Thank you for the replies.
I am going to replace the regulator which hopefully will correct the issue and if not, on age it should be replaced anyway.
Concerning my motorhome, it is a NZ designed and built Kea which is highly regarded in the industry both here and internationally for its build quality. All the joinery and its electrical, plumbing, gas and sanitation systems look to be well installed. Obviously though, not every worker on the production line is a qualified gas fitter, electrician, joiner or plumber - I suspect that there is just one qualified person in each trade with the responsibility of 'signing off' each build and inevitably, shoddy workmanship will occur and slip through the pre-delivery check.
For this reason I have little faith in 'professional installations.'
I realize that this is getting off topic - sorry.
The worker who initially installed my failed Truma water heater probably did so in an hour or two. It took me two days to install the identical replacement, mainly because Truma issue a very precise installation guide which I followed to the letter/millimeter. The original installation was more or less ok but not perfect, probably driven by the foreman telling the worker to 'come on, get a move on, you should have finished that by now.' And the end result of this 'professional installation' was that it failed due to insufficient sealant around the external bedding plate which allowed water to enter and rust out the boiler.
The next issue with the truck was with the diff. Any vehicle I buy secondhand, I like to drain the engine, gearbox and differential oil to see that just oil comes out, no other nasty stuff. An oil change had only recently been done by a professional heavy vehicle service centre. The diff is drained by removing the back cover, held on by 8 bolts and one of the first things you need to know are the bolt torque settings. Removing the bolts it was obvious that no torque wrench had been anywhere near the diff, in fact one hard to get at bolt at the top of the assembly was only finger tight.
House wiring. I moved a few 3 pin outlets and the work had to be signed off by an electrician, which he did. He commented that I should have just let the electricians do the work because with him coming out to sign if off I was saving next to nothing. I had some other sockets open so told him to look at the original installations vs mine. He didnt see any difference so I reminded him that the electrical regulations state that where a wire is terminated to a screw termination, not more than 1mm of bare copper may be exposed between the sheathing and the termination. Mine complied, the others didn't whereupon he left in a bit of a huff.
And the final piece de resistance, I decided to renew the water main from the street to the house and this entailed digging a 51m trench which seemed like a good idea at the time but really not so much as being only a few weeks short of 80, it nearly killed me. Seeing a heap of blue alkathene coiled up a passing plumber stopped to have a nosey. ' New house main?' He asked. 'Yep' ''But why did you go so deep?' 'It the regulations. 50cm deep but 60cm where under vehicular traffic.' 'Is it?' he replied, genuinely surprised.
And that's why I dont have much faith in professionals. I procured a copy of the gasfitters regulations for mobile applications and everything is as it should be in the motorhome except for one bend in the copper pipe that is under the minimum radius, but only by the smallest fraction. I am not saying that this diy stuff is for everybody, but if you are handy with tools and have the ones neccessary , do the research for thd job in hand (which includes asking here)and abide by the regulations, you should be able to approach these jobs with a well founded confidence. Also on your side - you're doing it for yourself so you are more likely to ensure it's done properly. But a disclaimer. Here in NZ we can do almost anything provided it is signed off by the relevant authority. And consider - what is better? A gas job done by an amateur that has to be examined and signed off as being fit for purpose or a job done by a 'professional' which is automatically compliant by virtue of the fact that he qualified maybe 20 years ago, is out of date in his work practices and hates his job anyway...
