Gas equipment life spans.

Jun 20, 2005
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Good gas article in this months PCv mag. I’ve never heard of changing the gas regulator every ten years. Does this apply to the bulk head mounted ones or only those directly attached to the cylinder? The pigtails pipes I know are changed every five years. Are there any other gas bits that should be changed with age?
 

Damian

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Mar 14, 2005
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Regulators are advised to be changed when 10 years old but a lot of people do not realise this.
Pigtails or gas hose are a different matter, it depends what kind of gas hose is used and what kind of pigtail is used.

The low pressure black gas hose is recommended to be changed every year, the red high pressure hose at 5 years and standard pigtails at 5 years.

Stainless pigtails do have a 20 year theoretical life span as they use a PTFE lining which is not affected by the gas.

However, all hoses and pigtails should be changed if they have any damage to them
 
Jun 20, 2005
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Damian
so regulators are not a mandatory change? Mine’s 12 years old. Functions perfectly, is tested every year by an approved “Damian “ engineer. Can I relax?
 

Damian

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Mar 14, 2005
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If caravans were treated the same way as other gas items under Gas Safe, then it would be mandatory.
But,,,,caravans are not under the same restrictions but it is prudent to adhere to the recommendations as it is the internal springs in a regulator that rust out over time and then you have a huge problem.

Can you relax,,,,,,in my view, not really but its up to you.
 
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May 7, 2012
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It is a new one on me but it should be born in mind for the future. If you buy second hand it may be worth checking out.
 

Damian

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Perhaps that is why the regulators and all of the pigtails have a manufacture date printed on them?

The answer to that is Yes, and No.

The manufacture date of the item is there as a guide and in the case of a fault with a batch of the item then a recall can be issued for a particular period of time when the item was made, rather than recalling every item made.

The actual service life of LPG items starts from the day gas is first passed through so in the case of a caravan that date is date it came off the assembly line which is usually close enough to the purchase date that makes no difference.

The reason for the caution with LPG is that it is an acidic, seeking gas which means it is always looking for an escape route and eats away at its captor (the pipework)
 
Jul 18, 2017
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The actual service life of LPG items starts from the day gas is first passed through so in the case of a caravan that date is date it came off the assembly line which is usually close enough to the purchase date that makes no difference.

Do manufacturers actually test the gas system before passing on the caravan to a dealer? I have no idea, but thought it was up to the dealer?
 

Damian

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Mar 14, 2005
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Yes they do test the system for leaks but only at 37Mb.
It is the installers responsibility to test, not the dealer.

I have seen what they do and to be honest it worries me with the lack of care how it is done as I have had to deal with several brand new vans with gas leaks which should have been picked up in test.

A new LPG installation should be air pressure tested to 120Mb for 5 minutes but they dont do that.
 
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Jul 18, 2017
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Yes they do test the system for leaks but only at 37Mb.
It is the installers responsibility to test, not the dealer.

I have seen what they do and to be honest it worries me with the lack of care how it is done as I have had to deal with several brand new vans with gas leaks which should have been picked up in test.

A new LPG installation should be air pressure tested to 120Mb for 5 minutes but they dont do that.

Thanks for the input Damien as interesting. On another forum someone has puchased a caravan and there is a strong smell of gas. They returned it to the dealer the next day and the dealer had it for a week and said issue was resolved. However when he used it there was still a strong smell of gas and apparently he is now in the process of rejecting the caravan. Safety for his family is paramount!
 
Nov 16, 2015
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Replacing a regulator, never crossed my mind, but I think I will now, yet again until you dig into these thing you never know.

PTFE lined pipes will take a "line" and will harden, over a few years, which if moved too much will crack, they do flex a lot but can fail. . A life limit of 20 years is way too long.
 
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Regulator use for LPG systems should be designed to resist the effects of LPG on the materials used in them. The most vulnerable component if the regulator diaphragm which must separate the LPG vapour from the ambient air, and retain enough flexibility to enable it to respond to the changes in both gas and air pressures.

It is sensible to have a planned replacement date for regulators.
 
Jul 18, 2017
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Has any one had the regulator that is fitted to the bottle go faulty? It seems that the bulkhead regulators go faulty more often in comparison to a regulator fitted toe a bottle? I am probably wrong? :ROFLMAO:
 
Jun 20, 2005
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Here’s my bulkhead regulator,. No dates anywhere that I can see. However as it will be twelve years old soon I‘ll have it changed at the next service.
 

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