Electrical tape to cap a gas pipe ... UNBELIEVABLE !!!

What's the advantage of scaring the HO, when someone earlier did the tape plug? I don't see any advantage.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon
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Now I seen it all. I went to do some plumbing work on a trailer house and underneath the house I found a gas pipe that had been disconnected. There obviously had been another section of pipe going up thru the floor to a cooking stove. (They had an electric stove).

But rather than putting in a pipe plug, they just had a big blob of electrical tape over the elbow on the end of the pipe. Unbelievable!!! And yes, it was connected to the LP tank, but the tank was currently empty. I told the homeowner, they said they did not know about it. I told them how dangerous that was, and told them they could get in big trouble with the law for that (had to scare them a little). They said they were worried about the bill, and I could see they were very poor. I told them the plug was $1 and no labor charge. I put in a pipe plug. Getting off all that tape was a pain in the ass, but I just could not leave it that way.

I cant believe people are stupid enough to do things like this. The tape must have cost them as much as a proper plug.

Reply to
jw

Since the stove has been removed, the stub pipe removed, and the gas tank empty, is it possible that the purpose of the tape was just to keep dirt out of the pipe until something is reconnected to it?

Reply to
RBM

That would be my assumption. While it may not look "professional", if the tank is empty I fail to see a safety (or legal) issue.

Reply to
Larry Fishel

That would be my assumption. While it may not look "professional", if the tank is empty I fail to see a safety (or legal) issue.

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If someone hooked up a tank without checking the line.

Jim

Reply to
JimT

the propane co. would do a leak check before filling the tank anyway.

Reply to
Steve Barker

Some people just want to act like they are so dam smart !

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Reply to
Jerry - OHIO

This is my point. The pipe is under the trailer where no one will notice it. Someone fills the tank, and shortly after, an explosion occurs. All this because someone was too cheap to buy a $1 plug. And since they have an LP furnace, that tank will likely be filled soon. I can sleep better knowing this is plugged properly.

Reply to
jw

Someone hooks up a filled tank and opens the valve? You *always* maintain the integrity of a gas piping system as if it were in service unless you clearly take it out of service.

Reply to
George

Friend comes over and rolls a filled cylinder into place. Now what? You always maintain the integrity of a gas piping system unless you do something to clearly take it out of service . It is just common sense.

Reply to
George

ide quoted text -

Yep and who is to say that the line will not leak later. That tape is not permanent.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

Those look good

Reply to
Metspitzer

This link has absolutely nothing to do with the gas pipe issue. Why post it in this thread? Start a new post.

Reply to
jw

Exactly my point. Many times I've connected a 20LB cylinder to a house LP line to test a newly installed furnace, when the house does not have a bulk LP tank yet. Or one summer my own LP tank ran out of gas, and I hooked up a 20LB cylinder outside just for the kitchen stove. It lasted all summer for the little I use a stove. Sometimes people can not afford to fill a large bulk tank, (these LP companies generally wont come out for anything under 200 gallons). So, it's not uncommon for a homeowner to buy a 100LB cylinder and hook it up themselves. None of these situations will have anyone checking the pipes, and a leak down under a trailer behind the skirting is an explosion waiting to happen, which would blow a trailer house to pieces in a second.

Reply to
jw

And though the ho-moaner would be out of a house & partly to blame-

*you* bear the responsibility for not checking the line before you added the explosive to the mix. How long does it take to pump up a pressure tester and wait a few minutes to be sure the line is intact and no burners without thermocouple are on?

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

of course you wouldn't smell or hear a HALF INCH hole leaking. And what's gonna ignite it?

Reply to
Steve Barker

I am a retired Firefighter of 27 years. An owner called us to check out his house that renters moved out of. They had a gas cooking stove and didn't put a cap on the pipe after they disconnected the stove. They wrapped it in duct tape. The gas was still on and the tape leaked. When we arrived the house was charged with natural gas. We shut the gas off at the meter and aired out the house. We were lucky it didn't blow on us. So, your story doesn't surprise me.

Hank

Reply to
Hank

Oh, lit by most anything. Like the drunk guy with the Bic lighter, trying to see well enough to find the leak.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

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