Renewing ACS CCN1 and Appliances

[twitchboy]

I'm thinking of renewing my ACS. They ran out a few years ago and I haven't done any gas work since. The last time I did them flue gas analysers were not compulsory so things have obviously changed. Are there any good books, manuals, tutorials I can purchase so that I can give myself a fighting chance? Cheers.

 

[Bhaven Patel]

GEt yourself a ViperGas work manual best book out there lots of clear illustration too.

 

[Bhoydavid]

I'm thinking of renewing my ACS. They ran out a few years ago and I haven't done any gas work since. The last time I did them flue gas analysers were not compulsory so things have obviously changed. Are there any good books, manuals, tutorials I can purchase so that I can give myself a fighting chance? Cheers.

A fighting chance with CPA1? Is it not analysing a boiler and a fire? You find the ratio in the MI's in the bay anyway and the theory is open book if I remember right

 

[glasgowplumber]

CPA1 is a doddle. 10 (?) questions to answer, a couple of appliances to test and say if they are safe/unsafe

 

[kirkgas]

If you haven't done any gas work for years you will be better getting some refresher gas training before you do the CCN then appliances, you must be able to provide old certs to be classed as re-assessment, most places do 3 days refresher then 2 days exams, it's impossible to say if 3 days is enough as I dont know you, but I have had a load of people in to do the 3 days who haven't done gas for years and they can't take it all in, as the pace is fast, and designed for reminding and re-focussing people who work in gas every day about the way the exams are structured and of the recent changes, as you have been out of gas for years it's probable 3 days won't be enough, but we usually give a price for the 3+2 and if you feel you aren't ready for the exam on day 4 you can pay for more training and suspend the exam till later, also I suggest that these people pay a deposit to book the course and to get the training manual before they turn up at the venue as they can read over the notes and get back into it a bit, but as I say without knowing you or your experience you need to make the decision

 

[twitchboy]

Cheers fellas. Kirk I have my old certs, that's not a problem. If the CPA isn't that big a deal then that's ok. Hopefully I'll get through that. If I need more training then I'll pay for it. It's no problem.

 

[kirkgas]

Cheers fellas. Kirk I have my old certs, that's not a problem. If the CPA isn't that big a deal then that's ok. Hopefully I'll get through that. If I need more training then I'll pay for it. It's no problem.

In general if you remember most of the old gas stuff you did CPA is nothing, you take a reading and cross reference a chart to say if it's safe or not, eg open Highway Code and find max speed for car on motorway, now tell me if car 1 travelling at 67mph is ok and if car 2 travelling at 74 mph is not ok ( as per regs) you don't have to know or understand what the implications of the readings are just be able to understand what's ok or not, although CO/CO2 ratio readings confuse some as they can't remember if 0.007 is safe or whether it's 0.07, ask James Bond he knows

 

[Bhoydavid]

In general if you remember most of the old gas stuff you did CPA is nothing, you take a reading and cross reference a chart to say if it's safe or not, eg open Highway Code and find max speed for car on motorway, now tell me if car 1 travelling at 67mph is ok and if car 2 travelling at 74 mph is not ok ( as per regs) you don't have to know or understand what the implications of the readings are just be able to understand what's ok or not, although CO/CO2 ratio readings confuse some as they can't remember if 0.007 is safe or whether it's 0.07, ask James Bond he knows

Been stung with missing a zero out the ratio on a CP12. Soon as I handed it in phone call straight away asking why I never ID'd the boiler haha

 

[twitchboy]

Can someone tell me when I did my gas training years ago, I did all my tightness testing with a basic water fillable manometer. Is this still the done thing or do the flue gas analysers have this function now?

 

[chris watkins]

Everyone is supposed to still carry a U gauge just incase electronic manometer goes **** but would not like to go back to water filled everyday, we have them for you to use if you like or bring your own.

Kirk you are a BPEC centre aren't you ? I was under the impression that if they were out of date by more that 12 or so month they had to do the initial not the re-acs ??

CPA1 may be a bit of paper to some but if you have never used a FGA then might be good to have a bit of training to get the most out of your £600 investment in kit.

Do you remember Medium pressure metre rigs twitchboy ?? Yes, well the good news is they are back in the CCN1. LOL

 

[kirkgas]

Everyone is supposed to still carry a U gauge just incase electronic manometer goes **** but would not like to go back to water filled everyday, we have them for you to use if you like or bring your own.

Kirk you are a BPEC centre aren't you ? I was under the impression that if they were out of date by more that 12 or so month they had to do the initial not the re-acs ??

