Hi,

For those who followed or helped with my gas boiler panic on Saturday
night, I thought I would provide an update.

- I am still alive.
- The heat exchange was caked in soot, the plumber who looked at it
reckoned it hadn't been cleaned in at least 10 years. He had to scrape
the soot out from between the fins. I expect this didn't help the
efficiency of the boiler much!
- The job was done very cheaply!
- It is working perfectly now.
- I'm going to get a CO detector at B&Q tomorrow.

Thanks for your help!

--
Michael

On Tue, 21 Feb 2006 22:53:49 +0000, Michael Pacey
wrote:

Hi,

For those who followed or helped with my gas boiler panic on Saturday
night, I thought I would provide an update.

- I am still alive.
- The heat exchange was caked in soot, the plumber who looked at it
reckoned it hadn't been cleaned in at least 10 years. He had to scrape
the soot out from between the fins. I expect this didn't help the
efficiency of the boiler much!
- The job was done very cheaply!
- It is working perfectly now.
- I'm going to get a CO detector at B&Q tomorrow.

Thanks for your help!


That's pleasing.

Good outcome.


--

..andy

"Michael Pacey" wrote in message
. uk...
Hi,

For those who followed or helped with my gas boiler panic on Saturday
night, I thought I would provide an update.

- I am still alive.
- The heat exchange was caked in soot, the plumber who looked at it
reckoned it hadn't been cleaned in at least 10 years. He had to scrape
the soot out from between the fins. I expect this didn't help the
efficiency of the boiler much!
- The job was done very cheaply!
- It is working perfectly now.
- I'm going to get a CO detector at B&Q tomorrow.

Thanks for your help!


Good news. However I would advise you to make regular spillage checks to
ensure the fumes or products of combustion continue to go up the open flue.
Pop into a merchants such as plumb centre and buy a box of smoke matches.
these provide a source of visible smoke to carry out the test with

In article ,
Michael Pacey writes:
Hi,

For those who followed or helped with my gas boiler panic on Saturday
night, I thought I would provide an update.

- I am still alive.
- The heat exchange was caked in soot, the plumber who looked at it
reckoned it hadn't been cleaned in at least 10 years. He had to scrape

The caking in soot happens very quickly once it starts, probably
in just a week. Something starts it off, such as one burner
getting some dust in its airhole which starts depositing small
amounts of soot. Some of this falls off, blocking the airholes
of other burners which start producing soot. Also, this soot
starts blocking the heat exchanger, reducing the draft and the
airflow into the burners, all making more soot. It's a runaway
process which feeds itself.

Lack of cleaning leads to a build up of the dust which is thus
more likely to get sucked into a burner airhole. In your case,
the initial trigger could have been blocking that air vent,
reducing the draft and airflow at the burners, resulting in the
generation of the initial soot.

the soot out from between the fins. I expect this didn't help the
efficiency of the boiler much!
- The job was done very cheaply!
- It is working perfectly now.
- I'm going to get a CO detector at B&Q tomorrow.

Suggest cleaning/repainting the walls/ceiling, as the sooting
up of those was something you noticed, and you might not do so
again if they're already sooty. If the room lends itself to a
few pot plants, they can be a good early indicator of fumes
too. When my parents had a similar problem many years ago,
the first sign was that all the house plants started chucking
off their leaves. I suspect that might have been one of the
normal combustion products such as sulphur dioxide, as a CO
detector didn't detect anything.

--
Andrew Gabriel

On 22 Feb 2006 08:33:18 GMT
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

snip

The caking in soot happens very quickly once it starts, probably
in just a week. Something starts it off, such as one burner
getting some dust in its airhole which starts depositing small
amounts of soot. Some of this falls off, blocking the airholes
of other burners which start producing soot. Also, this soot
starts blocking the heat exchanger, reducing the draft and the
airflow into the burners, all making more soot. It's a runaway
process which feeds itself.

Lack of cleaning leads to a build up of the dust which is thus
more likely to get sucked into a burner airhole. In your case,
the initial trigger could have been blocking that air vent,
reducing the draft and airflow at the burners, resulting in the
generation of the initial soot.

snip


Suggest cleaning/repainting the walls/ceiling, as the sooting
up of those was something you noticed, and you might not do so
again if they're already sooty. If the room lends itself to a
few pot plants, they can be a good early indicator of fumes
too. When my parents had a similar problem many years ago,
the first sign was that all the house plants started chucking
off their leaves. I suspect that might have been one of the
normal combustion products such as sulphur dioxide, as a CO
detector didn't detect anything.

Points well made and well taken. I'll keep a close eye on it.

--
Michael

On Tue, 21 Feb 2006 22:53:49 +0000, Michael Pacey wrote:

Hi,

For those who followed or helped with my gas boiler panic on Saturday
night, I thought I would provide an update.

- I am still alive.
- The heat exchange was caked in soot, the plumber who looked at it
reckoned it hadn't been cleaned in at least 10 years. He had to scrape
the soot out from between the fins. I expect this didn't help the
efficiency of the boiler much!
- The job was done very cheaply!
- It is working perfectly now.
- I'm going to get a CO detector at B&Q tomorrow.

Thanks for your help!

Good, but keep a close eye on it.


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html