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Slope that pipe

ICE

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Staff member
Joined
Jun 23, 2011
Messages
13,891
Location
California
The job is a new attic FAU and A/C. There was a wall furnace. It's still in the wall.



Did you notice the big fat 1x almost rafter tie. There's a few over there and a few behind me to....oh and me....I'm standing on a four foot stepladder with my head stuck through a 12"x12" scuttle in a bedroom. What do you bet that the contractor is gonna say, "What rafter ties....I didn't cut any rafter ties....this is the way that I found it. The lady HO said they went through here as she pointed to the return air grill.



The only new gas pipe is about 16"....from this fitting to the valve that you see in the first picture. The old pipe that you see here was in a wall and served the wall furnace. It has been reused in the attic. If I write a correction for using old pipe he will complain that all he did was rotate the pie so that it stayed in the attic. I see his point....so I wrote a correction for pipe fittings with no pipe dope or Teflon tape.

When I opened the service panel to see if they labeled the breakers I found that the dead front is gone. So naturally I asked them to label the breakers on the original equipment dead front.



This is showing a lack of respect.
 
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Ice

Do you make them pressure test the entire gas pipe system when the add to it or relocate portions of it?

We have and found many with leaks in the existing piping afte the workers have yanked pulled and put a pipe wrench to it. Somtimes it may be in a fitting 25 ft from where the work was being done.
 
mtlogcabin said:
IceDo you make them pressure test the entire gas pipe system when the add to it or relocate portions of it?

We have and found many with leaks in the existing piping afte the workers have yanked pulled and put a pipe wrench to it. Somtimes it may be in a fitting 25 ft from where the work was being done.
Honestly, no.

Random thoughts:

The operating pressure is low compared to the test pressure. Add to that the fact that they will invariably jack the test pressure beyond eight pounds. Sometimes by eighty pounds. Keep in mind the level of competence that I can expect.

There will usually be a water heater and stove with ancient valves. Those valves should be removed rather than simply closed for the test. This happens occasionally-- the valve closes and holds the test....then it is opened and leaks. After removing a forty to sixty year old valve, I wouldn't recommend reinstalling that valve.

Our policy (if we have a policy) is to test only the new pipe. The little bit of pipe that's new in the OP gets a soaping only.

My reputation with my coworkers is horrible as it is. If I started asking for a system test on an install such as this one, it would get worse. There would be the horror stories of the times that a furnace was installed and the entire gas pipe system had to be replaced.

I am not aware of problems with our policy.

Having said all of that, I can see your point.

And dammit now I'm thinking.
 
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$ = $ = $

We want you thinking **ICE** ! :grin:

By worse, do you mean that someone; with one of these

gas line installs, could have copious, even fatal amounts

of gas leaking in to their dwelling, ...with who knows

what kind of consequences, because your employer does

not have a policy for an entire gas supply line test

afterwards ?

Is that the "kind of worse" you are referring to ? [ Yeah,

we ask the tough questions on this Forum......Under a

very bright light, ...in a small room full of smoke ]



$ = $ = $
 
By worse I mean that my reputation is that I am nothing but trouble.

The most complimentary thing anyone has ever said is that I am too rigid. That came from the guy at the top of the heap.
 
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ICE said:
By worse I mean that my reputation is that I am nothing but trouble. The most complimentary thing anyone has ever said is that I am too rigid. That came from the guy at the top of the heap.
So, SO much wrong with this whole sentence.

Brent.
 
I use both the pink stuff, and the test pen. Sometimes one will find a leak, sometimes both will find the leak. I get the pink stuff from a propane distributor. The natural gas distributor no longer will sell to contractors.
 
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