Ian and helga go south !!

Good morning ,, I hope you all slept well??? Are you sitting comfortably?? Now I will begin !!!!

Last night while I was watching a dvd, one of the many a mate in uk gave me when I came away, the picture after an hour started freezing, stopping and starting the film , the films he gave me were copies so I put it down to that... Anyway this morning I turned to on to see if it would play and no luck, took film out and DVD player is still freezing, jumping lines on screen etc so it seems it's the Rv and not the discs,, never mind I will sort it when I get back to uk!!

Now I know I had a pain free day yesterday, which was quiet uneventfull but it looks like I am paying for it in spades today!! Woke at 5 am. Had the usual brew, thought oh it's a bit chilly think I will turn heating on for a bit!! Well turned her on , all good for a min and then I heard a bang?? It was quite loud and it woke the old German next door who came out and started checking his awning and contents!! I told him it was me so he was relieved and then he vanished!!

So I had a good look round the outside of helga and I saw that I have a drip of water coming from what looks like an overflow pipe under her??

I then went back into her and turned the heating on again, now it makes a bit of a noise when trying to start so again I turned her off!! I then went to the hob to check if gas was working, all 3 rings alight and all fine!! I then went to remove the cover of my gas fill point and when I did I noticed that when the repsol guy filled the tank yesterday he has filled it right to capacity? I mean the gauge is to the top of the red marked area!! Is this bad??? Could it be cause of problem?

So now I'm thinking of trying to let some gas out of tank and without sticking something down the end of the fitting to open the release valve ( which is prob not a good idea) so I have turned all hobs on and there merrilly burning away, ( warming van as well) I have not tried to put heating back on yet or set it onto water heating only !! So this is the question!!!! What would be the best thing to do??? Ignore it( cause gas hob works ok) and sort it in uk or get it looked at here??? Another eventful start to a day in Spain !!! Lol.

I know there is a lot of info you all know and there is a few of you living in Spain ( yes including you Gus) lol. Can you please let me know what you would do??? I know nothing about gas fitting and therefore do not want to blow myself and camping la marina off the map !!!
 
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Ian wait till some of the men come on but how cold was it last night, if it was very cold Helga will have dumped her water to stop her freezing up. So be careful until you check it out if it is that you need one of the fellas will tell you what to do, I could be barking up the wrong tree but it could be that.
 
I think if your chilly put the gas rings on for a while which will warm you up and also use up a bit of gas to ease the tank..
 
If it's dumped the water which is what Hymers do a lot of people put a peg on to stop this burning gas won't help until you sort it out is there any water underneath Helga.
 
Could the bang have been the water heater valve opening? What sort of heating do you have Ian? Gas/230volt, blown air, gas fire?

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Carol said:
If it's dumped the water which is what Hymers do a lot of people put a peg on to stop this burning gas won't help until you sort it out is there any water underneath Helga.
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Carol there is no water under at all now! The drip from the pipe seems to have stopped!! Is that good?
 
Badknee said:
Could the bang have been the water heater valve opening? What sort of heating do you have Ian? Gas/230volt, blown air, gas fire?
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I have blow air heating knee! As I said to carol no water dripping from pipe at all now? Is the water heater valve a red thing? I seem to remember the engineer in uk lifting it or pulling it up and mentioning a peg?? And it is gas yes!! No fire just air!!
 
Hi Carol here again Eddie says the water that gets dumped is from the boiler there is a dump valve near the top of the boiler usually a red knob which is down it will need pulling up it should then stay up (if it is that) some people put a close peg on it. If that has happened you will need to bleed it through by running the cold tap until it runs properly.
 
I
Ed Earl said:
Hi Carol here again Eddie says the water that gets dumped is from the boiler there is a dump valve near the top of the boiler usually a red knob which is down it will need pulling up it should then stay up (if it is that) some people put a close peg on it. If that has happened you will need to bleed it through by running the cold tap until it runs properly.
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will have a look and let you know !!!
 
Assuming you have re-fillable tanks they should have automatically cut of at 80% full so there should be no problem.

It depends how big the bang was, it might just have lit with a "pop".

As Carol says it could have dumped water last night as we had about 5 deg near Cadiz.

Martin

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ianthebuilder said:
Just been talking to a bloke who can't wait to tell me I'm going to get robbed by bogus coppers!! Think I will turn round a go back to me mums !!! Bloody doom merchants! Thank you for all your kind words. Let the adventure begin!! Xxx.
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all the crap i have had and am still enjoying it latest mishap washed my phone will try and get a cheap one in gibralter vodaphone is what they are advising dont look back keep going forwards,sights like this make it worthwhile
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I think you will have the same heating as ours. Yes the red plug is the top of the valve and it should be up for closed. Is there any water in your hot water tank? Open your tap in the hot position and see if any water comes out? If not change to mid position until it runs steady.. I assume you have plenty of water in the main tank.
 
