Yes or No required. Is a tightness test required after a boiler service?!

[Ryster]

This something that has always done my head in.

Commercial COCN1.

After a boiler service is a tightness test something that HAS to be done, or can you just leak detector fluid the last connection to the boiler.
Obviously a let by/tightness test is done beforehand, but if you turn off the supply to the boiler then dissconect at the boiler, do I then have to do another tightness test or is LDF ok.

I know people will say you should do one for your own piece of mind, I fully appreciate that, however this is something that I have always wondered about!

 

[andyplumber]

yes you should always do a tightness test before and after, because leak detection fluid doesn't work all the time... i have come acoss this plenty of times, LDF shows no leak butwhen i put my sniffer to the same pipework/fittings it picks it up, so i would test afterwards.

 

[Ryster]

yes you should always do a tightness test before and after, because leak detection fluid doesn't work all the time... i have come acoss this plenty of times, LDF shows no leak butwhen i put my sniffer to the same pipework/fittings it picks it up, so i would test afterwards.

I know you SHOULD do one, what Im asking is does Gas Safe require us to do one?

 

[SafeGasInstall]

localised only

 

[AWheating]

leak detection = tightness test.

this has been debated tons of times on the boards, you will find some good threads if you perform a search.

my personal opinion is irrespective of the fact you sometimes dont need to do the test on a service, its good practice and only takes a couple of mins. you are likely to be at the meter to gas rate anyways.

 

[Ryster]

localised only

Thank you.

So a test back to the the isolation valve using the usual Manometer or LDF is sufficient?

 

[diamondgas]

Ryster ... short answer is No, to your question! You do have to prove tightness of any joint you have disturbed however. Main thing to consider here is that there are joints you will disturb that a tightness test will NEVER be able to test... i.e those beyond the gas valve to the burner!

 

[Ryster]

Ryster ... short answer is No, to your question! You do have to prove tightness of any joint you have disturbed however. Main thing to consider here is that there are joints you will disturb that a tightness test will NEVER be able to test... i.e those beyond the gas valve to the burner!

Thanks, I always test joints I have disturbed.
The reason I ask is that I was questioned on my practice today by a manager who isnt GSR. This is the same manager whom I have turned off 2 boilers for too, so I must be working safe eh?

Anyway, I Turned off the isolation valve directly below the boiler, disconnected the union then served the boiler. Reconnected the boiler then tested the short bit of pipe between the isolation valve I had turned off and the boiler with LDF, inclusive of the union.

Before I even had time to get my manometer out to do the whole system this guy was questioning me saying that I MUST do a tightness test on the WHOLE system before and after a service, Which was a fair comment. However what annoyed me was the fact that he was adament that the whole system must be tested after a service.
I always do test, but this guy didnt give me the opportunity to do the test. So I stuck to my guns and told him I didnt need to test the WHOLE system AFTER servicing the boiler.

Naturally I did the Let-by/Soundness test beforehand, but this guys attitude really got my back up, to the point where I rung Gas Safe and asked them, who said the same as you lot.

"From the isolation valve to the boiler is all that requires testing, LDF is considered checking for tightness"



So I just wondered what you guys thought, as I know this is ANOTHER grey area within the industry.

 

[AWheating]

sounds like your manager needs to do his acs??

 

[Ryster]

sounds like your manager needs to do his acs??

The guy doesnt even do gas. This was what really got my back up. I think that he has maybe had a rollocking over two boilers I turned off a few months back, which both had unsecured flues that had silver foil tape used to seal the joints after someone had reported a smell of fumes. So because of this he has gone through some of my certs and then came out today. Think he was trying to find something that wasnt there.

The safety cert even has the options "pass/fail/na/" on it so if they really were a requirement they would be on there would they?!

 

[diamondgas]

The guy doesnt even do gas. This was what really got my back up. I think that he has maybe had a rollocking over two boilers I turned off a few months back, which both had unsecured flues that had silver foil tape used to seal the joints after someone had reported a smell of fumes. So because of this he has gone through some of my certs and then came out today. Think he was trying to find something that wasnt there.

The safety cert even has the options "pass/fail/na/" on it so if they really were a requirement they would be on there would they?!

Some managers don't want the come backs, can't handle the extra work so try to avert it in any way they know how! Stick to your guns mate! .... They'll deny everything if the fan gets excrement chucked its way!

 

[arran197]

I always do one tightness, then LDF the joints on service. Obviously, other thing that are done need a second test. I think the regs just say you must test any joints you disturb.

 

[SimonJohns]

Going back to the very first post you mentioned that you had commercial quals. Are we talking about a commercial boiler. Presumably with a system gas volume in excess of 0.0035 m3 then up1 or 1a will apply. And if you haven't got ur tightness testing and purging you won't be able to perform a TT but even if you do have the correct quals for that too. Do you really need to spend 2 hours doing all the leg work and calcs for a boiler service???


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ryster]

Going back to the very first post you mentioned that you had commercial quals. Are we talking about a commercial boiler. Presumably with a system gas volume in excess of 0.0035 m3 then up1 or 1a will apply. And if you haven't got ur tightness testing and purging you won't be able to perform a TT but even if you do have the correct quals for that too. Do you really need to spend 2 hours doing all the leg work and calcs for a boiler service???Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No this one was a domestic boiler, just realised I put COCN1 at the start which was incorrect, I have both but have only over the past few months had them both on the same card. Commercial I have pipework installation, testing and purging and boiler/warm air heating commissioning, service and install. Sure I've missed something else from that too!?As for the calcs, pipe sizing, volume etc it's a bit of an arse yeah, but I tend to leave a set of calcs on site once done - easier next time.I find commercial calculations a bit easier than the domestic ones if I'm being honest. I find with domestic everything has another equation or factor to add on, whereas the commercial stuff is as it is. Hope that makes sense, I will report back later on today with the outcome as I'm going to ring this guy up and inform him he is wrong.If he still persists he is right then he can have the gas safe number and ring them himself!

 

[metaldust9]

just wonder how someone who hasnt got any gas quals can be telling you how to do your job,and if you have commerial aswell ,he,s proberly just picking ad do it your own way and by the regs and take no notice of him cos if owt goes wrong its you who gets done not him regardless of him being your manager

 

[GQuigley67]

whenever I'm working on a domestic boiler I would do tightness test first, then isolate boiler and if i had to disturb the gas side of things I would do a mini-tightness test which would be isolating the boiler and testing at P1 at normal pressure and checking for any drop in presure, also spray with LDF. I couldn't find a leak before with LDF and found it with my sniffer so LDF is not full proof.

 

[metaldust9]

yep rothenburger ldf always blocks the leak and doesnt show up so i always buy cheap ldf now as works better plus use sniffer as both work in diffrent ways for diffrent jobs