Hello,

I've recently moved house (September), and I continued my British Gas 3-star
service contract that I have had for 5 years.

An engineer came round this Monday to do the annual service on the 24 year
old Glow Worm boiler. As soon as the engineer left, the pilot light went
out, and kept going out within a few minutes of relighting. The same
engineer came back today to solve the problem by fitting a new gas valve,
cheerfully joking about Murphy's Law when you start messing with something
after months or years of fault-free operation.

During the fitting process the engineer accidentally bent the thread of an
elbowed threaded pipe. This is an irreplaceable part due to the age of the
boiler, so the only option was for the engineer to arrange for a quote for a
new boiler. The British Gas quote-monger will be coming round this evening.

Cheek! If I took my car in for a service and the garage damaged the engine,
I'd hardly get a bill for a new car would I?

Does anybody know where I stand regarding responsibility here?

1. Even if I wanted to replace the boiler, I would probably not choose
British Gas because of the cost.
2. If I hadn't paid them to service the boiler, I wouldn't be in this
situation.
3. The engineer admitted the damage, so shouldn't British Gas rectify
their error?
4. If they offer a discount because of their error, could I get a quote
from a different supplier and ask British Gas to pay the equivalent of their
offered discount?

If I am posting this to the wrong newsgroup (I can't really call it
"doing-it-myself"), could anyone recommend a more suitable one?

Thanks
Richard

On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 14:28:33 -0000, "Richard Owen"
wrote:

Hello,

I've recently moved house (September), and I continued my British Gas 3-star
service contract that I have had for 5 years.

An engineer came round this Monday to do the annual service on the 24 year
old Glow Worm boiler. As soon as the engineer left, the pilot light went
out, and kept going out within a few minutes of relighting. The same
engineer came back today to solve the problem by fitting a new gas valve,
cheerfully joking about Murphy's Law when you start messing with something
after months or years of fault-free operation.

During the fitting process the engineer accidentally bent the thread of an
elbowed threaded pipe. This is an irreplaceable part due to the age of the
boiler, so the only option was for the engineer to arrange for a quote for a
new boiler. The British Gas quote-monger will be coming round this evening.

Cheek! If I took my car in for a service and the garage damaged the engine,
I'd hardly get a bill for a new car would I?

Does anybody know where I stand regarding responsibility here?

1. Even if I wanted to replace the boiler, I would probably not choose
British Gas because of the cost.
2. If I hadn't paid them to service the boiler, I wouldn't be in this
situation.
3. The engineer admitted the damage, so shouldn't British Gas rectify
their error?
4. If they offer a discount because of their error, could I get a quote
from a different supplier and ask British Gas to pay the equivalent of their
offered discount?

If I am posting this to the wrong newsgroup (I can't really call it
"doing-it-myself"), could anyone recommend a more suitable one?

Thanks
Richard

I would take this to one of the "legal" groups. I think they would
like to have you there for a while to chat about this one.

Might be quite productive. )

Richard Owen wrote in message ...
Hello,

I've recently moved house (September), and I continued my British Gas
3-star
service contract that I have had for 5 years.

An engineer came round this Monday to do the annual service on the 24 year
old Glow Worm boiler. As soon as the engineer left, the pilot light went
out, and kept going out within a few minutes of relighting. The same
engineer came back today to solve the problem by fitting a new gas valve,
cheerfully joking about Murphy's Law when you start messing with something
after months or years of fault-free operation.

During the fitting process the engineer accidentally bent the thread of an
elbowed threaded pipe. This is an irreplaceable part due to the age of the
boiler, so the only option was for the engineer to arrange for a quote for
a
new boiler. The British Gas quote-monger will be coming round this
evening.

Cheek! If I took my car in for a service and the garage damaged the
engine,
I'd hardly get a bill for a new car would I?

Does anybody know where I stand regarding responsibility here?

1. Even if I wanted to replace the boiler, I would probably not choose
British Gas because of the cost.
2. If I hadn't paid them to service the boiler, I wouldn't be in this
situation.
3. The engineer admitted the damage, so shouldn't British Gas rectify
their error?
4. If they offer a discount because of their error, could I get a quote
from a different supplier and ask British Gas to pay the equivalent of
their
offered discount?

