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?