The wtf plumbing thread

shane0007 · 19-02-2014 9:51am

No idea. I wasn't at the boiler. Just somebody brought it into Chadwick's looking for replacement baffles & a nozzle.

JamesM · 19-02-2014 12:16pm

I would think that over a long time without a service, soot, dirt, built up and blocked the gap around the plates. The plates warped and fell down and were burned by the flame blasting directly on them. This can happen quite quickly if the burner was badly set up, but, by the look and colour of the plates, I would say a long time.
I believe that a faulty stat would have the water boiling and someone would notice. It would take more heat than that to do the damage shown.
Jim.

corkgsxr · 19-02-2014 12:43pm

Maybe a cutting torch head instead of a nossle?

JamesM · 19-02-2014 1:42pm

corkgsxr wrote: »

Maybe a cutting torch head instead of a nossle?

A badly set up burner flame will often cut a hole in a back plate. I have also seen it in a down-firing unidare, as well as plates that have fallen down in front of the flame.
Jim

shane0007 · 19-02-2014 2:13pm

Boiler was only 3 years old but a SE.

JamesM · 19-02-2014 3:32pm

shane0007 wrote: »

Boiler was only 3 years old but a SE.

Just shows, when settings are off, things can go wrong quite quickly :eek:
Jim.

scudo2 · 19-02-2014 3:48pm

SE HE makes no difference.
A proper flame is short and intense.
A sutty flame is a bright yellow, longer, hitting the baffles and buckeling them.

Normal cause is boiler comes at 8 bar set for kerosene.
Diesel was used and boiler never serviced/commissioned.

oikster · 19-02-2014 9:01pm

shane0007 wrote: »

Guy walked into Chadwicks yesterday looking for a replacement for these! He didn't seem to think there was a much of a problem with the boiler!

Warmflow SE

A couple of taps of a hammer......................be grand:cool:

corkgsxr · 19-02-2014 9:43pm

oikster wrote: »

A couple of taps of a hammer......................be grand:cool:

Dont forget the tech7

Billy Bunting · 20-02-2014 9:33am

shane0007 wrote: »

Guy walked into Chadwicks yesterday looking for a replacement for these! He didn't seem to think there was a much of a problem with the boiler!

Warmflow SE

The problem with the SE warmflow is that once the bottom baffle gets wapped to the extent that it drops then the remainder can just drop sidways and end up in the bundle, doesnt take too long for the burner to make ****e of them then.

scudo2 · 20-02-2014 10:31am

Billy Bunting wrote: »

The problem with the SE warmflow is that once the bottom baffle gets wapped to the extent that it drops then the remainder can just drop sidways and end up in the bundle, doesnt take too long for the burner to make ****e of them then.

It can happen to any baffles. Shane baffle was the 12" x 12" type similar to Grants 90 Euroflame.

Warmflows boilers with a water panel in the center, their baffles are notorious for buckeling and droping.

corkgsxr · 26-02-2014 10:33pm

New ways to plumb radiators. 20140225_154837.jpg

20140225_194059.jpg

Irish Steve · 28-02-2014 12:46am

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mx4agtvmconmivu/20140224_160857.jpg

This came out of a tandoori oven the other day, along with about 6 Kg of ash and debris that wasn't doing a lot for the airflow through the base of the thing.

The only thing that had to be disconnected was the main gas feed to the jet, the rest had already been "modified" by a previous "visitor". Look carefully at the pilot pipe, the flame safety sensor pipe and the ignition wire.

scudo2 · 28-02-2014 1:58am

Tandori special !
Flaming hot !
RGIS's eat free special !
Healthy foods, high carbon content !

Thanje Steve, from all your friends on Bengal forum ! + me

Irish Steve · 28-02-2014 11:45am

scudo2 wrote: »

Tandori special !
Flaming hot !
RGIS's eat free special !
Healthy foods, high carbon content !

Thanje Steve, from all your friends on Bengal forum ! + me

Welcome. We can either laugh or cry at the way some of these people operate, one of the issues with that burner was that it had become surrounded by so much ash and the like, the supports for the tray of clay blocks that sit above the burner had overheated and collapsed, which made the problem even worse. I didn't do a CO % test above the thing, if I had, the results could have been very thought provoking, the air vent tray was full of ash and debris, fortunately, there is a reasonable extractor hood above it, which is always on when the oven is on, due to the heat it chucks out. The Chef is complaining it's not hot enough now, probably because there's air getting in and through the thing now! Arrgghhhh!

