Gas morco water heater fitter ?

[jimbob01]

Hi all , does anyone know a qualified lpg plumber / gas man who could install and plumb in a morco LPG hot water heater. , we are having a hell of a time finding someone .. The boat is on the Thames at hammersmith . Any help would be very greatly appreciated .many thanks Jim

[MtB]

I'd say you are finding it difficult because this work is highly unpredictable. Arranging the gas supply could be anything from an hour to a day or more's work. And that doesn't include an initial visit to the boat to design the gas supply then order the parts.

 

Then there is the flue. Is this a steel narrowboat or something else? Cutting the hole is easy once you have arranged a 5" hole saw and a pokey drill to run it. Oh, and a hefty 240v power supply. Again, could be as easy as plugging into your shoreline or a complete ball-ache borrowing then lugging a 2kW genny a mile along a towpath. Then returning it!

 

What is it to be fitted to? Supposed to be fire-resistant surface. Who is arranging this?

 

And ventilation. Few customers realise this needs to be calculated and installed too. Another day slips by...

 

Plumbing it into the water supply is the easy bit. And finally, customers expect the installation to cost peanuts. This is why gas bods back away from Morco installations!

 

My best advice is take it to a boatyard and leave it there so they can do it at their leisure. Will probably take a few days or a week, I'd predict, as they draw together all the materials required to do it. Actually installing it is about a day's work. (Plus a short day to install the uprated gas supply should it need one.) The hidden work is establishing what materials are required, and obtaining those materials.

 

If you want someone to come to you and do it, expect multiple visits and the work to drag out for a while unless they are very organised.

 

I wonder if this thread should be pinned. This question seems to crop up repeatedly on here...

[bizzard]

And it might not be able to be fitted exactly where you wanted it to go because of the possibility of cutting into roof cross beams whilst cutting the hole for the flue. Very careful probing, measuring and re-measuring is needed to get it right.

[MtB]

And it might not be able to be fitted exactly where you wanted it to go because of the possibility of cutting into roof cross beams whilst cutting the hole for the flue. Very careful probing, measuring and re-measuring is needed to get it right.

 

 

Nah don't worry about roof beams, just chop through them. There will only be a maximum of one in the way and boat won't sink if it is cut.

 

Besides, a bouncy roof can be fun!

[jimbob01]

Well thanks for the quick reply ... The old boiler is broken , has been faulty for some time , the morco 62(I think) is on the boat with flue and fitting kit , it may need some vents fitting in the roof ... there is shore power , that's no problem , just would like a man with the qualifications to come along and it would be fine on a day rate any one fancy a trip to hammersmith ?

[MtB]

Well thanks for the quick reply ... The old boiler is broken , has been faulty for some time , the morco 62(I think) is on the boat with flue and fitting kit , it may need some vents fitting in the roof ... there is shore power , that's no problem , just would like a man with the qualifications to come along and it would be fine on a day rate any one fancy a trip to hammersmith ?

 

 

It's a whole different ball game replacing one that's already there. FAR simpler. But why not just fix the one already installed? What's wrong with it? Rob the new one for parts in fact...

[smileypete]

Have a look on the Gas Safe website.

 

Try the advanced search with boats selected ONLY, will also help if you can get an independent recommendation as well.

 

Often water heater issues can be down to poor pressure/flow, IF that is at least part the problem so it may affect the new heater as well.

 

If you can fit a 'Y strainer' then a pressure gauge just before the heater's water inlet, it might save some heartache later on if it seems to play up.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited July 4, 2015 by smileypete

[jimbob01]

Thanks Pete

Now think we have someone in the pipeline. :-)