How Did British Gas Miss This Simple Fault?

Roger helps his neighbour figure out a fault the British Gas engineer failed to spot.

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A systematic approach to fault finding is essential when tackling electrical issues in central heating systems that cause fuses to trip.

This process not only identifies the underlying cause of the problem but also ensures safety and system efficiency. Here's a comprehensive guide to diagnosing and addressing such electrical faults.

Step 1: Safety First

Before commencing any diagnostic procedures, ensure all power supplies to the central heating system are safely disconnected. This step is crucial to prevent any risk of electric shock. Use a voltage tester to verify that the system is indeed powered down.

Step 2: Visual Inspection

Begin by visually inspecting the central heating system, including the boiler, thermostats, and all associated electrical connections. Look for signs of damage, such as burnt wires, loose connections, or water ingress, which could be causing short circuits.

Step 3: Check the Fuse Box

Examine the fuse box for tripped circuits or blown fuses related to the central heating system. Replacing a blown fuse without identifying the root cause of the problem is ill-advised and could cause further damage.

Step 4: Isolate the Problem

To pinpoint the problem, isolate different system components. This can be achieved by disconnecting elements such as the boiler, thermostat, and pumps and gradually reconnecting them while monitoring the fuse box for trips. This step helps identify the faulty component causing the issue.

Step 5: Test Electrical Components

Once the problematic component is identified, a multimeter will test for continuity and resistance. A faulty thermostat, for example, might show an open circuit or abnormal resistance levels.

Step 6: Repair or Replace

Depending on the diagnosis, repair or replace the faulty component. Using compatible parts and adhering to the manufacturer's replacement guidelines is essential.

Step 7: Professional Assistance

If the fault-finding process does not resolve the tripping issue, or if you're uncomfortable performing any of these steps, it is advisable to seek professional assistance. A qualified electrician or heating engineer can provide expert diagnosis and repair.

By following these steps methodically, homeowners can effectively diagnose and resolve electrical problems in their central heating systems, preventing fuse trips and ensuring a warm, safe home environment.

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#heating #centralheating #faultfinding

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[martinlouden]

British Gas are the best in the country when it comes to charging the earth for a half arsed service.

[alan]

I signed up on their Mickey Mouse boiler repair scheme. They said my boiler qualified so I paid monthly. When it failed the engineer told me the system needed flushing as the rads were blocked and they were doing a special offer that month. When I reminded him the problem was intermittent he started getting angry. Then he said parts were no longer available so he’d give me a quote for a new system. I grabbed my phone, googled “spare parts for a…” and showed him. This made him more angry so I advised him to leave before I got angry. Cancelled my gas scam boiler scheme ten minutes after. Lesson for the delusional who still see British Gas as reputable.

[paulc]

I once worked for BG. I saw a lot of lieing, bodging and bullying. I left and work for myself now, maybe not the greatest but at least I'm not being threatened every single day.

[JoannaLouise]

If only we all had a friend or neighbour like Roger!

[chriswood]

I bought a house from a British Gas engineer and he had done a lot of the plumbing himself, it was absolutely atrocious.

[johnnymetalcore]

As an ex lift engineer fault finding was my bread and butter. Earth faults were fairly common and resolving them was good fun. It was amazing how just using your ears, eyes and nose sorted things out. Nice one Roger 👍🏼

[wms]

We had a BG engineer out for a routine home-heating service. A few minutes into the job, she came through (with a smile on her face) to say that a component had snapped during removal, and since she determined the boiler was obsolete, we would just have to get her to fit a new boiler. She even admitted that this was the 5th or 6th she had broken that week. Not surprisingly, we were not happy. Contacted BG to complain but were completely ignored. We eventually gave in and had a replacement installed by another company (at a fraction of the cost suggested by the BG Engineer) and cancelled all servicing agreements with BG for our home and the other properties within our family.

[gnuthad]

5:02 You are incredibly correct with this comment.
Diagnostics is the biggest aspect of repair that so many businesses seem to overlook these days. If you haven't taken the time to diagnose the fault then you're just changing items willy-nilly and hoping that you guess correctly. Proper diagnostics is an art but those who can do it can save a huge amount of frustration for customers and other tradespeople.

