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How to Check Gas Piping, Controls, Regulators & LP Gas Tank Defects PlumbingAPedia © Enter your search terms Submit search form   Search This Website - InspectAPedia.com

• How to find & report defects found in LP or natural gas controls, regulators, or storage tanks
• How to find & report defects found in gas piping inspections
• Home inspection and Heating System inspection report language examples

Here we provide descriptions and photographs of unsafe gas piping, regulators, or controls on heating systems, indications of unsafe or improperly operating gas appliances, gas meters, and other gas installation defects. This document also provides free sample draft home inspection report language for reporting defects in oil and gas piping at residential properties. General safety warning: improper installation and even improper inspection and testing methods involving natural or "LP" gas can involve dangerous conditions and risk fire or explosion. If you smell gas you should leave the building immediately and should do so without doing anything that could create a spark such as operating a light switch or telephone. From a safe location, call your gas company's emergency line and/or your fire department. The text provided here is a working draft and may be incomplete or inaccurate. Contact us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution. Also see How to Report Defects in Oil Piping. NOTICE: while example report language is provided here, reproduction of this or any of our web pages or their contents at other websites or in printed documents for sale is prohibited. © Copyright 2008 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Un-Biased Reporting are Assured for this website - see pledge link at below-left.

Immediate LP or natural gas safety hazards: if there is evidence of an LP or natural gas leak at a building, gas odors, for example, you should:

• Do not do anything that is likely to cause a gas explosion, such as lighting a match, operating an electrical switch, or even using a telephone in the building
• Leave the building immediately
• Notify other building occupants of the safety concern
• Contact the local gas company and/or fire department

How to Identify the LP Gas or Natural Gas Fuel Source

Natural/LP Gas is supplied by the utility company through the local metering device. The meter is located at ___.

Immediate Safety Hazards

*** Immediate Safety Concern: Using a TIF 8800 Combustible Gas detector we found indications of a
... small gas leak at
... the control.
... at the appliance pilot and temperature control knobs at control top.
... at the center seam along the RH side of the control.
... the gas line shutoff valve.
... the appliance pilot line at the control.
... There was also a slight gas odor in this area.
You should have your plumber test/replace the control promptly. This should not involve significant expense. This repair should not be deferred. We informed ___ of this condition.

Locate Fuel Shutoff Valves

Shutoff valves are normally located at the main gas meter and in the gas line at the heating system. We observed a main shutoff gas valve at ___ and valves were/were not preset at the following appliances: ___

Safety Recommendation: a gas shutoff valve should be installed in the gas line close to this appliance/device. This repair/maintenance item should be combined with other plumbing work to be done soon.

Safety Recommendation: We observed that the local manual gas line shutoff valve at this appliance has been installed inside the jacket or cover where it could be difficult to reach in an emergency. Check with your local building code inspectors to determine if this is an issue. Relocation of such valves is usually a minor expense and can be handled by most plumbers.

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How to Identify & Report LP Gas or Natural Gas Fuel Piping Defects

Safety warnings about gas piping: Check condition of flexible gas line connections: Caution: we do not pull out appliances to look at gas line connections, but you should do so, checking condition of flexible connections for leaks and assuring that a shutoff valve is installed. Watch for leaks in those flex-connector lines between gas line and the appliance as they are thin wall and often corrode and leak. Gas leaks are dangerous.

Safety warning. Flexible soft copper piping has been used to supply municipal (natural) gas to the
... electric clothes dryer.
... hot water heater.
... heating system.
This is not a recommended installation and it may be prohibited by local codes - "black iron" steel piping is required in many jurisdictions.

Safety warning: Flexible ridged thin wall copper tubing has been used to supply gas to the
... hot water heater.
... heating system.
This is not a recommended installation and it may be prohibited by local codes.

Technical Violation: Flexible copper LP gas line may not be routed through walls or similar locations where it may be damaged or punctured. For these sections of routing threaded iron pipe is required. This is an usually inexpensive item to correct. You can discuss this point further with your gas supplier and your plumber.

All gas or oil piping must comply with local codes and ordinances or with the national fuel gas codes. Copper and brass tubing (except tin lined copper) shall not be used if the gas contains more than an average of .3 grains of hydrogen sulfide per 100 standard cubic feet of gas.

National Fuel Gas Code, 1988 articles 2.6.2, 2.6.3, & 3.4.2 "Piping in Partitions". Also NFPA 58 Code. See ANSI Z223.1-NFPA 54.
Residential Gas Hot Water Heater Pocket Partner - Testing and Trouble Shooting, State Corp., Ashland City, TN 37015

*** Safety Recommendation: support the loose gas lines: gas lines> additional support is needed to secure the building appliance gas supply line at
___
Loose gas lines can lead to dangerous leaks. This item should be addressed soon and should be a minor cost.

Gas Piping Maintenance Tips

MAINTENANCE TIP: Openings where the gas supply pipe enters the building should be caulked to reduce possible water or insect/rodent pest entry.

