Condenser Boiler discharge pipe question...

[swbjackson]

Looking at the picture I would say that the condense outlet on the boiler is probably below sink waste height so it's not feasible to run the condense that way. There is no way that a condense pump is a viable alternative as the condense needs to flow into the pump by gravity and there is never any room for a pump under that boiler.

The flue appears to be less than 300 from the window which is contravention of the manufacturers instructions and BS 5440 part 1.

The flue appears to be a baxi flue so it looks like the boiler is a Baxi Solo HE. Baxi state in their instructions that external condense routes greater than 3m should be in 32mm pipe to prevent freezing.

A possible in with the flat owner is to point out that, in case of a breakdown, Baxi will refuse to repair the appliance until the issue of the incorrect flue siting is resolved.

As for the brickwork. it looks like a standard BG brick up to me.

Mike

 

[powell30]

Well just to add more mud to the crystal clear discussion....

I went to an install with a flue too close to an openable window....boiler breakdown......leaking pump......changed it but coundln't get the damn thing to fire.......till 30 mins of multimeter checking later i discovered a break switch fitted so well to window that no visible wires.....customer opened it that morning as it was so hot in house (summer)......fitter had wired it so if window opened it would trip out boiler.....clever but still not regs and a sticker on the boiler letting other know would have saved me a lot of swearing.......

 

[Paramelvina]

I've been moaning at the owner of the flat by email (she lives in Australia and rents the flat out). I told here that not only was she in contravention of the lease, but that in any case it looked to me like the installation contravened various regs.

I got an unsolicited phone call today (number withheld) from her gas engineer who was pretty aggressive with me, saying that I didn't know anything about the regs so "why was I causing so much trouble" for him. When I made the point about the clearance he claimed this was measured in absolute distance, not by the vertical drop. Sounds like complete rubbish to me, then he wouldn't even give me his name, his number, or the name of the company he works for and put the phone down on me.

Is there any way I can force the issue further do you think? I presume it is not unknown for installs to be in contraventions of regs, but would CORGI be able to force them to redo it without the flat's owner having to pay?

Like I said in my OP my issue is with how ugly it looks and how badly the work is done, if the condensate could be routed internally I wouldn't have an issue at all. If for example it could be mounted on a wall, allowing room for an internal waste route? Or are these boilers floorstanders only??

I'm also wondering whether I should stick my beak in and tell the tenants, I get on quite well with them and I don't really like the idea that they may be living in a flat with a dangerous installation. Is this covered by Building Regs hence the business of Buildings Control?

Confused of Hackney

 

[bengasman]

what you heard was nonsense.
you can do something about it in the way i mentioned before; in fact, that is the only practicable way to do it in your case

 

[nwph]

Its actually 300mm from the flue terminal to an openable window ,not the flue pipe ,i cannot understand why they didn't do the horizontal run at the bottom or pop a soakaway in.

In my experience neither corgi or building control will actually give a hoot .

 

[Paramelvina]

Well the installer came round today to discuss the situation with me, when I mentioned the distance between the flue and the window he said this was all according to regs as it had been screwed shut.

Again this sound like complete B****poo to me, surely someone could just unscrew the window, making it unsafe???

The installers are a pair of clowns, and I really fancy cracking the whip & making them skip.

Any info gratefully received....

 

[kirkgas]

screwing the window shut is prob a lie, but even if it is it won't be sealed, the reg says 300mm vertically from opening so fumes could still enter the prop, (not yours but still crap) if you contact CORGI they cannot/will not do anything unless INVITED to enter the prop by owner, so it is unlikely they will get in, another example of shoddy work, your best acton would be to advise the owner you are suing her for damage to your property unless it is all rectified to your agreed standard, if the tenant has been unhelpful stuff them, it is not your prob how the boiler is fitted, if their hands are tied by unhelpful owner advise them to get CORGI in as they are the tenant i'm sure CORGI would go round, prob mean the tenant getting evicted though!!!!!
good luck it will be a long haul getting it sorted, lets just hope that the pipe doesn't mysteriously fall off your wall or get blocked (and shut off the boiler) one dark night!!!!!!

 

[bengasman]

a window that is screwed shut, is not an openable window, so although bit of a botchjob, i would argue it is legal.
the general rule when it comes to access: if you need a tool to get access, it is safe/not accessible
oh, and b***poo is with 3 stars, not 4

 

[turbofan]

we all see these every day,ok its a poor installation (externally).
i just hope no one pushes the vertical pipe upwards,that would cause the boiler not to drain condense and possibly damage the boiler not to mention the inconvience of the boiler cutting out.
is the boiler a combi,just asking.
if this was my post i would just get a guy in to reroute the condense pipe at my own expense.
hey its not worth getting your blood pressure up.
we can see the installer has no tape measure so he was unable to measure and cut the flue to makers instructions and has no spirit level to confirm the condense pipe is angled downwards.
why do so many installers leave the white flue pipe exposed when there is no need to this looks poor.