boiler plant rooms

[sparkside1]

Hi all

I have recently started a job in building services maintenance. Coming from a domestic background, this is turning into a steep learning curve as they have thrown me in at the deep end and left to get on with it as an electrician knows everything right!? Anyway, my main concern is boiler houses and the heating controls. Everything seems ancient and built by Satchwell. Is there any info out there or good books explaining about interlocks and control panels etc as it's all a bit daunting and different to the domestic Y plans I have been used to. Most of the guys on this firm are gas/ combustion engineers and they won't touch any of it!

Cheers

 

[shanky887614]

yes lol its a quite small and in regards to controls and didnt want to scare the op to much

2 boilers (one for a back up
2 heating pumps (as above)
2 dhwhp pumps (as above)
2 pipe stats
1 immersion heater lol
3 divert valves
3 flow senors
1 stupid cat 5e controller cable direct back to county for adjustment

thats about all i can remember for now

and yes the pumps are connected with heat resistance flex but the don't use much power (the top two are normal domestic heating pumps and the bigger ones are nearly the same just have more low end grunt)

it was more the flex just hanging that I thought seemed a little off but then we always pigtail it etc.

 

[Corbs]

yea i know i never did that the heating guys did that lol when they changed the pump ( i was testing the heating pumps ) it wasn't in any danger, so i thought no point in changing/ shorting it other than it dont looking good, but will be ok in about 2 pump changes any way and i put it behind the heating pipe so it doesn't look out of place

 

[Knobhead]

There’s something not ringing true here. If a company has specialist staff like combustion engineers, why take on a house basher?

 

[Corbs]

There’s something not ringing true here. If a company has specialist staff like combustion engineers, why take on a house basher?

thing that got me thinking now if they knew he wasnt (the op) experienced are they (combo engineers) :ninja:

 

[Knobhead]

Do you know what a combustion engineer does?

Start looking at steam raising or kilns and furnaces. So far I’ve worked on plants fired with gas, pulverised coal, oil, coke, PCBs, waste solvent, shredded tyres and biomass.

We burnt gas at the rate of 21,000,000 cubic foot a day.

 

[Corbs]

Do you know what a combustion engineer does?

Start looking at steam raising or kilns and furnaces. So far I’ve worked on plants fired with gas, pulverised coal, oil, coke, PCBs, waste solvent, shredded tyres and biomass.

We burnt gas at the rate of 21,000,000 cubic foot a day.

i was just saying, makes you think if the comp knew he hasnt done anything like this before and with no training program just makes you think thats all

 

[ayjay]

its a troll question no proper firm would employ/risk a house basher ******* around with a boiler room

 

[ayjay]

wht thanks shanky bet the mods don,t

 

[davesparks]

Does it matter the guy is asking for help not a davesparks headhunt . suppose you never blagged a job oh sorry forgot your perfect !

I wasn't attempting any kind of headhunt, I asked for a little bit of info on the situation. The guy may have made an honest mistake in assuming that all boilers work like domestic systems when he took the job on, if the new employer had just asked if he can do boilers without going in to detail. I meant no malice, but would suggest that if he is out of his depth he speaks up before something bad comes of it.

I am by no means perfect, but I do know my limits.

I take on jobs that I am confident I can do, and I take on jobs that I know will push the boundaries of my knowledge and comfort zone. I turn down jobs that are far beyond my ability.
If I am not fully confident about something I do my research before I start, not after I've hit a point of no return.

I can't say I have ever blagged a job, but then I work with some things that are pretty dangerous if you don't know what you are doing and try to blag it. Today I was responsible for lifting approximately a tonne of metalwork and stage lighting equipment above a stage in a well known London venue, how well do you think that would go if someone just blagged it? (I've seen the results of people blogging that!)

 

[Engineer54]

There is and always has been a big difference between a maintenance electrician and an installation electrician. Many an installation electrician think that maintenance guys just go round changing flu lamps and the like, ....they couldn't be more wrong if they tried!!

Unless you have been trained/mentored in the art of plant/machine controls and can understand/decipher sometimes complex schematic control drawings, then i'd say the average domestic electrician would be struggling badly. Some things you can get away with blagging, but plantroom controls etc (not just boiler control) isn't one of them, with or without schematic drawings to hand!!

 

[mayfair]

Whatever

If the guy is only used to domestic installs then he could soon find himself in deep .......
And mayfair you sounded like our lass when you said "whatever" I can't bloody get away from her lol

 

[mayfair]

My opinion for what its worth was that the OP has not been given the sort of work that the photos show. surely no one would employ a domestic spark for such work. I think some of us jump in because of our past experiences for all we know the op might be looking after a much much smaller plant than we have presumed or even a block of flats

 

[GMES]

My opinion for what its worth was that the OP has not been given the sort of work that the photos show. surely no one would employ a domestic spark for such work. I think some of us jump in because of our past experiences for all we know the op might be looking after a much much smaller plant than we have presumed or even a block of flats

Whatever!!

 

[Rockingit]

Whilst I broadly agree with most of the 'out of depth' comments, it's worthwhile to remember that there was once a time when ALL OF US knew jack - and we all started somewhere. There are times when you can't learn something by trial and error - it's neither safe nor sensible - but can any of us actually claim to have never had a moment when we've had to stop, scratch our heads and ask ourselves "how the heck is this meant to work? Where's the manual?". It doesn't mean we dived in by stripping it apart and grabbing hold of a live bus bar to see what it did, because we know as an electrician that that's never going to end well, but it does mean that we take a deep breath, stop to ask a question or two and then carry on being sensible. An assembly of parts is an assembly of parts, after all.

How do you eat an elephant? One piece at a time.

 

[GMES]

Rockingit, I agree we all have had to learn along the way, but I think the point with the op is that it seems he has been thrown in without a life jacket. Even if he is learning and a competent guy, surely if he doesn't understand the enviroment then it is crucial he has someone to shadow him and watch out for him!!