Worst cylinder change ever.

[Mike Jackson]

Headed out to change a cylinder this morning. It was a 42-16 in a tight airing cupboard so I allowed myself 4 hours to do it.

Didn't start too well, no drain off on the primaries so had to vac the water out via the aav. Then had to cut the fittings off because there wasn't room to get a spanner in, God knows how they fitted it in the first place. Now for the new SS cylinder. Because of the width of the insulation there wasn't room to plumb it like the old one so I had to set it on the diagonal with the cold feed at the back. I preplumbed the cold feed and extended the primaries forward. I managed to squeeze the cylinder in, piped up the primaries and refilled the heating circuit. Result all of the joints were good and the boiler fired and I had good circulation.

Now for the domestic side, fitted the immersion, plumbed it all in and started filling. Going to run a bit over but not too bad. The cylinder filled and I checked all of my joints, bone dry. As I wired in the immersion I noticed a puddle forming under the cylinder. I thought it must be the immersion leaking and running down inside the lagging so I tweaked it up. Checked again and there was water dripping from around the flow connection. That connection was sound so I cut away at the insulation to be greeted with a spray coming from the weld area. Oh crap. Rang Bill at Williams who dispatched Ollie over to Eastbourne to grab a replacement cylinder for me. I managed to get the cylinder out with only two cuts so hoped for a quicker replacement.

Ollie rolled up at just after 3 with the new cylinder to find that he'd been given a 42-18 instead of as 42-16. After several calls it looked like Ollie was going to have to make a trip to Ashford to get yet another replacement and, fortunately for my customer. Ollie was happy to work late to get the cylinder to me. Finally at just gone 6 Ollie got back with the replacement cylinder and my dreams of an easy fit were dashed as the primaries weren't in the same place. After a lot of swearing I finally got the cylinder in and all systems full again. On with the boiler and the frigging return was airlocked. Took me over an hour to get it clear. What a flipping mare, I finished at 9. 12 hours to do a job I'd allowed 4 for.

 

[turnpin]

Some you win Mike some you lose.....seems you lost big time today hope you have a better day tomorrow...regards Turnpin:smile5:

 

[Rickster123]

What does a man who doesn't drink do at times like this mike??

 

[AlexGas]

What a kerfuffle! You can put your feet up for a bit.

 

[wetdrip]

What does a man who doesn't drink do at times like this mike??

Puts an apple in his mouth and sucks the juice out of it.
Seriously, must have been a mare to do.

 

[Ch4 plumbing]

Glad it turned out alright in the end, one to forget though.

 

[AlexGas]

Puts an apple in his mouth and sucks the juice out of it.
Seriously, must have been a mare to do.

I think, the apple is on the standby to plug any leaking open ends!

 

[tamz]

Glad to hear the guys at Williams went the extra mile. Not many would have went to the effort.
Tomorrow is another day. It will be better

 

[dave1]

Sounds like a bad day! I've had it before where the cylinder has been faulty. Feel like going mental ha ha

 

[lame plumber]

hope you gave an estimate and not a quote

 

[kris]

Cylinder manufacturer should re-inburse you for the extra time taken because of there faulty products. End of the day it's not yours or custards fault. Chance would be a fine thing lol

 

[IDCHAPPY]

What does a man who doesn't drink do at times like this mike??

Hard Rock

 

[TFGplumbing]

That sounded like a right A-Hole job, I though I was literally the only one stuff like that happens to guess iam not special afterall haha bet you were glad to get home after that one Mike

 

[Mike Jackson]

I quoted for the job. Couldn't really expect the custard to pay extra for faulty goods that I supplied. That's why we add a percentage on to material costs.

 

[Millsy 82]

Did you keep grumbling to yourself on the way home saying why do I do this job I f'ing hate this job! After a job like that that's all I do on the way home and I always manage to completely forget the times that everything has gone sweet as a nut and I've earner good money.

 

[Ermintrude]

I'm always thinking balls another late one wife will be annoyed, missed putting kids to bed. This isn't fun when u miss kids

 

[AlexGas]

I’d say your next cylinder from this manufacturer should be 50% off.

 

[Mike Jackson]

Bill at Williams, Hastings has asked me to raise an invoice to the manufacturer for my wasted time.

 

[Millsy 82]

Bill at Williams, Hastings has asked me to raise an invoice to the manufacturer for my wasted time.

What do you charge? £500 an hour? Lol.

 

[Plumbstar Tom]

I quoted for the job. Couldn't really expect the custard to pay extra for faulty goods that I supplied. That's why we add a percentage on to material costs.

Precisely, if customer supplied it then would remove the original, bill them for your time and tell them you call you back when they have another one

Manufacturer should reimburse your time though as it was there faulty product

 

[WaterTight]

The very occasional 3-times-longer-than-planned job is a fair price to pay for not having to do the i-know-exactly-when-i-finish---5.30pm-and-until-then-i-will-watch-the-clock job.

 

[Nostrum]

Dimplex paid me £245 + VAT to replace a faulty immersion (supplied)

I was really annoyed at the time.

 

[Ray Stafford]

Bill at Williams, Hastings has asked me to raise an invoice to the manufacturer for my wasted time.

What do you charge? £500 an hour? Lol.

Its better to keep in sensible. The manufacturer have no legal responsibility to settle any consequential loss claims. RM are usually pretty good if they are approached properly, but its privately owned by a Yorkshireman, and if Richard thinks you are taking the proverbial, he will dig his heels in and tell you to get stuffed. He's a really nice bloke, but no keener to be taken advantage of than the rest of us.

Treat them fairly and expect to be treated fairly in return.