Fun with the gas company

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Marina1327

Marina1327

Member
Apr 23, 2015
182
New Jersey
So I go to a fundraiser last night and I got home around 2 am...my mom says I smelled gas earlier by the window next to the pellet stove...so of course I am concerned and really thankful I do not have an OAK yet. Last year to get the stove installed, I had to remove the gas meter and have the pipe capped as stated in the installation manual/code rules. So anyway, the gas company comes out at 3 am and sure enough, eventhough my gas is shut off and supposedly capped...there is gas leaking from the pipe....if I had an oak, it would have sucked that gas right into the stove...needless to say I was not happy. The gas guy repaired the whole thing, replaced the plug and sealed it, so I should be okay...but now I am seriously rethinking the oak installation...because I just can't trust that it won't happen again.
 
where was the leak coming from? was the black iron cap not tightened down the first time or missing sealant, or did the plastic tube rupture somewhere? once the gas is capped it should be reliable, think of all ghe homes with gas pipe inside the walls..

im surprised you would cap the gas and not just relocate it away from your stove wall.. gas is so cheap and convenient, imo.
 
Marina1327 said:
if I had an oak, it would have sucked that gas right into the stove...
Click to expand...
Yeah, that would be a boost to BTU's! Who knows what would have happened.

Bill
 
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PWash said:
where was the leak coming from? was the black iron cap not tightened down the first time or missing sealant, or did the plastic tube rupture somewhere? once the gas is capped it should be reliable, think of all ghe homes with gas pipe inside the walls..

im surprised you would cap the gas and not just relocate it away from your stove wall.. gas is so cheap and convenient, imo.
Click to expand...

The gas guy said the first guy who capped it did not do it right. The plug was stripped and he did not use any sealant...so I assume it came loose and started leaking....it seems like something the gas company should not have made a mistake on...but unfortunately they did...luckily for me it did not cause any serious issues but just keeping me awake dealing with it.

I capped it because the only gas appliance I have in my house was my heater which completely died last year and could not be fixed after I spent a couple of thousand on it...which is the reason I went with the pellet stove. In the future I may move the gas line away from the stove wall if I decide to go with another gas heater
 
Glad everything worked out for the good for you Marina. Isn't there a shut off valve anywhere to shut the gas off coming to your house.
 
n
rich2500 said:
Glad everything worked out for the good for you Marina. Isn't there a shut off valve anywhere to shut the gas off coming to your house.
Click to expand...

I will check tomorrow as there used to be a shut off valve when the meter was on it, but they removed the whole thing and just left the riser piper sticking up which they didn't cap correctly the first time. So, the answer is....not sure....
 
a small leak mixed with that much outside air may not have done anything if you had an oak. at most you might have had an occasional whomph! but not a bang.
A large leak or one inside... that would be a bang.
 
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Glad you found it without mishap to you and yours. I would be sending a letter to the local gas company about the error documenting, if you can, roughly when it was purportedly shut off and capped. Are there no shut offs on NG lines like they have with water out by the curb?
 
Adding Gas to the pellet fire pot is like adding beer to a margarita to make a CoronaRita, what a kicker!!!
 
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Saving a little draft isn't worth an OAK for you with your setup. Not worth the risk to save a few bags of pellets.
 
If this guy used the sealant, and a new cap, you should be OK. Black iron pipe has tapered threads, so provided the appropriate threadlocking sealant was used, that puppy is not coming undone or leaking again.

How long ago was that pipe caped? As others have said, I believe the dilution was large enough after mixing in the atmosphere to not cause you any problems.
 
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In spite of the scientific site unseen conclusions about dilution of gas and that the resultant explosion would be small or not to worry about it, I would be inclined to live with whatever minuscule draft results from not having an OAK until such time as the gas line is moved to a safe location. OK, I'm a chicken and have lived to tell about it.
 
The natural gas system in the Portland Maine area is ancient and over the years there have been cases of gas lines failing out in the street and following old gas lines into houses that haven't had gas for years. The classic one was the gas leak leaked into a house via an old utility trench. The house blew up lifting the roof up and the walls out. After the fact from above the roof looked perfect but it was sitting on top of the floor of the house. The maine oil dealers association had a full page photo of the what was left with the house and the caption "Want to switch to oil?"
 
NG is a wonderful and treacherous thing. I remember a 750hp burner would fail while running on main ignition in Cobleskill/Esperance NY, Reset and fine for an hour-trip again. Got pissed and hooked U-Tube manometer at regulator, watched it steadily dropped until 4", burner popped and pressure slowly rose. NatGrid came and found the 24" main had over a thousand gallons of water in it splooshing around like a wave until it cut-off gas flow. This burner was the only appliance large enough to notice the drop in volume and lock out. Wish I had a smartphone back then to record them blasting the water out.
 
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