In a similar vein, I didn't take pictures of it at the time, partly because I was worried it would come back to haunt me, a Chinese restaurant not far away from here was set up more recently, and had things like a gas cut off safety valve that was tied in with the fire alarm, along with the power, and due to poor design of the detector layout, the Wok, a 10, (yeah 10) burner cooker was well able to set off the alarm due to the massive heat surges that could come off some of the burners.

Their solution? Cling fllm over the detector, and just to make sure that they were not "upset", clothes pegs over the stem of the cut off valve, so if the alarm did still trigger, the gas wasn't cut off, and resetting the electrics was easy, as the switch was in the kitchen. The gas cut off was not, so if it went off, it needed a keyholder to get into the area where it was, so a delay, which upset their work!

There were other issues, like flame safety devices removed, "they kept sticking because they were full of grease", a water heater where the flue was "sort of held in place by bent coat hangers", a large piece of wood screwed over the bottom of the vented door because "the wind kept blowing the boiler pilot light out", the list is endless.

Interestingly enough, there were 2 prosecutions in the Birmingham area of the UK a while back of restaurants that had defective Tandoori ovens, after one blew up and injured a chef, and the penalties for non compliance were significantly increased due to the number of defective devices that were found by the sweep they did after a second incident.

It's very hard when the customer refuses to take the advice they are given! What makes it even worse is that they always "know a man", who will "fix" the problem so they can keep going. I don't do anything for that restaurant any more, there are times when walking away is the right thing to do. Doesn't pay the bills, but at least I can sleep at night.

I also don't understand how manufacturers are allowed to make and sell devices that are manifestly unsafe, but they seem to be able to do it. The 6 burner range has flame safety devices , but no pilot lights, so if the ring is switched off, the flame safety activates, as it should, and then it has to be operated again before they can relight the burner, (usually with a piece of burning serviette), and of course, that means the safety gets more use than is ideal, and before long, it's sticking due to oil and grease deposits, so doesn't do what it's there for.

It would be funny if it wasn't so damn dangerous

DGOBS · 28-02-2014 11:49pm

Out of respect to you all I have deleted those posts and closed this thread
Shane see you in a week

Due to a flood of requests from our resident professionals, I will reopen this thread.

As always lads, attack the posts, not the poster. Thanks.

spireland32 · 01-03-2014 10:09pm

What the hell happened here I was only gone a few hours. I enjoyed this thread as I thought I wouldnt get any hassle and hugely limit my input on any other threads as it just turned into " no no im right your wrong" nonsense.

Thanks

JohnnieK · 01-03-2014 10:24pm

Irish Steve wrote: »

Welcome. We can either laugh or cry at the way some of these people operate, one of the issues with that burner was that it had become surrounded by so much ash and the like, the supports for the tray of clay blocks that sit above the burner had overheated and collapsed, which made the problem even worse. I didn't do a CO % test above the thing, if I had, the results could have been very thought provoking, the air vent tray was full of ash and debris, fortunately, there is a reasonable extractor hood above it, which is always on when the oven is on, due to the heat it chucks out. The Chef is complaining it's not hot enough now, probably because there's air getting in and through the thing now! Arrgghhhh!

In a similar vein, I didn't take pictures of it at the time, partly because I was worried it would come back to haunt me, a Chinese restaurant not far away from here was set up more recently, and had things like a gas cut off safety valve that was tied in with the fire alarm, along with the power, and due to poor design of the detector layout, the Wok, a 10, (yeah 10) burner cooker was well able to set off the alarm due to the massive heat surges that could come off some of the burners.

Their solution? Cling fllm over the detector, and just to make sure that they were not "upset", clothes pegs over the stem of the cut off valve, so if the alarm did still trigger, the gas wasn't cut off, and resetting the electrics was easy, as the switch was in the kitchen. The gas cut off was not, so if it went off, it needed a keyholder to get into the area where it was, so a delay, which upset their work!

There were other issues, like flame safety devices removed, "they kept sticking because they were full of grease", a water heater where the flue was "sort of held in place by bent coat hangers", a large piece of wood screwed over the bottom of the vented door because "the wind kept blowing the boiler pilot light out", the list is endless.

Interestingly enough, there were 2 prosecutions in the Birmingham area of the UK a while back of restaurants that had defective Tandoori ovens, after one blew up and injured a chef, and the penalties for non compliance were significantly increased due to the number of defective devices that were found by the sweep they did after a second incident.

It's very hard when the customer refuses to take the advice they are given! What makes it even worse is that they always "know a man", who will "fix" the problem so they can keep going. I don't do anything for that restaurant any more, there are times when walking away is the right thing to do. Doesn't pay the bills, but at least I can sleep at night.