[core-element]

My Dad was a Gaffer at British Gas on the change over from Town Gas. He always said he would not let half of the blokes loose touch his own house.

[robertwalker]

You hit the nail on the head. Some people are good at fault finding/diagnosis. They use logic and experience.

[kendom]

Nice one Rodger. Youre absolutely right. When i heard BG had just topped up the boiler, i thought ohh goodness, here we go. I had BG change a noisey pump in the boiler. OK all fixed...and off he went. Wouldnt work at all afterwards. Next day, different guy took the cover off. The previous guy had drowned the control board !! Ffs

[AlanTheBeast]

I'd love to see the sequel: "When the British Gas guy came back to repair the valves."

[rob]

I happened to receive yet another letter yesterday asking me to take out a plan to cover our plumbing etc. Glad I chucked it on the fire now!

[loc]

British Gas: years ago we had a service plan with them and gave them a call after smelling gas. A very grumpy technician came out, waved a sniffer about, declared we had a gas leak under the concrete floor (conveniently *not* covered by the plan), put a DO NOT USE sign on the gas main and left.

We were suspicious so called out an independent tech' who identified the old gas fireplace as the source. We were going to get rid of it anyway so that was pulled and the piping capped off. Job done and no further problems.

My guess is the BG guy was unhappy as he couldn't use the leak as an excuse to sell us a new boiler.

[paulr]

I diagnosed a failed actuator on my hot water system, and British Gas wanted £299 plus parts to fix it. I picked up an identical actuator at Screwfix for £54, swapped it for the old one in 15 minutes, and the hot water problem is now fixed.

[ChrisShute]

Remember a few years ago, BG produced TV ads starring Ricky Tomlinson, a great actor, loveable Scouse rogue and star of the series Royle Family. BG really thought that their company's image was best represented and promoted by a character famously work-shy and untrustworthy. Just the sort of chap you'd welcome into your home during a crisis!

[baronoflivonia.]

That is difference between some one who is Licensed, and one that is "Certified" by their employer. I am a multi Licensed Plumbing & HVAC Contractor with a Boiler Installer License up to Nuclear in Detroit area. Most employee's of Plumbing & HVAC Contractors are not licensed, and very few have went to a pay for it type of Trade school. The opportunities of actually getting into a Union Apprenticeship are nil, compared to when I did in January of 1979, and I only got in from a friend whose Dad, Brother & Brother In Law were in Local, and I ended up as apprentice to the Brother In Law. Now I am in 60's working alone because no young folks want to get involved, and the cost of being in business is around $4500 a year in US Dollars for Licenses, Liability and large van Insurance. For just me alone that is a large amount to cover, before any profit.

[wobby]

Like you I was a self employed field engineer for Rayburn and Waterford Stanley C heating Cooke’s as well as AGA cookers. When we went out on a fault we carried every conceivable spare part in our vans to repair the appliance, if it was an intermittent fault we didn’t charge until it was fixed. Intermittent faults can be a real pain, but with years of experience, we could almost diagnose what was wrong from what the customer told us, so mostly we could go straight to the fault, . My experience of British gas engineers isn’t great one of their engineers after replacing a control valve on a gas boiler left a gas leak, when he was came back he couldn’t find it. Even though I’m now retired and therefore not classified as gas safe, I had to go search for the leak it was on the burner side of the gas valve, the gas engineer hadn’t fitted the O ring seal. I made up a temporary seal from an old inner tube but then insisted the gas engineer return and replace it with a proper O ring.

[waterboy]

Yes Roger, spot on about the difference of being self employed. I'll ad this to your other video on fault finding, thanks a million!

[johnschlesinger]

In very rare cases, an rcd can be faulty. A neighbour of mine had the whole house on an rcd which kept tripping. I tested the rcd: it was tripping out at 5 mA!! When the lady told her electrician, he didn't believe her, until he tested it.