If I am posting this to the wrong newsgroup (I can't really call it
"doing-it-myself"), could anyone recommend a more suitable one?

As the boiler sounds pretty old, maybe if you paid for the boiler and they
fitted it free, that would be an acceptable outcome.
Do you believe the bit about the threaded pipe being irreplacable? I don't.

On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 14:28:33 -0000, "Richard Owen"
wrote:

Hello,

I've recently moved house (September), and I continued my British Gas 3-star
service contract that I have had for 5 years.

An engineer came round this Monday to do the annual service on the 24 year
old Glow Worm boiler. As soon as the engineer left, the pilot light went
out, and kept going out within a few minutes of relighting. The same
engineer came back today to solve the problem by fitting a new gas valve,
cheerfully joking about Murphy's Law when you start messing with something
after months or years of fault-free operation.

During the fitting process the engineer accidentally bent the thread of an
elbowed threaded pipe. This is an irreplaceable part due to the age of the
boiler, so the only option was for the engineer to arrange for a quote for a
new boiler. The British Gas quote-monger will be coming round this evening.

This is highly dubious. It is more common for the thermocouple (a £2
component) to be the cause of the pilot going out although it can be
the gas valve.

It's also surprising that if parts like gas valves are available, that
an elbow isn't, although gas valves are fairly generic.



Cheek! If I took my car in for a service and the garage damaged the engine,
I'd hardly get a bill for a new car would I?

Does anybody know where I stand regarding responsibility here?

1. Even if I wanted to replace the boiler, I would probably not choose
British Gas because of the cost.

Very wise, and the service contract costs more than it saves in a
short time as well.


2. If I hadn't paid them to service the boiler, I wouldn't be in this
situation.
3. The engineer admitted the damage, so shouldn't British Gas rectify
their error?
4. If they offer a discount because of their error, could I get a quote
from a different supplier and ask British Gas to pay the equivalent of their
offered discount?

For the answers to these, you need to look in your contract..
Undoubtedly there are some get-outs for them, and to challenge you
would be in the realms of Unfair Contracts legislation.

They will offer you a discount from their high initial price.
Considering that the boiler was pretty old, I don't think that you
would stand a lot of chance in small claims action for recovering
anything.

You could ask for them to give you the equivalent of their discount as
cash, but I suspect that you are unlikely to succeed.

Probably the most you could expect to get as compensation is the
annual value of the contract. Some years ago, I had an annual
contract like this and they kept me waiting for several working days
for a fix to a similar fault that you have had, telling me that they
were prioritising old ladies and people with babies because they were
short staffed. That's complete ******** as far as I am concerned and
shows that they are still operating the mindset of a state monopoly.
They should have enough staff to give the service implied by their
advertising, even though contractually they can show up when they
like.

The net of that episode, after a lot of pushing and escalation was
that they refunded the year's contract.
I would suggest squeezing them fot that and putting it towards a
replacement installed by a less expensive firm.
You might be able to get more if you stick out for it, but I rather
doubt it.




--

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 14:28:33 -0000, "Richard Owen"
wrote:

Hello,

I've recently moved house (September), and I continued my British Gas 3-star
service contract that I have had for 5 years.

An engineer came round this Monday to do the annual service on the 24 year
old Glow Worm boiler. As soon as the engineer left, the pilot light went
out, and kept going out within a few minutes of relighting. The same
engineer came back today to solve the problem by fitting a new gas valve,
cheerfully joking about Murphy's Law when you start messing with something
after months or years of fault-free operation.
It is acceptaed that we are all human and therefore we sometimes fail
or are unable to do the best we can.

Can you perhaps post a picture of the part which is allegedly
unavailable and I'm sure a solution can be provided..

joe

"Richard Owen" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I've recently moved house (September), and I continued my British Gas
3-star
service contract that I have had for 5 years.

An engineer came round this Monday to do the annual service on the 24 year
old Glow Worm boiler. As soon as the engineer left, the pilot light went
out, and kept going out within a few minutes of relighting. The same
engineer came back today to solve the problem by fitting a new gas valve,
cheerfully joking about Murphy's Law when you start messing with something
after months or years of fault-free operation.