I also don't understand how manufacturers are allowed to make and sell devices that are manifestly unsafe, but they seem to be able to do it. The 6 burner range has flame safety devices , but no pilot lights, so if the ring is switched off, the flame safety activates, as it should, and then it has to be operated again before they can relight the burner, (usually with a piece of burning serviette), and of course, that means the safety gets more use than is ideal, and before long, it's sticking due to oil and grease deposits, so doesn't do what it's there for.

It would be funny if it wasn't so damn dangerous

Spot on Irishsteve.

scudo2 · 01-03-2014 10:32pm

Thanks for making this tread a sticky.

corkgsxr · 02-03-2014 1:05am

Can I request no gas wtf's leave that to the rgi thread. Its like Russia and usa arguing about oil

deandean · 02-03-2014 8:30pm

corkgsxr wrote: »

Can I request no gas wtf's leave that to the rgi thread. Its like Russia and usa arguing about oil

what is the point in a WTF thread if the terms of reference are going to be so limited as to restrict input to photos of dirty drains?

pics such as naan-gate need to be here in the open for all to see. It doesn't seem to even involve an RGI as it's from outside the country.

It's a WTF thread FFS.

Wearb · 02-03-2014 8:42pm

deandean wrote: »

what is the point in a WTF thread if the terms of reference are going to be so limited as to restrict input to photos of dirty drains?

pics such as naan-gate need to be here in the open for all to see. It doesn't seem to even involve an RGI as it's from outside the country.

It's a WTF thread FFS.

I agree, this thread by its very name suggests its something very wrong to start with, so no restrictions please. There are lots of non plumbers here, but we don't restrict it to plumbers.

[Deleted User] · 02-03-2014 8:50pm

deandean wrote: »

what is the point in a WTF thread if the terms of reference are going to be so limited as to restrict input to photos of dirty drains?

pics such as naan-gate need to be here in the open for all to see. It doesn't seem to even involve an RGI as it's from outside the country.

It's a WTF thread FFS.

Do you mean county or country Irish Steve is in Ashbourne.

deandean · 02-03-2014 9:57pm

gary71 wrote: »

Do you mean county or country Irish Steve is in Ashbourne.

My bad I saw ref to b'rum, a place I remember well for curries.

and yea I've seen gas 'appliances' in ethnic restaurants that are scary, as in 1950s technology, but again that's why the WTF thread is here.

Having been through a tribunal or two I get very alert when vested interests suggest restricting terms of reference.

scudo2 · 02-03-2014 10:04pm

WTF should be all things that come under the WTF category.
There is a lot of good plumber and oileys here that are not on the RGI WTF forum, but would appreciate all things that warrent a WTF rating. And can post anything they come across here.
P&H, oil, gas or anything else + more.

The crazier the better!

God knows there is plenty of WTF's out there. Our own work excluded, I hope,but if you also want to put that up also then feel free to do so. !!!

Personal the WTF part of boards in my opinion is the most interesting to me, and thankfully one of us has come across it and advised householder.

[Deleted User] · 02-03-2014 10:21pm

scudo2 wrote: »

WTF should be all things that come under the WTF category.
There is a lot of good plumber and oileys here that are not on the RGI WTF forum, but would appreciate all things that warrent a WTF rating. And can post anything they come across here.

God knows there is plenty of WTF's out there. Our own work excluded, I hope,but if you also want to put that up also then feel free to do so. !!!

Personal the WTF part of boards in my opinion is the most interesting to me, and thankfully one of us has come across it and advised householder.

Don't bring me in to this as I have no interest, I'm only here for when people stop being nice or promotes illegally works.

this is Corkgsxr's tread.

The way I see it, ye can spend the next few days trying to define what a WTF is

or just get back to the juicy stuff that made me chuckle, the choice is yours, just be nice.

scudo2 · 02-03-2014 10:28pm

gary71 wrote: »

Don't bring me in to this as I have no interest, I'm only here for when people stop being nice or promotes illegally works.

this is Corkgsxr's tread.

The way I see it, ye can spend the next few days trying to define what a WTF is or just get back to the juicy stuff that made me chuckle, the choice is yours, just be nice.

WTF I'm nice.
Keep chuckling Garry.

corkgsxr · 02-03-2014 10:45pm

O lordy can we keep the peace for once.

scudo2 · 02-03-2014 10:48pm

corkgsxr wrote: »

O lordy can we keep the peace for once.

WTF I'm peacfull too.

Your the guy who told RGI's to f off !

[Deleted User] · 02-03-2014 10:59pm

corkgsxr wrote: »

Thread for when you find the maddest things.

Photos please. Not a ya know what I saw years ago.

If quoting, dont quote the pictures just the writing.

**The wtf plumbing thread**

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The wtf plumbing thread