gave me a call to take look.
Found 2 issues, 1st the universal thermocouple was a little shorter than the original and so only just touched the flame, 2nd I noticed when it stopped calling for heat and the burner went out, I noticed the pilot light being pulled away from the thermocouple quite dramatically, it’s a balanced flue so found this odd, I asked when was it serviced last, he said I don’t know, which code for never, on checking the flue through the heat exchanger we found it was virtually blocked, after giving a thorough clean its working fine, Im not Gas safe approved just an aircraft engineer, so I told him to call a gas safe guy to double check everything, but who knows who he’ll get?
yes it made me laugh.
Oh yeah, if your customer is in doubt of your actual skills just wave your certificate at them!
I worked for BG for a long time, sadly productivity is rewarded by the number of jobs not the quality and this is the end result.
That's the work culture in most big corporations. Tick the box, fulfil the "quota" to satisfy the next empty suit up the chain. What actually happens in real life? Ha hah! This is far below the consideration of the average diversity course attendee clown!😅
Fantastic as ever, agree with you change the whole valve never the motor, I always teach that. regards, George Staszak Mr Combi 🤩👍
I change lots of motors. If the body is good there is no need to change it. Save the customer some money and the drain down.
I disagree, it's not my place to think about customer wealth, I think how to do the best job, also by remaining down I can check the E Vessel + inhibitor etc. the customer gets a better system. George Staszak PS I wound change ALL the valves because they are the same age which stops future breakdowns.@@SkillBuilder
Good call Roger
Unbelievable 😳. As an engineer it is always easy for people to say “ is that all it was how come it took all that time to find it” once you have found the fault. But seriously that is one of the first places you would look it, sure wouldn’t survive long working for himself. Those valves are a very poor design a small leak tracks straight through into the control head. Great video
Faced the same issue when I used to live in London
The problem with them underfloor heating valves is that they will usually not move during the warmer months. They should be functioned weekly to prevent this kind of thing happening.
Hey Rodger, Regin make a five way connector for the valves . They are a great safe way to leave the system with a temporary link and for swapping valves in future.
hi Christiac
BG came and replaced the valves and used those very connectors. I have never used them but I will put some on the van because they are dead handy. Thanks for the tip, I didn't know who made them.
Not really related, but I recently woke up on a Sunday to no power in the house.The mains had tripped so I did all the isolate and follow things. The fault had me going for 4 hours, jumping from circuit to circuit. I ended up stripping the auto gate motor, replacing a socket, replacing the main incoming trip switch (at 500 bucks!) and pulling sizable chunks of hair out. The fault went from one room to another on wall sockets, lights and even the solar geyser back up. At the end, in desperation, I remade the end of an unused but plugged in extension lead....fault gone. There was no sign of corrosion or stray bits of wire in the end of the lead, but.... Help me understand! as Derek says!
I used to have a bg contract, overtime they serviced the boiler it would break down after about 2-days. One bloke cracked the printed circuit board being ham fisted changing the prv
Nicely done Roger , maybe the gas man’s boss should see this vid . Do these guys get any training ???
Years ago had a boiler set alight the board it was mounted to in the loft space (fire didn’t spread thankfully). BG install, BG technicians came out and tried to sell a new boiler rather than apologise profusely and put things right. Wish I had a secret microphone up there to hear their actual opinions.
Just using your head really works, good on ya mate.
I am not a heating engineer or plumper but even I knew what to check in order to trace this issue. Something I always do when looking for weeping joints is to put baby powder on your hands, as soon as the smallest amount of moisture touches your finger you will see it straigh away. I find this helps especially with cold copper pipes.
stop eating all the biscuits then PLUMPER
I’ve got a vaillant 843 combi top of the range ,it’s been a pain in the arse constant f23 vaillant told me it’s not an economical fix, plumber didn’t register it so had no warranty so I had loads of people look and no idea in the end I fixed it. It was the ntc sensor cost £10
Stick with your Vaillant theres not too much goes wrong, and tech support has always been great in my experience.
Worcester on the other hand, awful from product to engineer!!!!
@@GretatheEvilGremlin Worcester boilers are far better than Vaillant. I have replaced many more parts on a Vaillant then I have done on a Worcester 😎😂
@@customhoused4335 Cool. Next time I inherit any Worcester shite, you may have it FOC when ive stripped it out. 👍
@@customhoused4335Possibly due to age. Worcester don't last long enough to become "old".
Awesome work Roger, I've been totally seen off twice by British Gas in the past. They are totally non-accountable for their corrupt practices.
Mine leaked on the spindle like that about five years ago, probably quite a common fault, can't complain after fifteen years though.