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Corrugated stainless steel gas pipe


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For those who were following my topic regarding gas glands and specifically the use of

Gastite stainless steel corrugated LPG gas pipe in my sailaway below is the response

from the BSS. It basically means I`m O.K.

 

> New product Corrugated stainless steel

>

> tubing (CSST) in boats; specifically TracPipe®

>

> Relates to BSS

>

> Check(s) 7.8

>

> Background

>

> Corrugated stainless steel tubing (or CSST) has been used in domestic and non-domestic

>

> natural gas applications for a number of years as installation pipework. CSST is now

starting to

>

> appear as LPG installation pipework in some boats. Examiners will need to understand

the

>

> nature of product and what BSS checking actions are applicable.

>

> Description / scenario

>

> CSST consists of a continuous, flexible, stainless steel pipe and sometimes comes with

>

> a polyethylene covering. It is manufactured from a stainless steel core to various

British

>

> Standards recognised as suitable pipework within the boat LPG installation standard

PD> 5482-3: 2005.

>

> One manufacturer, OmegaFlex Inc, is supplying TracPipe® to a Norfolk based yacht

>

> builder. It is being used instead of traditional copper and steel gas pipework to

fixed

>

> appliances. According to the manufacturer, the pipe can be bent by hand to facilitate

>

> long runs without joints. Note however, it is not suitable for repeated bending and so is not

>

> regarded as a replacement for flexible hose.

>

> TracPipe® is certified by Advantica and other national approval bodies for use with

LPG

>

> up to 75 mbar. It comes in rolls of between 30 90m and is available in various bore

>

> sizes. It has a yellow polyethylene cover to provide protection against corrosive

attack

>

> to the stainless steel pipe. End fittings terminate in a male BSP thread for

attachment

>

> to an appliance; couplings and tee fittings are also available. Standard blanking

plugs

>

> will fit the end fittings.

>

> The pipe connection to fittings is achieved by patented metal to metal seal without

the

>

> use of specialist tools or hot work. According to the product manufacturer,

installation

>

> must be carried out by competent CORGI registered installers who have been trained

>

> and assessed by the manufacturer.

>

> Implications for BSS examinations

>

> CSST, including TracPipe®, must be considered as stainless steel installation pipework for the

>

> purposes of the BSS examination and all the checks for LPG Pipework section 7.8 apply.

>

 

> For the purposes of the BSS examination the condition of the yellow polyethylene cover is

>

> not subject to the checks at 7.8.1.

>

 

> In the event that a section of the cover is missing and the exposed steel pipe appears a

>

> brownish green colour, mark a failure at 7.8.1 because this indicates the pipe has

>

> suffered corrosive attack.

>

 

> In check 7.8.2, the polyethylene cover can be considered as a sleeve for the purposes

>

> of protecting the pipe through metal bulkheads provided that the cover appears in good

>

> condition.

>

 

> Concerning examination of fixings in checks 7.8.1 and 7.8.4, any type of fixings used for

>

> copper pipe are suitable, P clips, plastic clips & metal clips.

>

 

> At check 7.8.3, pipe joints should be considered as screwed connections.

>

 

> Looking at joints under 7.8.4, the fittings rely upon a patented metal to metal seal, so signs of

>

> sealing tape or jointing compound must be marked as a failure. The existence of tape

or

>

> jointing compound is evidence that the joint has not been competently made.

>

 

> At 7.8.6, please do not regard the yellow polyethylene cover as a gas-proof conduit; a

>

> separate arrangement is needed where relevant.

>

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I didn't see the other thread. So why not just use copper? It's also capable of long runs without joints (12m on my boat) and I'm sure it's cheaper.

Because there ALWAYS has to be a more complicated/expensive way of avoiding well-proven things in narrowboats. At least in this case there is such a thing on the market, otherwise we'd be having pages of debate about using sections of plastic drainpipe or bits of macaroni superglued together. ;)

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Why not use rifle barrels! When town gas first began its use in London there was an abundance of old rifles left over from all the wars. They were given to machine shops to thread each end of each of them with a male and female thread so that they could be screwed together. These were used under the streets and into premises. They say that there are still some in use. So use old rifle barrels, better still use new rifle barrels, it'd put em to a peaceful use instead of shooting at people and things.

Yes, wrestle them all off the likes of soldiers, Arnold Shwarseneggers, Rambo's, Steven Seagull's ect and all the other lunatic gung ho shootists and gun slingers and use em for your gas pipes.

Edited by bizzard
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One potentially useful benefit of using TracPipe is the vastly increased volume of gas in the pipework.

 

This means you can have much bigger leaks before they show up on the BSS tightness test.

Not if using a bubble tester.

 

A bubble tester measures absolute flow and is independent of system volume, on the other hand a manometer test is a pressure decay test and very dependant upon system volume.

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One potentially useful benefit of using TracPipe is the vastly increased volume of gas in the pipework.

 

This means you can have much bigger leaks before they show up on the BSS tightness test.

 

Hey that's an interesting point I hadn't thought of. There is no point in the regulations specifying a max rate of pressure drop if the volume isn't taken into account!

Not if using a bubble tester.

 

A bubble tester measures absolute flow and is independent of system volume, on the other hand a manometer test is a pressure decay test and very dependant upon system volume.

True but then the sensitivity of bubble testers seems to be in some doubt too.

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Hey that's an interesting point I hadn't thought of. There is no point in the regulations specifying a max rate of pressure drop if the volume isn't taken into account!

True but then the sensitivity of bubble testers seems to be in some doubt too.

One day I shall work out the correlation between a bubble tester and a manometer test for different system volumes.

From memory the BSS did increase the time that there must not be any bubbles to one minute which (maybe) will have removed the doubt over sensitivity.

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One day I shall work out the correlation between a bubble tester and a manometer test for different system volumes.

From memory the BSS did increase the time that there must not be any bubbles to one minute which (maybe) will have removed the doubt over sensitivity.

Just fitted a Bubble tester recently. Do most people test for one minute?

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Just fitted a Bubble tester recently. Do most people test for one minute?

I had a look at the private boat BSS check list and it says in the notes that the bubble test time was changed to 60secs.

 

The private boat BSS check list states - Operate the button in the “test” mode for at least 60 seconds.

This from page 69.

 

Added

60 secs becomes quite a long time when bending with your head in the gas locker watching a bubble tester detective.gif

Just before the BSS examiner comes I test for 90 seconds so as to be confident that he will not see a bubble.

Edited by Chewbacka
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You wouldn't, because CORGI has been reconfigured as Gas-Safe. You can search here: https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/

 

Tony

Ahh, glad to see that the BSS office is keeping its self up to date ?

Edited: I knew the answer but worry about the people setting the safety standards not being on the ball.

Edited by Eeyore
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I had a look at the private boat BSS check list and it says in the notes that the bubble test time was changed to 60secs.

 

The private boat BSS check list states - Operate the button in the “test” mode for at least 60 seconds.

This from page 69.

 

Added

60 secs becomes quite a long time when bending with your head in the gas locker watching a bubble tester detective.gif

Just before the BSS examiner comes I test for 90 seconds so as to be confident that he will not see a bubble.

Thanks ;)

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Ahh, glad to see that the BSS office is keeping its self up to date

Edited: I knew the answer but worry about the people setting the safety standards not being on the ball.

To be fair, the sentence starts with "according to the manufacturer..." so they are just quoting the manufacturer's literature.

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To be fair, the sentence starts with "according to the manufacturer..." so they are just quoting the manufacturer's literature.

Fair point, but wouldn't it look better if they added a note regarding superceeded standards? Edited by Eeyore
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