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Thread: Finding a gas leak

  1. #31
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Livonia, Michigan
    Posts
    780
    When we moved into our house the furnace had just been replaced. Once in a great while I would smell gas but never found the leak.

    One day my wife smelled gas and immediately called the gas company. DTE sent someone out with a leak detector but he didn't find any leak either.

    When I redid the laundry room I also fixed some long standing code problems, like a gas flex line to the hot water heater and 6 (!) flex lines end to end for the dryer. Everything was redone with black pipe and some lines were relocated so they wouldn't hit someone in the head.

    I found the leak. It was the cap on the end of the drip leg to the furnace. It had been screwed on hand tight but never had seen a wrench. I haven't the foggiest why it would leak sometimes and not others. It only took 18 years but by gum and by golly, I found it!

    For leak detection at work we used Cool Snoop which had an antifreeze for outdoor use in winter. At home I use Dawn dish soap spiked with a bit of glycerin to make it sticky. If you want to buy something the stuff they sell in the toy aisle for making super bubbles works well.

    -Tom

  2. #32
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    NW Indiana
    Posts
    3,076
    I am surprised at the waiting to find the gas leak. One day it may get bigger faster and end up like pictures I have seen on TV. I just would not take the risk.

  3. #33
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    2,754
    Well here's how not to do it, but it worked for me.

    The smell was from the stove after we moved it out and back. Soaped the line and all of the flex line but found nothing. Used a match and a tiny flame gave it away in the middle of the flex.

  4. #34
    Quote Originally Posted by John Terefenko View Post
    I would look at the gas shut off valves. I had one that was older and had a small scent and if you put your nose next to it you detect it. Were the shut offs replaced and if not maybe they need to be.
    Worth a try, I have had 2 valves develop slight leaks in 35 years of living in my house.

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Wayland, MA
    Posts
    3,651
    So had the gas company come (probably should have years ago), the tech found and patched three tiny leaks, each close to his lower limit of detection. We'll see if it passes DW's ultra-sensitive sniff test. One was a fairly loose cap on the drop going into the furnace that he put pipe dope on and retightened much more securely, the other two were at tees that would have been a substantial job to replace or re-tighten. He used an epoxy putty externally on those. I was surprised at that, but I assume the gas company knows what they are doing. The reading from his sniffer device dropped to zero after the putty was applied.

  6. #36
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
    Posts
    9,811
    NG after the regulator pressure inside is 6-8 inches of water columm. I have plugged the pipe with my thumb when switching valves etc. I could not feel any pressure on my skin. It is under 1/2 PSI so epoxy is fine. Caulking or jb weld would probably be fine.
    Glad you had the pro take a look.
    Bill D

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