During the fitting process the engineer accidentally bent the thread of an
elbowed threaded pipe. This is an irreplaceable part due to the age of
the
boiler, so the only option was for the engineer to arrange for a quote for
a
new boiler. The British Gas quote-monger will be coming round this
evening.

Cheek! If I took my car in for a service and the garage damaged the
engine,
I'd hardly get a bill for a new car would I?

Does anybody know where I stand regarding responsibility here?

1. Even if I wanted to replace the boiler, I would probably not choose
British Gas because of the cost.
2. If I hadn't paid them to service the boiler, I wouldn't be in this
situation.
3. The engineer admitted the damage, so shouldn't British Gas rectify
their error?
4. If they offer a discount because of their error, could I get a quote
from a different supplier and ask British Gas to pay the equivalent of
their
offered discount?


I cannot think offhand of a bit of vulnerable threaded bent pipe on an old
type GlowWorm boiler although the model details would be a big help. In any
case it may not be beyond a bit of judicious straightening and maybe a
thread clean up with a die nut. SERIOUS damage could hardly be considered
accidental and it could be that Mr hamfist was bucking for his introducers
commission from his employers.
I'd get a local independant guy to take a look before chucking big money
even after discounts at BG. If the local guy can and does effect a repair
you should claim the cost of the repair from BG although it might take a bit
of a fight to get it.

"John" wrote in message
...

"Richard Owen" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I've recently moved house (September), and I continued my British Gas
3-star
service contract that I have had for 5 years.

An engineer came round this Monday to do the annual service on the 24
year
old Glow Worm boiler. As soon as the engineer left, the pilot light
went
out, and kept going out within a few minutes of relighting. The same
engineer came back today to solve the problem by fitting a new gas
valve,
cheerfully joking about Murphy's Law when you start messing with
something
after months or years of fault-free operation.

During the fitting process the engineer accidentally bent the thread of
an
elbowed threaded pipe. This is an irreplaceable part due to the age of
the
boiler, so the only option was for the engineer to arrange for a quote
for
a
new boiler. The British Gas quote-monger will be coming round this
evening.

Cheek! If I took my car in for a service and the garage damaged the
engine,
I'd hardly get a bill for a new car would I?

Does anybody know where I stand regarding responsibility here?

1. Even if I wanted to replace the boiler, I would probably not
choose
British Gas because of the cost.
2. If I hadn't paid them to service the boiler, I wouldn't be in this
situation.
3. The engineer admitted the damage, so shouldn't British Gas rectify
their error?
4. If they offer a discount because of their error, could I get a
quote
from a different supplier and ask British Gas to pay the equivalent of
their
offered discount?


I cannot think offhand of a bit of vulnerable threaded bent pipe on an old
type GlowWorm boiler although the model details would be a big help. In
any
case it may not be beyond a bit of judicious straightening and maybe a
thread clean up with a die nut. SERIOUS damage could hardly be considered
accidental and it could be that Mr hamfist was bucking for his introducers
commission from his employers.
I'd get a local independant guy to take a look before chucking big money
even after discounts at BG. If the local guy can and does effect a repair
you should claim the cost of the repair from BG although it might take a
bit
of a fight to get it.


If it's a Fuelsaver 55F or compatible, you are welcome to any bits of my old
one that is hanging on the wall waiting for me to pull it out and brick up
the flue hole. It's been in that state for nearly 3 years since we put the
new combi in the garage and it's serving a useful purpose of plugging the
hole to stop draughts. You (or anyone else) are welcome to any "no longer
available" bits out of it! Collect from Basingstoke or postage at cost.

Contact me by email avoiding the obvious "spam trap" if interested.

Regards,
Simon.

On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 23:44:03 -0000, "Simon Stroud"
wrote:



If it's a Fuelsaver 55F or compatible, you are welcome to any bits of my old
one that is hanging on the wall waiting for me to pull it out and brick up
the flue hole. It's been in that state for nearly 3 years since we put the
new combi in the garage and it's serving a useful purpose of plugging the
hole to stop draughts. You (or anyone else) are welcome to any "no longer
available" bits out of it! Collect from Basingstoke or postage at cost.

