I moved a gas line and used the yellow teflon tape wrapped 3-4 tims around the thread and it is in tight with very little thread showing and I sprayed the leak check to make sure it isn't leaking but now and again I smell gas faintly. I don't know if it's my imagination or the old pipes themselves are so permeated with the smell of gas. Is there a plumbers putty for gas I can put around the outside of each joint for my peace of mind?
Thank you
No plumbers putty. If you have a leak, you better find it and fix it. Your gas company will come out and make sure. Don't know if they will charge you though.
I had a similar situation after I put my new gas water heater in a couple years ago. Faint smell; didn't know if I was imagining it. Had my fifteen year old son come down; he not only was able to smell it, he found it's source. I had the gas company come in. They found a leak exactly where he said it was; the heater was defective, all my joints were fine. (they flagged it to be fixed within a week. Company sent someone in to fix it under warranty.) Anyhow the two things I learned here were: 1) the gas guy said that a smell that you are not sure of is not dangerous. A dangerous leak smells so strongly you can't be in the room if you wanted to, and 2) 15 year olds have a substantially better sense of smell. Get one if you can.
Good luck.
If you're asking this question, you shouldn't be fooling around with gas. Plumber's putty was not made to be put around the outside of ANY pipe fitting to stop leaks. It's used under sink basin drains, where it forms a seal against the basin when it' tightened down.
There is nothing you can put on the outside. However, there is a type of puddy that you can use instead of the tape. I would be spraying soapy water all over to find the leak.
Puddy? On a threaded pipe joint? There is tape or there is pipe joint compound. Those are the 2 choices. For gas, I'd use the compound.
Puddy? Would that be vanilla, or chocolate puddy?
No.
BEWARE THAT IF YOU CALL THE GAS COMPANY (1) THEY WILL COME OUT "RIGHT NOW" AND IF YOU ARE NOT READY OR AVAILABLE, THEY WILL BREAK YOUR DOOR DOWN, PLUS (2) IF THEY FIND A LEAK, THEY ARE REQUIRED TO SHUT OFF ALL SERVICE UNTIL YOU HIRE SOMEONE TO FIX IT!!!! So, if it is the slightest of all leaks, and you have already lived with it for months/years, you may not want to call them until you are good and ready. Spray the connection with soapy water to assess how much gas is coming out, but realize that pipes swell and contract with temperature, and the leak grows and contracts. Once you do that, IF you confirm that it is a mere smell annoyance and not a safety threat (tiny, and not near any flame or spark source, e.g. motors), I have had some luck with a hot melt glue gun! No kidding!
snipped-for-privacy@fellspt.charm.net wrote:
Not true.
Not true.
PLUS (2) IF THEY FIND A LEAK, THEY ARE REQUIRED TO SHUT OFF ALL
Not true.
Do you have an old gas pipe laying around, or any remnants from the job ? I'd get everything like that out of the area, put a fan on for a while to make sure the smell is gone from when you were working on it, then go back in. Take others with you, the sense of smell does vary from person to person. If it still smells go back over every connection with half soap, half water. If you don't find it, go over all the connections, maybe there's nother problem.
Plumber who hooked up a new water heater for me once tested for leaks with...a lighter. He knew he had done things right and any remaining leak would be tiny, so he held a lit lighter up to all the connections. I don't recommend this. He was in his 60's.
No putty but if you've done the soapy (or detergenty) water test and passed (no bubbles) you might want to paint each joint with shellac. The shellac fills up every minute pore, adheres to everything, and is sufficiently flexible to move with the expansion and contraction of the joint. Renew every 20 years or so.
That's a problem.
I can't tell you what to do, but I can safely relay how I confronted a similar situation.
I smelled a faint smell of gas behind my brand new stove with brand new shutoff and brand new supply .
I called the gas company indicating I had smelled this. They sent someone out within the hour who quickly narrowed it down to being back in the wall. They shut the main gas supply off then had me (for liability reasons) cut them a little bit of access through the drywall, and he was then able to investigate, narrow it down to and repair the first elbow in the wall. This elbow had teflon tape on it originally, the technician said that teflon tape tended to be implicated in a lot of joint leaks like this. He also said that it was really unusual to have a leak back at the elbow as they are almost always leaks in the shut off valve (which had been replaced recently).
He had some sort of substance that he coated threads with when he put it all back together. So, the answer to your original question is evidently yes.
It was done quickly, it was done safely, it was done professionally, and it cost me a whopping $70. Had I called during the day time, that would've been more like $50. Hell I can't get a plumber to scratch his ass on site much less fix aything for less than $100 around here.
Your mileage may vary, but I was pleasantly thrilled with this service of my gas company. You may wish to investigate this option in your area.
Best Regards,
-- Todd H.
No, the answer to his question is NO. There is NO "puddy" that you put around the outside of gas pipe joints to fix one that is leaking.
Nope, but you can use a combo of Teflon tape and TFE paste (pipe dope) when screwing the pipes together as sort of a belt-and-suspenders approach.
I saw a plumber do it, and it's worked for me.
Oh, I missed that he was trying to slap something on the _outside_ of two fitted pipes. Heh.
Yeah, that guy needs a pro pronto.
-- Todd H.
Where I live, PJC is required by code for gas piping. Teflon tape is not allowed.
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