Gas problem solved.

[whiskywill]

For three out of the past four years the British Gas engineer servicing my boiler has noted that the gas pressure was low, but surprisingly not on the latest visit two weeks ago.
Yesterday evening I was cooking on our gas hob and noticed that the flame was fluctuating between high and low depending on when the
boiler kicked in.
This morning I called the National Gas Emergency Service and an engineer arrived within 20 minutes. His initial thoughts were that the low pressure was caused by the long run (about 45 metres) between the meter and the boiler but this has been the case for the past 28 years.
After a bit of poking around he changed the meter and, hallelujah, the pressure went from 9mBar at the boiler to 21mBar.
What I don't understand is why did the British Gas service engineers not pass on the low pressure concerns some years ago?

 

[sunnybob]

They should have. The regulator on top of the meter should give 21-22 mbar regardless of aplliances being used.

Sometimes the regulator fails, sometimes the gas meter itself wears out. But 9 mbar is unacceptable and it should have been fixed the first time.
I have changed many, many meters due to wearing out. One in particular stays in my mind. It was in an outside box on the side of the house. While walking along the path I could hear the meter, gasping like an asthmatic, from 10 foot away. The bellows inside are leather and well oiled, but they dry out eventually. I didnt even bother to check the pressure on that one, just ordered a new meter.

 

[lurker]

I know several successful business people who are Gas Safe registered.
They view BG technicians (they are not engineers!!!) as semi trained salesmen who will condemn an easily fixed system, on the hope of a fat commission for a new boiler.

 

[sunnybob]

Every person working on gas in the UK has to be certified by whatever the newest name is for the governing body. My tickets have had three different company names on them, and I've been retired almost 5 years now.

Engineer, technician, the name is irrelevant. Same test for everybody, renewable every 5 years, no exceptions. The only difference is in experience and job attitude. BG pays fairly low wages so has mostly newbies (one of my last trainees went to work for them. He was a good worker, but knew barely enough to pass the tests that I coached him on). But even with his limited experience, he knew enough to take a pressure reading and act upon the results. Any gas fitter (correct title) should have reported 9 mbar. Whether the office acted on that is a whole different story.