Contact me by email avoiding the obvious "spam trap" if interested.

Regards,
Simon.


I had one of these. One word of warning if you're going to pull it
apart. Some of the internal sheet metal parts and flue parts are
poorly finished and have very sharp edges.........

I cut myself quite badly on one plate.



--

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

It's been in that state for nearly 3 years since we put the new
combi in the garage and it's serving a useful purpose of plugging the
hole to stop draughts.

I had one of those. Expanding foam is your friend. Then it can go down the
tip!

Christian.

Thanks all of you - you've been very helpful.

I followed EricP's suggestion and posted my tale to uk.legal - this was also
quite helpful.

To anyone who's interested, the model is a Glow-Worm Space Saver 45-60B.

B Gas did try to fix the part. The engineer even persuaded another engineer
to come round and help fix it. But with no luck. I do believe the damage
was a genuine mistake. I also believe that Glow-Worm don't supply the part
anymore, but I'm going to try and get B Gas to pay for a machine shop to
make one if it is possible.

Andy Hall - thanks - actually the engineer did replace the thermocouple
first, but it didn't do the trick. I missed that bit out just to get to the
important part of the email, sorry.

Simon Stroud - I'll email you a pic (I have no web space to put an image) -
thanks.

A highwayman (dressed in a B Gas uniform) came round last night and gave a
ridiculously high quote for a new boiler, then knocked off 15% as a goodwill
gesture and suggested this was good value. After I laughed in his face I
showed him the door.

My plan:

I'll start with the idea of finding a machine shop to recreate the damaged
part (it's a copper pipe joint the size of a man's thumb). I'll also
contact glow-worm in case they can provide the component specs.

Also I'll explore the "contract", and try to get them to restore my system
to the same condition it was in before they broke it.

Also I'll get some comparative quotes from independent fitters in case B Gas
won't cooperate. Then maybe a small claim procedure would be in order to
recover the cost of someone else replacing the boiler. While they're at my
house quoting, I'll quiz them about the damaged part. It's wishful thinking
but they *may* just have a similar old boiler lying around in their garden.

Finally I'll use my household insurance free legal helpline. They may just
quote extracts from trading standards law, but it could be helpful to use
this in order to get a fair deal from B Gas.

Thanks again, I'll post a resolution when it's all sorted if anyone's
interested. That's if I survive the winter of course!
Richard


"John" wrote in message
...

"Richard Owen" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I've recently moved house (September), and I continued my British Gas
3-star
service contract that I have had for 5 years.

An engineer came round this Monday to do the annual service on the 24
year
old Glow Worm boiler. As soon as the engineer left, the pilot light
went
out, and kept going out within a few minutes of relighting. The same
engineer came back today to solve the problem by fitting a new gas
valve,
cheerfully joking about Murphy's Law when you start messing with
something
after months or years of fault-free operation.

During the fitting process the engineer accidentally bent the thread of
an
elbowed threaded pipe. This is an irreplaceable part due to the age of
the
boiler, so the only option was for the engineer to arrange for a quote
for
a
new boiler. The British Gas quote-monger will be coming round this
evening.

Cheek! If I took my car in for a service and the garage damaged the
engine,
I'd hardly get a bill for a new car would I?

Does anybody know where I stand regarding responsibility here?

1. Even if I wanted to replace the boiler, I would probably not
choose
British Gas because of the cost.
2. If I hadn't paid them to service the boiler, I wouldn't be in this
situation.
3. The engineer admitted the damage, so shouldn't British Gas rectify
their error?
4. If they offer a discount because of their error, could I get a
quote
from a different supplier and ask British Gas to pay the equivalent of
their
offered discount?


I cannot think offhand of a bit of vulnerable threaded bent pipe on an old
type GlowWorm boiler although the model details would be a big help. In
any
case it may not be beyond a bit of judicious straightening and maybe a
thread clean up with a die nut. SERIOUS damage could hardly be considered
accidental and it could be that Mr hamfist was bucking for his introducers
commission from his employers.
I'd get a local independant guy to take a look before chucking big money
even after discounts at BG. If the local guy can and does effect a repair
you should claim the cost of the repair from BG although it might take a
bit
of a fight to get it.

