Cable to gas boiler

[kmaccui]

Hi guys i was at 2 jobs today where a gas safety check had been carried out recently and they have been told that the flex going to the boiler from the spur is too near the pipes by current gas regs.

Has anyone come across this and what did you do?

I never did anything onsite except tell the Housing Association what would be involved to hide the cables,not easy or aesthetically pleasing with tiled walls

thanks Kenny

 

[gordy71]

Any cables cant be within 25mm of a gas pipe. I know British Gas are getting pretty hot on it too. Alot of the time its hard to avoid due to the design of the boiler. For example if the cable entry is on the left and the gas pipe is on the right and your spur is also on the right you have no choice but to run the flex past the pipe. Otherwise u could trunk around the top! One of those regs that you should bear in mind but is often hard to comply with!

---------- Post Auto-Merged at 19:21 ---------- Previous post was made at 19:18 ----------

Oh and we used to do a housing asociation contract and boy are they hard to please. Pathetic some of the stuff we got called back for.

 

[kme]

If you`ve complied with the requirement for heat-resistant cable, and your cable isn`t touching the CH pipes; I can`t see the issue. Plumbits`ll ram pipes under the floor, along, above or tangled in your carefully laid wiring - what`s the difference?

The gas pipe isn`t supposed to leak, as far as I am aware. It IS supposed to be earthed. What could possibly be the problem?????

 

[kmaccui]

Oh and we used to do a housing asociation contract and boy are they hard to please. Pathetic some of the stuff we got called back for.

You are right there, also dont know about your lot but ours keep changing the goal posts on a weekly basis,change a painted over socket 1 week dont the next OMG

 

[gordy71]

Yeah call backs for earth bond at entrance to property- they wanted it at the meter, Label fonts not big enough!, and the worst was when they called in the decorator just to paint the airing cupboard an hour before i wired up the heating system... If they had brains they would be dangerous!

 

[AcombAndy]

Just looked up in my 'old' CORGI Essential Gas Safety, Domestic book (2006) and it say's: 'Gas installation pipework including fittings should be.... at least 25mm from electrical supply and distribution cables..... where spacing requirements are impracticable, the pipe should be wrapped with PVC or insulating material should be fitted between pipes.' I know CORGI is defunct but the GAS regs are not likely to have changed that much. When I did gas work I went for the PVC tape option. I would suggest you ask whoever is questioning you, for a reference to the document that quotes 25mm with no deviation, and if it turns out to be in the GAS In Use Regs refer them to whoever they employ to deal with gas issues.

 

[kmaccui]

I was at another 1 yesterday and the tenant told me the gas man said it was incase the cable heated up and melted

 

[ianmacd]

And why would the gas pipe be hot?

 

[kmaccui]

exactly Ian

 

[Andy™]

And why would the gas pipe be hot?

because the cable heated up and melted perhaps?

but then again thats unlikely and many other faults could also happen and do damage

 

[kme]

I`m betting a few gas pipes,`ll blow up if and when a Libyan or North Korean or..................(insert as appropriate) missile lands on us.

Sorry. So WHAT if the cable DOES get hot & "melts". Two things WILL happen.

1. Some form of OCPD somewhere will trip/rupture, causing the melting to stop.

2. The gas pipe will still be there, intact. The copper pipe isn`t going to melt away `cos the cable is at 85 deg. C. It won`t unsolder itself at that temp either. The heat outside the pipe won`t cause the gas still trapped within the pipe to "spontaneously combust".

Radical thought. Extra gas safety measures should be introduced:

1. If gas was made non-flammable, it would be safer.

2. If heating of the exterior of the pipe is a worry, we should make the pipes out of a non heat-conductive material.

3.

if we insist on using copper pipe, and don`t want it getting hot, WHY do we connect it to the boiler? Surely we should route the gas pipe at least 25mm from the boiler, which IS intended to get hot in normal operation?

or is it just me (again?)

 

[Nicky Tesla]

Cables are already wrapped in PVC aren't they? Also carn't the pipe have something wrapped around that instead?

 

[Andy™]

I`m betting a few gas pipes,`ll blow up if and when a Libyan or North Korean or..................(insert as appropriate) missile lands on us. Sorry. So WHAT if the cable DOES get hot & "melts". Two things WILL happen.

1. Some form of OCPD somewhere will trip/rupture, causing the melting to stop.depends who wired it....

Radical thought. Extra gas safety measures should be introduced:

1. If gas was made non-flammable, it would be safer.there is a non-flammable gas. its called 'air'. problem being, there isnt yet a boiler that can burn 'air'

2. If heating of the exterior of the pipe is a worry, we should make the pipes out of a non heat-conductive material.probably get hotter from an adjacent heating pipe....

3.

my red

 

[kme]

"depends on who wired it"?

Nah - eventually something, somewhere is going to give (unless its Badge`s greenhouse - got to keep those plants warm, don`tcha know?).

"non flammable gas - air"

So is Argon. Air would work, if you convert the nitrogen into hydrogen - we could transport `em in seperate, lead-lined pipes (>25mm apart of course), and only allow `em to mix where we WANT ignition to occur.

"Slush Hydrogen" is supposedly the "fuel of the future". Residue after burning= pure H2O. Doesn`t require oxygen to be present. cheap to produce. Non-fossil fuel.

(sorry - I`ve been dragged, kicking & screaming in protest, somewhat off the topic. :coat )