Symptoms of faulty Gas meter

[Rizme]

I was called to a property today, where the customer complained his bills have been very high in the past couple of years and the consumption has been very less. Went there did the tightness test, no leaks.
Standing pressure (SP) was 27.5mb on the meter and 26mb on the boiler nearest the meter, a bit higher than normal. There are 3 appliances, i.e. 2 boilers and a gas hob. Two boilers because of two flats on the same meter though.
Carried out working pressure(WP) on all the applliances, the boiler nearest to the meter had WP on the meter i.e. 22mb and at the boiler 18.5mb with the other two applliances off and with hob on WP at the meter was 22mb and at the boiler 18mb.
Than measured WP with firing both the boilers and hob off and the WP at the meter was 20.5mb and at the boiler was 16mb (this is the same boiler which is closest to the meter) and hob on the wp at the meter was 20mb and at the boiler was 15mb.

Carried out Gas rate and they were nearly as expected on both the boilers. Did FGA on them and the readings were with in limits.
With the readings on of WP measure recorded could be because of undersized pipe as the boiler closest to the meter is about 10 meters away and the second boiler is approx. 20 mtrs. The pipe from the meter going towards the appliance is 22mm LCS and into the floor board and back up to the appliance in 15 mm copper from the floor board. Both the boilers are non-condensing the nearest to the meter is Potterton Perfoma 24 combi and the 2nd boiler is Potterton suprima system boiler.

Checked the burner pressure on the boilers and this was 12mb.

Have I missed out on any thing i.e. carrying out any other checks and I hope I have explained well enough.

It is an E6 meter if that helps

If the meter is faulty what are the checks that I should be looking for on the appliances. The customer has written to BG and they will send some one to take the meter away.
Do I need to cap the appliances Off as in one of the flat there is some one living and the other one is empty.

Please help.

 

[SimonJohns]

How can you say the gas rate is correct if you suspect a faulty meter?

 

[Blackcatgas]

The fact that hes got 2 big boilers and a gas hob might be somthing to do with his large bills, make sure that you get paid for your time so far.

 

[REDSAW]

did you mention to him the cost of gas has gone up?.

get a meter reading from 3 years ago from bg and compare to recent.

 

[Pssst]

Many people claim their meter is faulty when in fact,they have not kept pace with the huge increases in fuel and they really need to get used to it or preferably,put some clothes on and use less gas. The E6 meter uses ultrasonic technology to measure flow and there are no obstructions in the flow path..i.e it is just flow in,through measuring tube,flow out,no valve mechanisms or similar to absorb pressure.

 

[mikimac]

I don't know about the meter being faulty because standing pressure & wp at the meter sound ok so the governor sounds like it's working but a 3.5mb drop in wp between the meter & first boiler is a concern. Then a 4mb drop between meter & second boiler? Then with all appliances operating you have 15mb (21mb +- 2). I'm assuming that it is 1/2" lcs which sounds small considering the loads that it is supplying. What was the flame picture on the hob like with everything on?

 

[diamondgas]

Had loads of the same complaints since i started this profession! As pssst says, the meter has no moving parts and uses sound to measure. If the meter rate is the same as the manufactures gas rate for their boiler then it is highly unlikely that the meter is faulty. Truth is it isn't up to you to decide but the supplier who i believe will charge the customer if they find out that their equipment is not at fault!!

 

[gasmarc]

What would be funny if BG came out and capped him off for having undersized pipes. I have had a customer call me to do a service on a normal boiler ,The customer had said they had BG out due to very high gas bills, Well straight away i put my FGA on the flue and it started buzzing , I checked the burner pressure and it was 16 or 17 millibar and it should have been 10 or 12 from memory, Well i checked the hot water and you could have made tea with it the rads you could have cooked eggs on no problem. Customer was delighted with my findings and i got out of doing a service, It had only been like this for 3 years

 

[Rizme]

Happy New Year All.

Customer called back last week and said they have recieved letter from BG that the investigation carried out on the meter by a third party has come and In the report have confirmed that the meter is faulty and it was giving out quiet a bit than expected. They have filed in for rembursement and asked me to send an invoice too. That was bit a good start to the year. Very pleased for the customer.