Member postings for chris lyall

Hi all - I am the boiler maker you have been criticising so quickly! There appears to be a couple of issues that you are not happy with:-

1. The Blackgates reference in the Juliet boiler eBay listing details was a genuine mistake by my wife who left it in in error after using the listing details of the Sweet Pea boiler as a start for the Juliet boiler details. This has now been amended to read LBSC design. I apologise for any confusion but my wife Samantha is an accountant NOT a model engineer and she has been running the Ebay side of things for a while to see how things would go. i will be moving to my own seller account this year to build up my feedback profile independently of her. In the meantime, should you wish to read the feedback of some of my customers please see pages 5, 6, 8,20 and 21 of feedback as a seller where you can read for yourself the satisfaction of those who have bought boilers etc from me.

2. Now to the CE marking - as you say this is a complete can of worms because everyone has their own opinion. I have done talks for several model engineer societies and every boiler inspector has his own opinion. It is permissible to build copper boilers up to 50 bar litres and self certify for the purpose of CE marking. This in accordance with the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations (PSSR). I maintain an auditable trail of all materials used (copper sheet, copper tube, phosphor bronze, silver solder, flux and gases etc). Every boiler I make has a unique number with the builder identified and the test pressure stamped permanently on it. The reason there is no picture in the Ebay listing is to ensure we do not fall foul of Ebay not as described rules as obviously the boiler dispatched will have a different number to the one pictured since it will have been built to order.

All my customers are most welcome to visit my facilities, and on collection of a boiler, check that I am working to the correct material and published design and appropriate hydraulic pressure test. I have now constructed over 100 copper boilers and everyone has been accepted as a quality purchase with no returns for any reason. My customers are worldwide.

I can certainly reassure you that these are manufactured by myself as correctly identified above which is why there is indeed a 30 day lead time to dispatch. Therefore they are not imported from China or elsewhere - I have never had one fail a pressure test and I am happy for anyone to come and see me at work.

I have only just started this venture in ernest having just retired. My last job was working in Afghanistan for 8 years as a contractor runing the Royal engineers Workshop. I have previously written an article for Model Engineer about a year ago which refers to the Afghan Engine which I taught young soldiers to build in their free time. They seemed to appreciate having something completely different to concentrate on for while. My business is in the early stages of development and with the help of my wife in 2017 we aim to have a separate Ebay user id and paypal account and also a website will be developed with links to U tube videos when possible. I am not personally able to do that sort of admin and rely on my wife who works full time in a very busy job and has limited time to help with the admin.

I would be interested to hear why one of the above would not pass my boiler and specifically for what reasons. Also the Model Engineers chest is not a prop it is in my workshop as I write this reply.

Finally, if any of you have anything further you would like to discuss with me I would be happy to talk to you and put your fears at bay. Kind regards. Chris Lyall 01132 567676