Matthew, are you sill waiting for hearing? Hope it all goes okay for you.
I don't really understand why everyone is berating the tenant for waiting 7 weeks - we are all in the trade and know customers do odd things! And it really has no significance on the right or wrongs of the accusation. In my view, there are limited explanations, and my money would be an unsuccessful blow, followed by the flux causing a temporary seal, but afterwards melting or giving way under the working pressure. This assumes that a TT was properly executed. If you haven't yet had your hearing, I would have a ready explanation as to why you did THREE post TT ,or not mention them all.
In my long career, I have come across MANY joints which have clearly not been successful, but have not leaked, some on water and others on gas. Two of the most potentially dramatic ones were a 1.5" socket on a massive boiler, which when I ripped it out had NEVER been soldered. The other was my ex primary school teacher, who contacted me in a panic. BG/transco had been round to a smell of gas, and decided it was underground and needed a re-run. The house had just been decorated, and he was concerned about the mess. I found the leak in minutes. Remember the customer is the first tool(!), and on questioning he told me BG had just serviced the boiler. The final 1/2 elbow on the boiler supply inside the OPEN FLUED boiler case had never seen a stick of solder. The bungalow was about 20 years old at the time, and still had the original boiler, a Concorde or E type IIRC .
I would not be able to swear that I have never left a fitting with a strip of flux holing the gas back. By definition you will never know until it gives way.
IMO, we should be testing at a pressure way in excess of working.
Why DID you test 3 times?
good luck
I don't really understand why everyone is berating the tenant for waiting 7 weeks - we are all in the trade and know customers do odd things! And it really has no significance on the right or wrongs of the accusation. In my view, there are limited explanations, and my money would be an unsuccessful blow, followed by the flux causing a temporary seal, but afterwards melting or giving way under the working pressure. This assumes that a TT was properly executed. If you haven't yet had your hearing, I would have a ready explanation as to why you did THREE post TT ,or not mention them all.
In my long career, I have come across MANY joints which have clearly not been successful, but have not leaked, some on water and others on gas. Two of the most potentially dramatic ones were a 1.5" socket on a massive boiler, which when I ripped it out had NEVER been soldered. The other was my ex primary school teacher, who contacted me in a panic. BG/transco had been round to a smell of gas, and decided it was underground and needed a re-run. The house had just been decorated, and he was concerned about the mess. I found the leak in minutes. Remember the customer is the first tool(!), and on questioning he told me BG had just serviced the boiler. The final 1/2 elbow on the boiler supply inside the OPEN FLUED boiler case had never seen a stick of solder. The bungalow was about 20 years old at the time, and still had the original boiler, a Concorde or E type IIRC .
I would not be able to swear that I have never left a fitting with a strip of flux holing the gas back. By definition you will never know until it gives way.
IMO, we should be testing at a pressure way in excess of working.
Why DID you test 3 times?
good luck
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