I have heard of, if the heating takes a while to ignite, there can be an accumulation of gas in the flue which when ignited can cause a "bang"
 
image.jpg Well the red stopper is up and was!! Just turned heating on and all seems good? Hot air coming out of vents,, water is all good!! Ahhhh. Just come outside and it seems like the vent cover has blown apart!! See picture. That doesn't look good!! Why would that do that???? It must have been the bang??
 
mustaphapint said:
I think you will have the same heating as ours. Yes the red plug is the top of the valve and it should be up for closed. Is there any water in your hot water tank? Open your tap in the hot position and see if any water comes out? If not change to mid position until it runs steady.. I assume you have plenty of water in the main tank.
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Yes mustapha lol great name!! Hot water all good.

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All I can assume people is that from the damage, I think there was, is. Too much gas in tank! When I turned her on this morning it ignited and the pressure blew the cover front to pieces!! If the German was sitting in his awning when it happened the cap would have killed him stone dead!! Lol. I can't even find the bits that shattered but they might have something to do will the 3 holes he now has in his awning window!!
 
What is the quickest way to get some gas from tank to maybe ease the pressure!! Leave heating and hobs on??
 
golly said:
I have heard of, if the heating takes a while to ignite, there can be an accumulation of gas in the flue which when ignited can cause a "bang"
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I guess Golly's reply makes sense given the damage?
 
Not sure it will be a pressure problem Ian, the explosion must of happened because of a build up of unignighted gas in the boiler.
When you left Beni you said you were going to get a hab service done, I would get it done and the boiler serviced asap.
Cheers
Ed

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And do you know what's worse!! While worrying about this this morning I got caught short and had to use the loo in helga for a no2. I hate that, now it's gonna be a half hour clean!!! Then a shower!! Still it could be worse, gas could have blown up cassette then that would have been it !!!!! Lol
 
Sheddy said:
Not sure it will be a pressure problem Ian, the explosion must of happened because of a build up of unignighted gas in the boiler.
When you left Beni you said you were going to get a hab service done, I would get it done and the boiler serviced asap.
Cheers
Ed
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Yes edd,, it's even higher on the agenda now !!!
 
I'm a little concerned there may be another problem.. Hopefully someone can tell you I'm wrong..

If you get liquid gas in your burners that's what happens.. so is there a chance you are right and the tanks are faulty so allowing more than an 80% fill? That could have tr result of liquid coming through your gas pipes not gas..
 
Ok
mjltigger said:
I'm a little concerned there may be another problem.. Hopefully someone can tell you I'm wrong..

If you get liquid gas in your burners that's what happens.. so is there a chance you are right and the tanks are faulty so allowing more than an 80% fill? That could have tr result of liquid coming through your gas pipes not gas..
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Ok tigger, but could that have caused the vent cap to have been blown off??
 
ianthebuilder said:
Ok



Ok tigger, but could that have caused the vent cap to have been blown off??
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Absolutely.. LPG igniting in liquid form goes very bang. I think there was a story on here a while ago about it happening..

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The normal problem is a failure to ignite first time. That leaves unignited gas. they should then have a built in delay on many versions , that prevent you just making attempt after attempt etc, & suddenly it lights & boom, disaster.
If there was some other problem ,like to much gas or gas pressure this would point to a regulator failing. When not in use the pressure is creeping past from high side to low side & then when you first go to light it you get a roaring flame or in case of boiler an explosion & then gas operates normally.
I had it recently on a regulator for a bottle we use for the cooker in the house. The pressure would build up when off & then when you lit a ring it would flare up initially & then revert to normal. Turn a ring on first.
 
:Eeek: OMG I go off for a hour and your blowing the site up, hope you get to the bottom of the problem quickly.

Now to the other bottom problem, when using the loo for other than a wee, open the slide completely put a cross of toilet paper across the hole, all will disappear without hardly any mess to clean at all.
 
IAN. If you try to light the gas WITHOUT first removing the cover, it will not light, OR it will briefly light and the pressure will blow the cover off !!
Its a safety feature because it is a vented flue, the exhaust is in the centre and the fresh air is drawn in around it.
Now you don't have to worry about taking it off first, because you've blown it to bits !!!!
A self solving problem !!
Mitch. (y)(y)(y)
 
Carol said:
when using the loo for other than a wee, open the slide completely put a cross of toilet paper across the hole, all will disappear without hardly any mess to clean at all.
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That's the way to do it!!!! If you have money to flush away you can get something called "Happy Bowl Toilet Liners".

After loo use you might also like to put a cap of bio-laundry liquid down (assuming you are not using other toilet chemicals - don't want a chemical reaction!!!) The laundry liquid might not help with solid break down (opinions vary on that) but it does smell nicer than the alternative.

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