Gas piping question

[clare]

What do you call the elbow installed at the gas meter that allows a gas grill (1/2" steel ) line to be tapped off at the meter? Pipe comes up from meter, elbow in 1" pipe, with 1/2" pipe out the top. Functionally the same as using a 1 inch "T" as an elbow, with a reducing bushing in the top to take the 1/2" pipe. Reducing bushing is not allowed here. Neighbour's house has the fitting I'm looking for so I know they exist (or did sometime in the last 30 years).

[DanG]

Typically called a reducing tee.

Sample:

[Steve Barker]

a reducing 't'

[dpb]

On 4/16/2012 12:02 AM, [e-mail] wrote: ...

A source for the particular reducing tee has been identified elsewhere; I'm intrigued by the "Reducing bushing is not allowed here" part. Not allowed by what or by whom? I never heard of such restrictions on how a specific objective is achieved in installation as a code prohibition for such an ordinary thing as one additional fitting.

What if you can't find the tee easily, would a nipple and a reducing coupling not be allowed either?

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[clare]

According to my supply house a 1X1X1/2. DT331

3 is 1 inch, 2 is 3/4" and 1 is 1/2", so a 331 is 1X1X1/2, and if it was a 332 it woould be 1X1X3/4, and they are spec'd leg, t, leg, so a straight reducing t with 1" on both ends and a 1/2" tap off the side would be a 313, and with a 3/4" tap would be a 323. If one of the legs is 1 1/4", it is a 4. a 1 1/2" is a 5

D for ductile, T for Tee.

A ductile Elbow is a DB, with a 45 for 45 degrees, 90 for no, etc, and the same numbering system for sizes - so a 1X1 90 is a db9033, and a reducing 1 to 1/2 is a db9031.. Have not looked at street elbows and reducing street elbows - but there does appear to be a sys

[clare]

No place else to tap from with the grille location 10 feet from the meter and all the rest of the piping inside the house, going the other direction.

[clare]

Yup, that's the sucker all right. None of our local "retail" hardware establishments carried it - the trade warehouse did.

[clare]

Apparently a nipple and reducing fitting (bell fitting) is allowed.But it takes up a lot more space.

[dpb]

On 4/16/2012 2:31 PM, [e-mail] wrote: ...

Who does/does not do the so-called "allowing"? It makes absolutely _zero_ sense (most Code things do at least have some logic behind them; I fail to see any in this).

[Doug Miller]

[e-mail] wrote in news: [e-mail]:

You still don't have this right. The nomenclature for a tee specifies the sizes of the ends, then the side. So a 1 x 1 x 1/2 tee has 1" fittings on the ends, and 1/2" on the side.

[clare]

of the ends,

Well, I have the one I need in my hands, and their spec is 331

[Larry W]

f you haven't already figured it out, I was wrong in my post where I said the Tee would be a 1"x1"x1/2" I should have said 1"x1/2"x1"

[Larry W]

Code for gas piping often prohibits use of bushings and instead mandates bell-style reducers (either with both ends female threads or street-style, where larger end is female thread and smaller is male. The explanation I've always heard is that sediment or deposits may accumulate at the "ledge" formed where the bushing screws in to the fitting. This was taken to an extreme years ago, where you would actually also see reducing fittings of various types with the smaller diameter offset from the center. These were made to be installed with the small diameter at the bottom on horizontal runs, so that there was no abrupt diameter change or ledge at the bottom of the fitting where the alleged sediment might get trapped.

[George]

NFPA 54 (and most/all gas suppliers) specifically disallow bushings. If you consider the mechanical strength of an assembled bushing joint vs say a reducing coupling you can see why.

[dpb]

On 4/16/2012 6:24 PM, George wrote: ...

...

Hmmm...cast iron bushings are disallowed but nothing says can't be malleable iron.

I was wondering because virtually every valve I've seen has a reducing bushing supplied w/ it...

Sounds to me like overreaction to ban entirely but suppose it's easier than verifying aren't cast in situ.

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[dpb]

On 4/19/2012 10:44 AM, EXT wrote: ...

I hadn't previously heard this (or if had, had forgotten it) so I checked NFPA Code. A search in a PDF document found only the reference to bushing in the section that is specifically related to _cast_ iron fittings; it doesn't apply to malleable iron or other materials.

If local codes or inspectors have extended that, I can only presume it was simply for their convenience to avoid the need to determine in situ if is/is not a cast.

I didn't look at the plug specifically; as best I can recall it wasn't mentioned but I won't swear to that. Well, let's see, I think the document is still here--ok, every occurrence of plug or plugged is associated w/ "or cap/capped". So again, it'll be some local thing, not NFPA if so.

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[Vic Smith]

Probably because caps and nipples are in the parts box. Unless you pull out an unused line back to a T, you would just cap it.. If you go back to a T, you might replace the T with an El. if you don't have to break many connections. If you stay with the T, you'll use what parts you have. I've done some plumbing and recall seeing plugs only in sewer cleanouts. Maybe seen a plugged T or two. I'd rather use a plug in a T than add a nipple/cap. But it's never happened where I had to block a T leg.

[clare]

Well, I got the line all made up and installed today and have called for inspection - next tuesday. When I first called Union Gas they said they would do the Tee install for $60 plus tax, and they would do it Friday afternoon - so I had everything set up ready to go - then I got a call from Union Gas saying they do not do anything past the meter - period -, so I was stuck again. I called several gasfitters for pricing, getting widely varying estimates - all based around $75 per hour, with 1.25 hour minimum - until I got talking to one of them and he said "Your house? nothing stopping you from doing it yourself. Pressure test, soap test, and call Union Gas for an inspection"

Getting the union off the meter was a bit of fun - and I had to totally disassemble it and clean up 38 years of rust and corrosion and lubricate it before it would turn without a 12 inch Stilson to re-install it.Got everything together, tapcon'd it to the foundation within a foot from either end and roughly in the middle of the 10 foot run, and called for inspection. We'll see what happens.

Everything worked with standard length pipe fittings except for the down-leg from the reducing tee at the meter - which I had custom cut at Home Despot - no charge with the purchace of the pipe. Total cost including one locking va;lve and one non-locking valve,including a can of grey paint, brackets and tapcon - under $100 Canadian. See what the inspection costs - - - -.