Gas

[tom52]

Nasty smell of gas when I turn the gas on. Coming from around the cooker.Perhaps the cooker or the armoured pipe or connections? Smell starts around the cooker, when you turn the bottle on in the cockpit, even though the cooker is off.
Any tips for tracing the leak and/or recommendations for a Corgi gas fitter in the Poole area who does boats ?

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[SteveA]

Try soapy water or Snoop - watch for the bubbles! oh and keep the area well ventilated while you've got the gas on.

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[vyv_cox]

Soapy water is very difficult to use for small leaks. Its viscosity and surface tension are so low that it runs off too easily. Sometimes you can encourage it to remain in place by passing your wet fingers over the suspect area but it's a bit hit and miss. Snoop is far more effective as it has a thickener in it.

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[graham]

Buy a tin of gas leak detector spray in a plumbers merchant for about £2.

Some washing up liquids contain substances that cause corrosion to copper.

Check the joints first ,if you can smell it immediately it must be quite a big leak .It could be on the cooker itself,Put your nose up to each of the burners and get someone else to turn on the bottle.If it is the cooker I would think you could save yourself some money by taking it to a Corgi fitter rather than have him come to the boat.

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[Avocet]

I'm sure I saw a small hand-held gas leak detector for sale somewhere recently for about £45. Might have been either in this or last month's YM or PBO. It was only about the size of a small "pen" torch.

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[philip_stevens]

It's in the Force Four Chandlery flyer sent out in the post. Page 7, bottom right hand corner.

Item code, A510016, (Handheld) Gas Detector, £44.95. AAA batteries extra!!

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.force4.co.uk>http://www.force4.co.uk</A>

sales@force4.co.uk

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Philip

 

[jeanne]

I can recommend the Detekta gas hand held gizmo that Philip mentioned. It is sensitive enough to show which end of an in-line connector [from solid copper to the flexible hose to the the cooker , in my case] is leaking.

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[cpedw]

When I experienced these symptoms, the cause was the armoured hose. The wire braid armouring was falling apart and had turned the rubber inside tube into an effective seive by a thousand tiny perforations.

Derek

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[tom52]

Thanks everyone. Some good advice/tips.

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