Natural Gas shutoff

[frankinlombard]

Hello All,

I have a small natural gas extension that I need to remove and then cap. The job should take all of 5 minutes. I have never had to turn the gas off to the entire house (there is no shuttoff valve before the pipe I need to remove).

I assume all that I need to do is shutoff the gas outside before the meter, do my thing, and then turn the gas back on outside at the meter. However, like most things I gotta believe there is more to it than that. Is there anything that I should do or watch for after I turn off the gas and before I start taking the pipe apart? Also, is there anything I should know after I turn the gas back on? Or am I kidding myself and should hire someone that has done this before? I keep having visions of my house blowing up with me holding on to the pipe.

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

Frank

[LazyPup]

If you are just removing a section of piping it should be a very easy job well within the skill level of a modest DIY'er.

Before you begin you need to make sure you have all the necessary tools and supplies at hand.

TOOLS:
10" adjustable wrench to turn the main gas valve off/on.

Two 16" to 24" pipe wrenches, one to hold the pipe steady while you unscrew the fitting with the other. (Always be sure to use pipe wrenches in pairs like this. (If you try to remove a fitting with only one wrench without steadying the pipe the risk is that the pipe may turn and loosen the next joint on the line without your knowledge.)

A small wire brush to clean the pipe or fitting threads before installing the cap or plug. (The small disposable type copper fitting ID brushes work great and they only cost about $.75 to $1.)

A small tube of Pipe Joint compound specifically labelled as approved for "gas service". If you elect to use PTFE (Teflon) tape, you must use either the yellow double density or pink triple density tape but pipe joint compound is the preferred method for permanent gas joints.

A small container( 2 or 3 oz) of dishwashing soap and water mixed 50/50.


PROCEDURE:
After you have assembled your tools and materials you will be ready to proceed.

I like to begin by turning a stove burner on before turning the "main gas" valve off. In this manner when you turn the main gas valve off the burner will consume most of the residual gas left in the line. It will also give you a good positive visual indication that the main gas valve is holding. When the burner flame goes out be sure you turn the stove gas control off.

You may then proceed with removing the section of pipe.

Whenever unscrewing a theaded pipe joint you need to use two wrenches. One to hold the pipe steady as you unscrew the fitting or vice versa as the case may be. The concern here is, if you only use one wrench you can not insure it will not inadvertantly loosen the next joint on the line without your knowledge. Holding the line steady with one wrench and turning the fitting with the other will prevent that. If the pipe is making a bend you may need to take more than one joint apart until you get to the point where you want to stop.

You will smell a faint bit of gas as you take the pipe apart. This is to be expected.

When you reach your stopping point, after you have the pipe or fitting removed you should use the wire brush to clean the threads.

Pipe thread compound or teflon tape is always put on the male thread. Therefore if you are installing a cap on the end of a pipe you apply the compound to the pipe threads. If you are installing a plug into a fitting the pipe joint compound goes on the plug.

Screw your cap or plug into place, then holding the pipe with one wrench tighten the cap or plug with the other wrench. Pipe threads are tapered so the more you screw it in the tighter it gets. Tighten it very snug.

You can now turn the "Main Gas valve" on and test for leaks by applying some of the soap and water mixture and watching for bubbles. If you see even faint bubbles tighten the fitting.

AT this point you have completed your repair.

You will now need to re-light any standing pilot burners on your gas system, which may include the stove top burners, oven burner, water heater, laundry dryer and furnace. (Most modern furnaces, ovens and stove tops have electronic ignition and do not have standing pilots.)

A word of caution, if you follow these instructions you should have no problem, but in the event you do encounter a serious gas leak, have everyone leave the house immediately and whatever you do, do not turn any lights on or off as you exit. (Many electrical switches produce sparks when they make or break which could potentially be a fire hazard.)

[frankinlombard]

Thanks for your reply. The only gas appliance in the house is the furnace. The pipe I am trying to remove is to the old gas stove. We moved the location of the stove in order to move the refrigerator to this location and need to remove the gas pipe in order to move the refridge against the wall. The existing stove is electrical. Once I have the gas turned off at the meter, can I take the cap off of the pipe what was for the gas range, turn on the valve and bleed the line this way? And, once I turn the gas back on and test, is there anything that I need to do with the furnace? It has an electric ignitor and no pilot, but I wondered what would happen when the furnace tries to kick back on and there is no gas in the line until enough has made its way to the furnace.

Thanks for your help!

[lonestarheir]

The best thing to do would be bleed the gas line at the furnace. There is probably a flexible gas line connector either going into the furnace or just before. If so, the fittings on it are compression fittings (meaning no need for gas pipe dope). Turn the shutoff next to the furnace off, turn back on the gas at the meter, slightly unscrew one of the compression fittings, turn on the gas stop at the furnace, when you smell that puetrid gas smell tighten back up the compression fitting. There is not a flexible connection, look for a union, between the gas stop and furnace and do what I described. If you do not bleed the line close to the furnace, alot of the new furnaces will try to fire 3 times before shutting down. If your furnace does shut down, turn the power off to the unit for aprox. 5 minutes, then turn back on and try again.

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Brandon
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