CPA1 may be a bit of paper to some but if you have never used a FGA then might be good to have a bit of training to get the most out of your £600 investment in kit.

Do you remember Medium pressure metre rigs twitchboy ?? Yes, well the good news is they are back in the CCN1. LOL

Yes Chris I do bpec, and if expired they do initial as you say, the difference between the two is 50 theory questions on legislation and 6 extra controls on practical, if doing initial, the biggie with guys who "have done gas for years, but not lately" is them being able to prove it, if they can't prove they are a cat 1 they need a portfolio of evidence as they are classed as cat 2, whether initial or reassess they don't need training, but as we know if you are away from it for any time at all some refresher training is usually required, I've had 2 guys in the last year who spring to kind in this category, both done gas years ago and both came in for the 3 day refresher training, one of them said he considered doing straight assessment, haha I told him he was more than welcome but if he hit a couple of wrong answers on the safety critical stuff he would be finished and would have to lay again for a resist, he opted for training and left after 2 days saying he had changed his mind, the other did the training and was well short of confidence, so he rebooked another 3 day session a month later and studied hard, you could tell at assessment that he knew what he was doing from before but was a wee bit slow getting done, he took an extra day and got through CCN & CENWAT and is happily fitting boilers for a living, the other guy never appeared again

 

[kirkgas]

Can someone tell me when I did my gas training years ago, I did all my tightness testing with a basic water fillable manometer. Is this still the done thing or do the flue gas analysers have this function now?

I'm sure all assessment centres still use water guage for assessment

 

[twitchboy]

Out of interest, is the CCN1 still a 100% pass mark and is it still an open book exam?

 

[glasgowplumber]

100%. Can't remember if it was open book or not

 

[twitchboy]

It must still be open book. Very few people would get 100% if it wasn't, regardless of how many chances they're given.

How many chances are they given usually?

 

[chris watkins]

It must still be open book. Very few people would get 100% if it wasn't, regardless of how many chances they're given.

How many chances are they given usually?

Yes open book & indeed there are questions that you could only answer by looking in a book/s, BS's.
You can also use your books in the practical if it helps.

Two goes but you have to hit a minimum on first go, think its 70%, then you get a 2nd chance at those you got wrong.

(Watch out for the All of the above's = D, if two right answers then it must be D)

 

[glasgowplumber]

Pretty sure there's a few true or false questions thrown in as well that your destined to get correct after two shots.

I think if you get a couple wrong on the second go you need to get your book out and show the examiner the correct answer from the book, to show you actually understand it.

 

[aligorgon]

i have mine to do soon was quoted 575 for commercial core and CIGA1, 350 for testing and purge commercial..

then 650 for domestic changeover and 5modules...

any idea how this stacks up (1st quote)

 

[P J F PLUMBING]

 

[kirkgas]

It must still be open book. Very few people would get 100% if it wasn't, regardless of how many chances they're given.

How many chances are they given usually?

In bpec you do first attempt and get what you can, no minimum %, you then get second attempt at the ones you got wrong! and you must get at least 80% after second attempt! you then get "oral verification questions" on the ones you got wrong to get you up to the 100% required! oral verification is a nisnomer, you are given a different version of the questions you have got wrong twice, it's easier to understand and is designed to try to see if you simply don't understand the way it's written in the first version, you have to write down the answer, by the time you have 80+% you should get the 100%, as you only need to clarify a few questions, most people seem to get 90+% after the first attempt unless they have took a bit of a brainstorm and can't get the answers out in time! you get 2 minutes per question, best advice is to go through the paper and answer the ones you know, leaving the harder ones till the end, then you find those answers
Another tip when you get a question back is to treat it like a new question, rather than trying to convince yourself you know what you put the last time, it's too difficult to remember what you put, and even if you know the answer is A, and put A, because you have it wrong you are gutted and exclude A and choose another answer against your better judgement, and what has happened is you are right it is A but for some reason you have marked B, it's also the reason that people get true/false wrong twice, seems hard but it isn't if you confuse yourself trying to remember first attempt, there are a few tips people give for multi choice papers, like if you don't know true/false, always guess true, then you know it must be false, another is exclude 1/2 answers that you know aren't right, then of the two options remaining choose the one on the left, if it's wrong it's the one on the right, eg you ignore A & C as wrong so it's either B or D so choose B, if you ignore A & B, first guess is C, doesn't always work but it leaves you only a couple for oral verifications