In article ,
Richard Owen wrote:
I'll start with the idea of finding a machine shop to recreate the
damaged part (it's a copper pipe joint the size of a man's thumb). I'll
also contact glow-worm in case they can provide the component specs.

Have a wade through the RS components website to see if there's something
similar among pneumatic parts?

http://rswww.com

I can't believe they'd go to the trouble of making something like that
specially.

--
*Stable Relationships Are For Horses. *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Simon Stroud - I'll email you a pic (I have no web space to put an image) -

I could put it online if you like - drop me a line per my sig, but
remember to add "newsgroup" in the subject to bypass my filters :-)

--
Please add "[newsgroup]" in the subject of any personal replies via email
--- My new email address has "ngspamtrap" & @btinternet.com in it ;-) ---

In message , Richard Owen
writes
Thanks all of you - you've been very helpful.

Thanks again, I'll post a resolution when it's all sorted if anyone's
interested. That's if I survive the winter of course!
Richard


Fight the granny-robbing scumbags all the way.
I do hope you succeed to getting one over on BG.
I can't for minute believe that simple elbow is un-obtainable or,
indeed, was damaged accidentally in the first place.
Good luck.
--
Steve

In message , stuart noble
wrote

Do you believe the bit about the threaded pipe being irreplacable? I don't.


The fitter has probably already filled in his commission claim form for
the new boiler.

--
Spam Rejection Email

In message , John
wrote

I cannot think offhand of a bit of vulnerable threaded bent pipe on an old
type GlowWorm boiler

Thermocouple?

--
Spam Rejection Email

"Rejected_spam" wrote in message
...
In message , John
wrote

I cannot think offhand of a bit of vulnerable threaded bent pipe on an
old
type GlowWorm boiler

Thermocouple?


Threaded pipes are usually connected to the gas valve and other bits
surrounding it. If they're soft malleable iron, then they can corrode. But
Id've thought that they the gas valve and other bits could be easily
replaced if the makers or parts licensors where still in business.

In article ,
BigWallop wrote:
If they're soft malleable iron, then they can corrode

I recently removed some (dead) 100 year old gas pipe from the cellar. The
fittings were still in near perfect condition - and unscrewed easily
enough. Think it would be some circumstances where they'd corrode through
in the lifetime of a boiler.

--
*'ome is where you 'ang your @ *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
"Dave Plowman (News)" writes:
In article ,
BigWallop wrote:
If they're soft malleable iron, then they can corrode

I recently removed some (dead) 100 year old gas pipe from the cellar. The
fittings were still in near perfect condition - and unscrewed easily
enough. Think it would be some circumstances where they'd corrode through
in the lifetime of a boiler.

Do you remember the Channel 4 1900 house series?
In converting the house back to how it was in 1900, they had
to reconnect all the old gas pipework which fed the gaslamps.
Although it had been unused for years, it all pressure tested
out OK, and could be reconnected without any remedial action.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Richard Owen wrote:

To anyone who's interested, the model is a Glow-Worm Space Saver 45-60B.

Just thinking aloud... I wonder if this part was common to many
Glow-worms or the vintage? IIRC someone was getting shot of a Fuelsaver
on this group a couple of days ago, perhaps it might be worth seeing if
it has the same part?



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Richard Owen wrote:

To anyone who's interested, the model is a Glow-Worm Space Saver 45-60B.

Just thinking aloud... I wonder if this part was common to many Glow-worms
or the vintage? IIRC someone was getting shot of a Fuelsaver on this group
a couple of days ago, perhaps it might be worth seeing if it has the same
part?

If the OP sends me an image of the bit in question I'll take a look in my
scrap pile

John
(Don't miss the AntiSpam in my address)

If the OP sends me an image of the bit in question I'll take a look in my
scrap pile

I`ve put them online he

www.phoenixbbs.co.uk/elbow_1.jpg
www.phoenixbbs.co.uk/elbow_2.jpg

--
Please add "[newsgroup]" in the subject of any personal replies via email
--- My new email address has "ngspamtrap" & @btinternet.com in it ;-) ---

Hello all, me again.

