A fine installation

[ghost]

It never ceases to amaze me at the garbage that some people install. Take a look at this pressure relief discharge pipe that has been bodged into the condensate drain on a Vaillant that was installed 3 years ago.
The other pic is the condensate pipe under the floor. The installers must have ran out of through connectors and only had this damaged one, so they caked it with glue. Nice.
I hope the pics are reasonably clear, they were taken on my Nokia N80.

 

[fuzzy]

dangerous installation

 

[REDSAW]

dont laugh too hard but,
the guy i have been installing with for the last 2 years has run the condensate and b/off in all but a handfull of installations during this time exactly the same way.
i have taken this as the norm, so you are telling me its a big no no?.
what is his position if half his work is inspected?.
well i be blowed, your only as good as the guy that taught you.

 

[tamz]

The second picture they have been short of a union so have cut an elbow. Not right but not exactly wrong either as it still has about half inch slip. It won't leak. All they had to do was heat the pipe and make a socket.
The cables should not be taped to the pipe and in the 1st pic the b/o should not be in with the condensate.

 

[PlumbBobBob]

shouldn't the blowoff be into a tundish? and it would have been better with a swept tee wouldn't it?

steve

 

[wheeto]

The blow-off can't be plastic, and I seem to remember can only be sent to drain if you can prove that all the piping can handle the temperature - virtually impossible with plastic soil stacks.

If it was OK, surely the boiler manufacturers wouldn't supply two outputs to the boiler??

I also think it's good practice for the user to see when the boiler is venting expess pressure, in the same way you would an overflow.

 

[Puddle]

As a builder tried to tell me once

'It is not plastic pipe but plastic coated metal pipe !!

They do like to wiggle when caught out !

 

[ferret]

The safety valve discharge should be piped in copper to outside or to a tundish with 22mm copper into a drain/soil , it has to be copper as you could potentially have boiling water discharging which would soften the overflow pipe to a degree where it could become dangerous to the surrounding area , ie risk of scalding .pi electrical cables should never be run in notches anyway let alone with pipework!

 

[wheeto]

... electrical cables should never be run in notches anyway ...

It's not ideal, but neither is it against the regs AFAIK.

 

[ferret]

It's not ideal, but neither is it against the regs AFAIK.

I thought there was one that says it should be a certain distance below the boards for nailing ?? probably wrong , wots afaik mean

 

[dontknowitall]

Haven't a clue, as far as I know.

 

[ghost]

Thanks for the replies guys. A few of your comments answered. The connector was not an elbow, it was a damaged through connector, only about 3mm of pipe inside at the broken side. They are not cables taped to the 22mm gas pipe, they are 10mm Hep2o, feeding a radiator, all the cables are drilled through the joists.
I found this whilst pulling in 10mm main bonds, it's a landlords house now, I'm upgrading the mains and doing the CP12 for him. In my opinion this boiler is AT RISK, due to the safety systems (pressure relief valve) being compromised by the poor installation. If it starts to blow off there will be no indication to anybody, until the condensate pipe melts, as people have mentioned. I have advised the landlord to contact the installer to request the blow off is installed correctly, if he is still trading.

 

[ghost]

Discussed this job with the Gas Safe inspector today. He advised I issue a warning notice NCS, with the CP12 as it was fitted 4 years ago. He agreed the original installer should be given the chance to put his work right first. The blow off should only be piped in copper and terminate in a position where it can be seen to blow off, ie an outside wall.

 

[bengasman]

No, it's not against the regs.

 

[bengasman]

Discussed this job with the Gas Safe inspector today. He advised I issue a warning notice NCS, with the CP12 as it was fitted 4 years ago. He agreed the original installer should be given the chance to put his work right first. The blow off should only be piped in copper and terminate in a position where it can be seen to blow off, ie an outside wall.

That is odd, as it is ( don't shoot the messenger ) NOT a gas issue.

 

[bengasman]

...
I found this whilst pulling in 10mm main bonds...

That is an electrician's job, nothing to do with a plumber. Besides that, why are you pulling 10mm cables to the boiler?

it's a landlords house now, I'm upgrading the mains and doing the CP12 for him. In my opinion this boiler is AT RISK...

No, it is not AR. It can even be argued it is not even NCS, as it is not a gas issue in the eyes of GSIUR. (Personally, I think it should be)

 

[washer]

A prv discharging internally into plastic pipe is against the regs

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

your all wrong it depends on manufactures instructions for example some aristons can have the safety discharge in plastic and in Italy were these heaps come from this is the norm so if mi says its ok gas regs dont matter

 

[ghost]

Hi guys. Thanks for the comments. Bengasman, you are right pulling in 10mm earth bonds is an electricians job. I am a fully qualified electrician who is also gas qualified. I mentioned this when I introduced myself in the introduction threads. I come from a background of maintenance and repairing boilers, but I also install systems too with my cousin, who is a plumber.
I discussed the boiler today at the installer live event with the tech guys from Vaillant. They agreed with me, it is not installed according to the manufacturers instructions, therefore not to the standards.

 

[WHPES]

In the regs you can run in notches but you need to cover with metal plates.