How to handle abandoned gas equipment

*** Safety:We recommend that unused gas equipment be removed and that you have the unused section of gas line properly sealed by a qualified plumber or by your gas supplier. Leaky old appliances or gas lines are dangerous.

Gas Flame & Noise Defects - How to Identify & Report Other Defects in LP or Natural Gas Appliances by Examining the Gas Burner Flame or Burner Noises

*** Safety Recommendation: gas grill we suggest keeping the gas turned off at the rubber hose connection below the rear deck as leaks could be very dangerous. The use of rubber tubing rather than iron piping is unsafe and may not be permitted for this installation, and we suggest you review this question with your local fire inspector. Usually this is not a significant expense if correction is needed. This item should be addressed promptly.

Gas Appliance Flame Observations: Caution: examining the burner when this appliance was operating we noted that the flame was floating above the burner ports. You should check with your utility company or heating appliance service person. Possible causes include high gas pressure, clogged flue, inadequate air supply, excessive or very cold drafts.

Gas Appliance Flame Observations: Caution At the ___ appliance, the gas burner flame was
... yellow and lazy,
... unusually high,
... making a popping noise when turned off and on,
... burning at the orfice,
indicating a possible malfunction of this equipment. You should have your utility company or service person check the appliance.

Safety & Inspection of Natural Gas Meters

Gas meter location: gas meters are located outdoors except when special permission is given by the gas company. Indoor gas meters increase the risk of an indoor gas leak, require special venting, and can make it more dangerous to shut off gas in an emergency.

Indoor Gas Meter Advice

If your gas meter is located indoors you should discuss this matter with your gas company. In this photo the gas meter shown is an obsolete model (so perhaps at higher risk of dangerous natural gas leaks into the building (an explosion hazard), and we saw no gas regulator and no vent from the meter to outside. This meter needs to be inspected by the local gas company. It may need to be relocated outside or vented to outside for safety.

Safety Suggestion: gas meter adequacy: If additional gas equipment has been added to this building since the installation of the original gas service meter, it is possible that the added demand can result in low gas pressure or unsafe operation. The meter itself may need to be replaced with a higher capacity unit for safety. Please review this question with your gas supplier.

Safety Recommendation: gas regulator vent: We did not find a vent pipe venting the gas regulator (located inside the building) to outside. Such vents are recommended and may be required by local or state codes for safety. Please review this question with your gas supplier.

LP Gas Tank Observations & Gas Tank Safety Recommendations

Safety: Install secure and level support for the LP gas tank at ... - if a tank tips over and breaks gas line it could be dangerous. This is an inexpensive item. This item should be handled promptly on establishing gas service for the house, preferably before tanks are filled.

Propane Gas Tank Safety Recommendations: The liquid propane gas tank at ... is partially buried - this may not be a recommended building practice; accelerated rust may lead to failure of the container. Please review this question with the gas supply company.

Propane Gas Tank Safety Recommendations:Be sure that the safety relief valve and controls atop the LP gas tanks outside are protected from icing (for example from exposure to rain or gutter overflow). Iced controls can prevent proper operation of safety devices.

Other LP or Natural Gas Piping / Appliance Observations & Safety Recommendations

How to calculate the BTU capacity of LP or natural gas fired equipment, heaters, or appliances

Computing BTUH: Technical Note: you can compute the BTU's per hour of gas consumption of your gas-fired equipment. Making sure than only a single gas appliance is running, watch the gas meter and measure the time required to use one cubic foot of gas. The formula: (3600 x 1000)/seconds = BTUH.

The number you compute for BTU capacity for an appliance should approximately equal the appliance's nameplate "input" BTUH on the appliance.

How many BTU's are in a cubic foot of natural gas?

How to Convert cubic feet of natural gas to BTUs/hour: multiply cubic feet per hour by 1,020/cubic foot of natural gas to obtain BTUH.

What are the common operating pressures of natural gas and LP or "liquid petroleum" gas?

Common operating pressure for natural gas is 3.5" of water.
Common operating pressure for liquid petroleum or LP gas is 10" of water.

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LP and Natural Piping, Control, Appliance References

• National Fuel Gas Code, ANSI Z223.1-yyyy - American Gas Association / National Fire Protection Association
• LP-Gas Serviceman's Handbook,Fisher-Rosemount, Fisher Controls
• National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Pamphlets No. 54 and 58.
• Specifications for Gas Installations, Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation
• "Gaslight", Gary Quilliam, The Old House Journal, March/April 1989 article describes fixtures, modern fixtures, and sources of supply.
• Residential Gas Hot Water Heater Pocket Partner - Testing and Trouble Shooting, 19. State Corp., Ashland City, TN 37015
• Also See: - HW Boilers: Leaks, Corrosion, Expansion Tanks, Air Purge

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Technical Reviewers

Particular thanks are due to experts and also consumers who read these articles and suggest corrections, changes, and additions to the material. Content suggestions, technical corrections and content critique are invited for any of the content at our website.

• Daniel Friedman - principal author/editor of the InspectAPedia ^© Website
• Critique, contributions wanted: Contact Us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution.

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