On 11/11/2019 12:33, John Rumm wrote:
On 11/11/2019 11:20, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
GB pretended :
Surely, he did a pressure drop test?

That I don't know - I wasn't living there and was working away. It was
a chromed copper pipe 'soldered' into an elbow, where the chrome had
not been removed by the BG engineer. As anyone with any experience
will know, you cannot solder onto chrome.

I had smelled a slight smell of gas every time I had been there, put
put it down to the new water heater. One day when I visited it was
particularly strong, so I investigated and found the pipe loose in the
solder elbow with signs that it had been attempted to be soldered. One
accidental kick and it would have been completely out. I isolated the
gas and called the GB out on an emergency.

It might well have passed a pressure test when first installed, but
like many jobs it relies on work being done with competence.

Its possible for a fluxed up but not soldered capillary fitting to pass
a soundness test, since the absolute pressure is pretty low (typically
= 30 mBar) it won't blow apart like it will with water. However give
time / vibration etc it will leak eventually.

When I first moved in the gas supply was capped and the meter missing -
as was the boiler, header tank radiators and gas fire (the house had
been repossessed and either the owner or someone he owed money to had
stripped it ... luckily the hot water tank was too difficult for them to
get out).

I fitted a fire and enquired about getting the meter put back in and the
gas connected. They turned up the next day, did the work and then did a
drop test. The result was fine, despite the cap on the (temporarily)
unused boiler connection sitting loosely on the pipe and not being
tightened at all.

SteveW