My hot water smell of gas - Vaillant ecoTECH Pro

[SafeGasInstall]

same here !!!!please give a up date A S A P !

 

[cattie24]

Hi, no sadly haven't solved it yet. I've had a think about it and talked to the builder again. He's adamant that he can smell gas, but the condensate drains into a separate branch of the sewer from the waste for the kitchen and bathroom. He also thinks it unlikely that an old bit of gas pipe was used for hot water.

My boyfriend thinks that it may be normal for hot water from combi boilers to smell.

I've been observing it for the last week and it seems to be noticeable only if I haven't had the heating on, so when the boiler is warm there no noticeable smell.

I'm not sure what I can do next because when I rang Vaillant or British Gas Homecare, they wanted to call out National Grid as soon as I mentioned I could smell gas in the water. But the National Grid guy couldn't find any evidence of a leak or offer an explaination. My installer told me that gas in the water was a physical impossibility because of the pressure differences, and suggested I call out the water company, but I'm not going to do this as my cold water doesn't smell and the hot water has only been smelling since the new boiler was installed.

The builder remains convinced by the idea that there is a fault with the boiler and it has a tiny hole in the combustion tank.

So I'm stumped but hoping I can find an answer while it is within warranty!

 

[gasmarc]

no that is highly unlikely ,i wonder if you could get a water testing kit which would eliminate things

 

[mikegas]

would a gas sniffer at the side of the running water detect the gas if there was any present?

 

[hary_j]

Just a quick one, the pipe work leading to the tap hasn't previously been used for any sort of gas usage before has it?..

previous smells can come through it with warm water, it some time can be the case but not always..

If the builder is really adament that it is the boiler itself at fault and nothing to do with the Installation side, then i would make sure the combustion tank he is talking about is changed or infact the whole boiler,

personally i think you've got real unlucky with the boiler itself out of the 100,000s sold it had to be yours.

Talk to vaillant again and tell them to come and check again if not you will be reporting to Trading standards.

 

[gasmarc]

or a lighter or piezo perhaps,

 

[hary_j]

would a gas sniffer at the side of the running water detect the gas if there was any present?

Sniffer, lol! You mean leak Detector..

 

[gasmarc]

turn the power off to the boiler and run the hot water and see if there is any movement on the gas meter

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

sniffers what my leak detectors called as well not that i use it much ldf dont lie but a sniffer gets excited over all sorts

 

[mikegas]

lol true, but mine found a leak on an old cooker point last week that had been covered by a kitchen unit, wouldnt of found that with my ldf so they have there uses

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

lol true, but mine found a leak on an old cooker point last week that had been covered by a kitchen unit, wouldnt of found that with my ldf so they have there uses

totally agree especially behind units

 

[gasmarc]

i recently went to a tenanted property where a new hob had been installed , I disconnected the hob as there was a gas leak on it , the landlord got the makers engineer out and the guy was on the phone to me saying there was a tiny leak on the pipework which was rubbish , i told him to run his sniffer over the hob button which was at the back and the only one used by the tenant ,He said he had not got a sniffer as his firm did not provide him with one, he eventually conceded that there was a leak indeed from the hob, they refused to repair the hob as it should not have been fitted in a flat as it did not have a FFD on it ,I told the landlord to get the fitter back apparently he was away in turkey need i say any more

 

[cattie24]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll get back to the installer and ask whether old gas pipe may have been reused for the hot water and ask them to use a sniffer/ldf/leak detector? I think the man from National Grid used one of these (it looked like a wand). He didn't find anything but then I couldn't smell gas either at the time, and the heating had been on for a while.

I think I should ask the installer to investigate again before I try to involve Vaillant.

I've collected some old plastic bottles (milk) so I can capture some water when I'm smelling gas, will this work for testing, or will the gas just escape when I open the bottle. And where do I get a water testing kit?

Thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it.

 

[Reg Man]

Sorry Hary_J, we'v queried the old gas pipe already. You could try an electronic gas detector, but don't run it under the tap. I don't think it will work for long. I wonder if your smelling jointing compound, from the new installation?