Boiler earthing

[Peter Moffatt]

I have an LPG boiler which I’ve recently had earthed. The electrician has run a cable from my electric meter to a copper gas pipe under the boiler. Is that correct?

 

[UNG]

What was your reason for earthing the boiler or are you bonding the gas pipe where it enters the building

 

[binky]

it's not earthing as such, it's equipotential bonding

 

[Geoff1946]

It's certainly not wrong, whether it's strictly necessary is a different question. I've heard both arguments from different sources.

 

[ProDave]

Gas pipes should be bonded close to where they enter the building.  This is where we seem to conflict with the plumbers.  We seem to think that is okay on the inside of the building as long as it is within a certain distance,  but I almost guarantee anyone doing a gas safe check will fail it if they cannot readily see the earth bond on the pipe outside just as it enters the building.  Some I find expect it at the gas meter box, even if that is some distance from where the pipe enters the building.

 

[Fleeting]

I dont really care where it is as long as it is where it is.

 

[ProDave]

I dont really care where it is as long as it is where it is.

You might care when the next gas safe engineer shuts off your gas because HE is not happy with where it is even though the electrician is happy.

One I was thinking of, the pipe from the gas meter ran up the wall and into the loft of a bungalow.  I bonded the pipe just inside the loft space as close to the entry point as I could reach.  Almost a year later I got called back because the gas man had failed it and was threatening to shut the gas off, so I had to do the ludicrous thing of exit the earth cable from the loft, cable tie it to the gas pipe, and connect it with a clamp inside the gas meter box.

I WISH we had a common set of regs to work to for this.

 

[Fleeting]

You might care when the next gas safe engineer shuts off your gas because HE is not happy with where it is even though the electrician is happy.

One I was thinking of, the pipe from the gas meter ran up the wall and into the loft of a bungalow.  I bonded the pipe just inside the loft space as close to the entry point as I could reach.  Almost a year later I got called back because the gas man had failed it and was threatening to shut the gas off, so I had to do the ludicrous thing of exit the earth cable from the loft, cable tie it to the gas pipe, and connect it with a clamp inside the gas meter box.

I WISH we had a common set of regs to work to for this.

I still wouldn't care because one thing for sure HE or maybe even a SHE is not an engineer. 

 

[Murdoch]

I WISH we had a common set of regs to work to for this.

hum…. I just wish that so called plumbers used the guidance from BS 7671 that we use. 
 

600mm where ever practical .

but numptie plumbers ignore the where ever practical and others can’t see 10mm GY cable in front of their eyes …..

 

[ProDave]

hum…. I just wish that so called plumbers used the guidance from BS 7671 that we use. 
 

600mm where ever practical .

but numptie plumbers ignore the where ever practical and others can’t see 10mm GY cable in front of their eyes …..

Yes but my observation is plumbers expect it to be visible on the OUTSIDE of the property.  We on the other hand interpret it as either inside or out.

 

[boltonsparky]

Common on new builds to see the faded G/Y cable coming out of the wall to the pipe between the gas meter box and the wall with an indoor rated BS951 clamp corroded onto the copper pipe with a poorly made off verdigris cable stuffed into said corroded clamp.

 

[binky]

You might care when the next gas safe engineer shuts off your gas because HE is not happy with where it is even though the electrician is happy.

One I was thinking of, the pipe from the gas meter ran up the wall and into the loft of a bungalow.  I bonded the pipe just inside the loft space as close to the entry point as I could reach.  Almost a year later I got called back because the gas man had failed it and was threatening to shut the gas off, so I had to do the ludicrous thing of exit the earth cable from the loft, cable tie it to the gas pipe, and connect it with a clamp inside the gas meter box.

I WISH we had a common set of regs to work to for this.

Think I would have told said plumber to stick to sniffing gas! There's far more copper in the gas pipe than a 10mm bond cable.

Common on new builds to see the faded G/Y cable coming out of the wall to the pipe between the gas meter box and the wall with an indoor rated BS951 clamp corroded onto the copper pipe with a poorly made off verdigris cable stuffed into said corroded clamp.

So many do not understand the colour codings of clamps. A site that had 50 odd flats I used to do maintenance work on was all like that. One thing that has always bugged me slightly is that the ends of the bond wire does corrode when connected externally, yet no one seems to worry about that.

 

[Geoff1946]

Common on new builds to see the faded G/Y cable coming out of the wall to the pipe between the gas meter box and the wall with an indoor rated BS951 clamp corroded onto the copper pipe with a poorly made off verdigris cable stuffed into said corroded clamp.

My son rented a "recent" build house a few years ago.  It had been lived in for several years at that time.

I looked in the gas cabinet and spotted the bonding cable neatly coiled and pushed behind the meter

 

[Andy™]

I looked in the gas cabinet and spotted the bonding cable neatly coiled and pushed behind the meter

thats the decoy to keep the plumbers happy