Here is the part in question......(kindly web-published by Colin Wilson).

www.phoenixbbs.co.uk/elbow_1.jpg
www.phoenixbbs.co.uk/elbow_2.jpg

It's brass, about the size of a man's thumb. The nipple at the back is
important in order for service engineers to attach a rubber tube, for
pressure testing I expect.

The bottom, outer thread, connects to the gas valve.
The front, inner thread, connects to a pipe which goes into the boiler
casing.

See how the engineer has hacksawed the first few mil off the inner thread,
to try and get it to fit. That's the bit of the thread that the engineer
bent.

I had a friendly, and wise, independent engineer round today. He said he
would "try" and create a new part. But if anyone out there has a similar
part I will gladly pay for it.

Richard
Leeds


"Simon Stroud" wrote in message
...
"John" wrote in message
...

"Richard Owen" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I've recently moved house (September), and I continued my British Gas
3-star
service contract that I have had for 5 years.

An engineer came round this Monday to do the annual service on the 24
year
old Glow Worm boiler. As soon as the engineer left, the pilot light
went
out, and kept going out within a few minutes of relighting. The same
engineer came back today to solve the problem by fitting a new gas
valve,
cheerfully joking about Murphy's Law when you start messing with
something
after months or years of fault-free operation.

During the fitting process the engineer accidentally bent the thread
of
an
elbowed threaded pipe. This is an irreplaceable part due to the age
of
the
boiler, so the only option was for the engineer to arrange for a quote
for
a
new boiler. The British Gas quote-monger will be coming round this
evening.

Cheek! If I took my car in for a service and the garage damaged the
engine,
I'd hardly get a bill for a new car would I?

Does anybody know where I stand regarding responsibility here?

1. Even if I wanted to replace the boiler, I would probably not
choose
British Gas because of the cost.
2. If I hadn't paid them to service the boiler, I wouldn't be in
this
situation.
3. The engineer admitted the damage, so shouldn't British Gas
rectify
their error?
4. If they offer a discount because of their error, could I get a
quote
from a different supplier and ask British Gas to pay the equivalent of
their
offered discount?


I cannot think offhand of a bit of vulnerable threaded bent pipe on an
old
type GlowWorm boiler although the model details would be a big help. In
any
case it may not be beyond a bit of judicious straightening and maybe a
thread clean up with a die nut. SERIOUS damage could hardly be
considered
accidental and it could be that Mr hamfist was bucking for his
introducers
commission from his employers.
I'd get a local independant guy to take a look before chucking big money
even after discounts at BG. If the local guy can and does effect a
repair
you should claim the cost of the repair from BG although it might take a
bit
of a fight to get it.


If it's a Fuelsaver 55F or compatible, you are welcome to any bits of my
old
one that is hanging on the wall waiting for me to pull it out and brick up
the flue hole. It's been in that state for nearly 3 years since we put the
new combi in the garage and it's serving a useful purpose of plugging the
hole to stop draughts. You (or anyone else) are welcome to any "no longer
available" bits out of it! Collect from Basingstoke or postage at cost.

Contact me by email avoiding the obvious "spam trap" if interested.

Regards,
Simon.

In article ,
"Richard Owen" writes:
Hello all, me again.

Here is the part in question......(kindly web-published by Colin Wilson).

www.phoenixbbs.co.uk/elbow_1.jpg
www.phoenixbbs.co.uk/elbow_2.jpg

It's brass, about the size of a man's thumb. The nipple at the back is
important in order for service engineers to attach a rubber tube, for
pressure testing I expect.

Well, here's one without the nipple:

http://marinestore.co.uk/Merchant2/m...=tonval-elbows

https://secure.thorite.co.uk/Product...taper_177.html

Ironically, on the left hand side, you'll see a reference to
"Nipples" and "Nipples unequal", but they aren't what you think
they might be, unfortunately... ;-)

There are a number of things on the following page which might be
useful. There's a bare nipple 6901 which you might be able to drill
and tap into an elbow, and straight brass adaptor 15204 which could
possibly be coupled to an elbow with a shortening of the pipework.

http://www.bes.co.uk/products/048.asp

--
Andrew Gabriel

See how the engineer has hacksawed the first few mil off the inner thread,
to try and get it to fit

Yup, this seems to be the key to the puzzle.

