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Who can check leaking gas tank?


Karina G

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Or if your tank is accessible YOU can easily do the leak test.... just take some very soapy water and 'brush/drip' it on all the connections/threads/valve on the line that comes out of the tank top. If it bubbles the least bit you have a leak. The 'fix' is usually to just tighten the fitting where the bubbles are showing. Doesn't take much. Then re-test. 

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9 hours ago, RickS said:

Or if your tank is accessible YOU can easily do the leak test.... just take some very soapy water and 'brush/drip' it on all the connections/threads/valve on the line that comes out of the tank top. If it bubbles the least bit you have a leak. The 'fix' is usually to just tighten the fitting where the bubbles are showing. Doesn't take much. Then re-test. 

This is usually what my vendor does for me. No need to wait for CFE.

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The use of galvanized pipe for the buried gas lines is the issue. In time the pipes can leak from pin holes. I had the problem with a buried pipe and decided to replace the gas line with a pvc/aluminum pipe which is designed for gas. I did not tear up the floors to do so, simply ran the lines outside and came through the wall in the appropriate locations. Ironically it is manufactured in Mexico, but doesn't seem to be used the house construction in the area.  

 

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40 minutes ago, Alpha1 said:

The use of galvanized pipe for the buried gas lines is the issue. In time the pipes can leak from pin holes. I had the problem with a buried pipe and decided to replace the gas line with a pvc/aluminum pipe which is designed for gas. I did not tear up the floors to do so, simply ran the lines outside and came through the wall in the appropriate locations. Ironically it is manufactured in Mexico, but doesn't seem to be used the house construction in the area.  

 

Not always my friend.  We've had "slight odor" on 3 occasions (2 different houses) and each time the soapy water test found the problem.

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If the leak is in a place the soap and water test doesn't work a lot of companies have what they call a sniffer which can pin point the leak location.  They used it to locate a leak in a pipe in the ground for me one time.

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1 hour ago, Alpha1 said:

The intensity of smelling gas in an exposed area will be greater, however buried leaking pipe will seep gas out, as was my case.

Yes, that can happen, it could even be leaking inside the walls of your house, but since it's the easiest thing to test all the above-ground connections with soap and water (or an old tank that's rusting could actually have a pinhole in the tank itself- I use cylinders, not a stationary tank and one cylinder was leaking from the tank itself), there's not much sense considering the underground leak possibility until the easy fixes are eliminated.

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