Any commercial gas engineers?

[mfairbairn23]

Hello,

I am just looking for some advice on commercial gas work, I've worked on domestic systems for a few years but have recently started servicing commercial plaque heaters for the company I work for. I've done my commercial tickets, boosters, t&p 1, t&p 1A, commercial changeover, radiant tube htrs, direct and indirect WA etc and I understand the theory of purging pipework and all the calculations needed to complete the units but it's the practical side I do not have experience of and need a few pointers.

A few basic questions I had:

When purging with a vent stack, does the gas need to be lit and if not, when would it require lighting, and when would it be ok not to?

Is it alright to purge a gas pipe with air using a compressor rather than nitrogen? I dont see how this could be as surely you're introducing an explosive mixture of gas into the pipework.

Say you have a length of pipe with an ECV at the beginning of it and an ECV at the end, if there are no test points, how would you introduce air or nitrogen to purge the gas? The only thing I can think would be to tap one into the pipe but then surely this could be dangerous as it's full on gas!

Thanks for any pointers anyone can give me, as I say I'm mainly doing servicing of heaters which is straightforward but I'm interested in learning about working on pipework and I think the company may have some bits of pipework for me to work on in the future.

 

[tipintim]

You need to go back to colledge mate. IMHO no offence intended. TC

 

[SimonJohns]

If you don't know when or where to flare I think you need a few more lessons or just read your books a bit more

 

[mfairbairn23]

You need to go back to colledge mate. IMHO no offence intended. TC

I did a domestic gas apprenticeship, if I was in a position to do more training on the commercial side of things at the moment I would. Obviously this was covered on the commercial assessment and training I did but it was only a week to cover all of the units and I'm left with a few questions.

If you don't know when or where to flare I think you need a few more lessons or just read your books a bit more

I have IGE UP 1 + 1A booklets in the office and Gas Installation Technology by Treloar. I will reread 1 + 1A to see if the flaring question is covered as I cannot remember, could you recommend any other books which cover the practical side of commercial gas work more indepth? I understand people may be reluctant to answer questions such as these but at the end of the day I'm not new to gas and would never work in a way I wasn't 100% sure was the correct procedure, I just lack the practical experience of purging/venting commercial pipework and I'm trying to fill in the blanks.

 

[tipintim]

Look bud, your original post scared me. Being in the gas trade you obviously know your limit as I do. To ask the question of purging with nitrogen instead of oxygen speaks volumes. Not telling how to suck eggs, but you should know. Maybe I should go back to coledge.