Gas Inspections

[country boy]

Well "Stab mi Vitals",after all this time, the laws of combustion have finally changed, and in Spain too!! I am impressed!
Seriously...can you explain your statement FD as it makes no sense to me at present...I used to build Boilers when I worked for Hamworthy Engineering and the nozzle and venturi settings are the same for both Propane and Butane. Delivered pressure is the same so what changes? (I know the different properties of each...I'm talking about the burning end )

[Faire d'Income]

Country Boy. It depends on the offtake requirements of the appliance and whether the cylinder can provide that amount of LPG. For instance, a 15kg butane cylinder can produce 9.93 kw/h whereas a 13kg propane cylinder's offtake is 15kw/h.

So, if you have a barby rated at 12kw it will exceed the butane cylinder's capacity to supply which is why there has been a move towards propane, particularly in colder climates.

Did that stab your vitals or should I get a sharper instrument?

[Babby]

Getting back to the subject - it is a good idea to get your gas equipment checked regularly.

Should there be any explosions etc. the insurance has a "get out" if you have not followed safety procedures.

[avellana]

Copied from http://www.repsolypf.com/es_en/casa_y_h ... fault.aspx

Checking butane gas in the home
In order to guarantee the highest possible level of safety, the legislation in force obliges users to check butane and propane gas installations. The law states that all people who have a bottled liquefied petroleum gas installation (LPG) are responsible for maintaining it in optimum safety conditions.
It is Royal Decree 1085/1992 of 11 September that regulates the Liquefied Petroleum Gases distribution activity, article 22 of which establishes the minimum safety requirements and the obligations of people with contracts for this kind of supply. These include an inspection of the installation every five years by people who are legally authorised to maintain butane and propane installations. As such, not only is it essential to check the installation every five years but also to ask the company performing the inspection to guarantee it.

Basic obligations
What does a consumer have to do in order to adequately maintain their butane or propane bottle installation? Their basic obligations are:

- To arrange an inspection of the installation by a legally authorised company every five years. In the case of butane and propane the review is obligatory in the majority of the autonomous regions every five years; every four years for natural gas.
- To replace all those elements of the installation which have an expiry date within the specified time periods.

The consumer may arrange this gas inspection with any authorised company they choose. Consumer organisations and the authorities advise people not to grant entry to or contract the services of companies whose services they have not requested and, in the event that they are visited at home, they should check the company’s certification and ask for a quote.

When an inspection is carried out, the consumer must request the associated certificate from the technician, which should be issued in triplicate: one copy for the company and two for the consumer, one of which is to be presented to the supplier so that it can continue to provide the service.

Before the established time limit, 5 years for butane and propane, and 4 for natural gas, an inspection cannot be requested, unless modifications are carried out on the installation.

Continuing with the guidelines for guaranteeing safety, consumers are advised:

- That the flexible tube should never come into contact with the back of the oven or touch any other heat source.
- Never to cover vents, since there should always be ventilation in all rooms containing a gas appliance.
- To pay attention to the flame, since its colour reflects the quality of the combustion. If the combustion is good the flame will be bright, stable and blue. If it makes a noise as it burns, is unstable and has yellow edges it is sensible to let the technical service know so that they can check the appliance.
- A flame should never be ignited or an electrical switch activated if you detect the smell of gas. In this case, you must switch off the tap, ventilate the house and call the emergency number.

Suppliers have a technical service and a users’ register containing the installation details and the results of the periodic inspections.

Repsol Butane’s official maintenance service offers the Repsol Butane guarantee, well-trained, experienced staff, compulsory official inspections, annual installation checks, a 24-hour emergency service and immediate repairs, with free service if the issue is due to the Repsol Butane gas cylinder, a free replacement tube or regulator if the current one is deemed not to be working properly, as well as sending out specialist staff and an insurance policy, amongst other features.

Mobile devices
The law only requires consumers to arrange a periodic inspection if they use bottled butane or propane gas as a source of energy for a fixed gas installation, not for bottles used to power mobile devices such as heaters, barbecues, paella pans, etc.

These kinds of contract do not contain any duty to carry out periodic reviews. However, it is recommendable, in the interests of safety, to carry out preventive maintenance and change the tubes, washers and other elements with expiry dates within the established time frames.

[Faire d'Income]

Avellana, thanks for that. I still can't fathom those requirements, though. As far as I can tell, the only appliance that I'd have to worry about would be the cooker as the boiler is externally housed and vented so there's no chance of a LPG ingress.

The worst offenders tend to be mobile heaters and yet they aren't provided for in those regulations.

However, the most worrying aspect is the requirement for appliances to be certified every five years. That's way too long.

[avellana]

Isn't it good to find a web page written in good English especially for something so important?
I agree with you about the mobile items.
I'm sure there are a lot of people without contracts and certificates who are running potentially lethal appliances. We have got to get several things done before the certificate can be issued. Now to find a gas installer/plumber who will do what is required!

[Faire d'Income]

My main concern is that people assume that because they have a contract, their appliances are safe which is not neccessarily the case. In the UK, we recommend that all appliances are checked annually although no LPG supplier would take on the responsibility of issuing a certificate as they don't have control of the appliance, just the supply.

My advice, particularly if you're renting out your property would be to get all appliances checked annually.

[Daystar]

We had a rather nasty experience lately with gas exhaust fumes and a smell of burning filling the kitchen where the water boiler is fitted. I removed the short, through the wall, exhaust pipe and cowling and found the pipe filled with a sparrow's nest, the grass quite badly charred nearest the boiler. I cleared a plastic bag full of nesting material from the pipe. I have some 1cm aperture fencing and "fenced off" the exterior end of the pipe. That seems to have done the trick. I may have to get up on the roof and do the same with the chimney as sparrows seem to like to fall down chimney and fly around the room. Had 3 such incidents over the last year.

[Faire d'Income]

Just make sure the exahaust gases can vent freely and you should be alright.

If you're thinking of doing something similar to the chimneys then use chicken wire. You can either mould it over the top of the chimney or depeding on design, roll it into tubes to prevent them nesting. The worst case is that they manage to nest on the end of the tube but at least you can still light a fire without worrying about setting fire to it.