It wasn't one of those "could have happened to anyone" moments, he
deliberately took a hacksaw to it.

--
Please add "[newsgroup]" in the subject of any personal replies via email
--- My new email address has "ngspamtrap" & @btinternet.com in it ;-) ---

"Colin Wilson" wrote in message
t...
See how the engineer has hacksawed the first few mil off the inner
thread,
to try and get it to fit

Yup, this seems to be the key to the puzzle.

It wasn't one of those "could have happened to anyone" moments, he
deliberately took a hacksaw to it.


Why cut a few millimetres off the thread? Why not pack it with fibre or
neoprene washers to make it tight? Seems really silly, to me anyway, not to
try and place a couple of washers in the fitting, or even sealant solution
around it, then tighten it back into place. Weird engineers now'a'days.

"BigWallop" wrote in message
.uk...

"Colin Wilson" wrote in message
t...
See how the engineer has hacksawed the first few mil off the inner
thread,
to try and get it to fit

Yup, this seems to be the key to the puzzle.

It wasn't one of those "could have happened to anyone" moments, he
deliberately took a hacksaw to it.


Why cut a few millimetres off the thread? Why not pack it with fibre or
neoprene washers to make it tight? Seems really silly, to me anyway, not
to
try and place a couple of washers in the fitting, or even sealant solution
around it, then tighten it back into place. Weird engineers now'a'days.


I can envision our BG bloke gripping the elbow with a pair of water pump
pliers and trying to unscrew it from the body of the gas valve thus crushing
the female end then after bashing it about a bit cutting off the crushed
bit. I've taken a sup[erficial look over my scrap heap but nothing there I'm
afraid (although I will ask a couple of mates if they have one).
IIRC the female end is a parallel thread and the pipe to the burner has an
olive and a captive threaded clamping (male thread) collar so I am guessing
that the remants of the female thread are now too short to engage the
clamping collar.
Why oh why didn't he use a small vice or even (incorrectly but less risk of
damage) a pair of stilson jaws or a monkey wrench sideways accross the solid
part of the body? This problem is entirely unneccessary when you think about
it. :-(

John, you're absolutely right.
Alternatively the engineer could have gripped the body of the elbow rather
than the crushable female thread. OR, even attaching a foot or two of spare
pipe to the female thread and used that instead of clamps to create more
torque and twist the elbow off the valve.

I may even have a case against BG to say that the engineer was negligent.

Richard

"John" wrote in message
...

"BigWallop" wrote in message
.uk...

"Colin Wilson" wrote in message
t...
See how the engineer has hacksawed the first few mil off the inner
thread,
to try and get it to fit

Yup, this seems to be the key to the puzzle.

It wasn't one of those "could have happened to anyone" moments, he
deliberately took a hacksaw to it.


Why cut a few millimetres off the thread? Why not pack it with fibre or
neoprene washers to make it tight? Seems really silly, to me anyway,
not
to
try and place a couple of washers in the fitting, or even sealant
solution
around it, then tighten it back into place. Weird engineers now'a'days.


I can envision our BG bloke gripping the elbow with a pair of water pump
pliers and trying to unscrew it from the body of the gas valve thus
crushing
the female end then after bashing it about a bit cutting off the crushed
bit. I've taken a sup[erficial look over my scrap heap but nothing there
I'm
afraid (although I will ask a couple of mates if they have one).
IIRC the female end is a parallel thread and the pipe to the burner has an
olive and a captive threaded clamping (male thread) collar so I am
guessing
that the remants of the female thread are now too short to engage the
clamping collar.
Why oh why didn't he use a small vice or even (incorrectly but less risk
of
damage) a pair of stilson jaws or a monkey wrench sideways accross the
solid
part of the body? This problem is entirely unneccessary when you think
about
it. :-(

http://www.ardice.com/Arts/Televisio...900_House,_The

In message , loughlin
writes
http://www.ardice.com/Arts/Televisio...900_House,_The


?


--
geoff