The case of the Frozen Gas Meter, this weeks case.

RayWohlfarth

I had only seen this happen twice in my career. The boilers had atmospheric ribbon burners and only some of the burners lit. Frozen gas meter case

retiredguy

I only saw this happen once in about 40 years at a school in the middle of nowhere. I have seen a few that were filled with water but that is for another discussion.

ScottSecor

Makes me think. I've seen it about a dozen times, almost always roots style meters. Always commercial/industrial sites. I am not certain, but I think the meters were low on oil and perhaps prone to condensation as a result.

EdTheHeaterMan

I remember a cold gas meter problem I encountered. There was a dead spot on the dial. Every time the meter dial passed the 3 o'clock point on the 1/2 foot dial, the dial stopped for a second then bounced back into rotation again. I never saw that happen before.

I told the customer to call the gas company. Tell the gas company dispatcher they had no heat and then ask that the service man bring a gas meter with him. The plumber diagnosed the no heat problem may have something to do with the gas meter. Within 1 hour the customer had a new meter and the problem was resolved.

He had heat and hot water again!

But here is the rest of the story:

That customer was my Sister’s brother-in-law. (her husband’s brother) The following summer the house was sold and the brother moved to the next town over. Two days after settlement on the old home, and the brother-in-law was all moved in with his wife and 3 kids in the new home, I happened to see him in the market.

• ME: Hey John, how is that heater running?
• JOHN: Oh, I don't live there anymore, we moved to Ocean City,
• ME: That’s great, well good seeing you.
• JOHN: Yo Ed before you go… You have a truck right?
• ME: Yea, why?
• JOHN: I left my dog on a chain outside the old home on Rising sun Drive, can you stop by and load him in your truck and bring him over to the new home? The new owner keeps asking when I'm coming to get him.
• Me: Sure, No problem… Did you leave anyone else behind? Like a Wife or one of the kids?

We still joke about the brother that loved his dog so much he left him behind when he sold the house!

tim smith

we found them back in 80s & 90s almost every year when temps got in 20s. Before gas pressure in mains went to 2 or 5 psi. Pressure to meters was 6” wc. Some condensation would collect in meter and then freeze. There were ways to thaw and get back online.

JUGHNE

Had a no heat call a couple of winters ago…….20 some years old Munchkin boiler….could be anything.

No gas to the boiler. went outside to the meter/regulator.

The regulator vent was iced over, it was mounted sideways since day one. This was an unusual ice storm and had coated everything outside at the meter.

I emptied my coffee mug on it to melt the ice, had to go inside to get some more hot water.

(I did consider the marine method of cooling down machine gun barrels, but thought this would look bad near a church and private school, although it was dark at night. 😐️)

Once thawed out and clear there was gas pressure and light off was good.

NG company said they would correct the reg orientation, but not so far.

RayWohlfarth

@retiredguy I love that I can learn something everyday still. Hope you're doing well

@ScottSecor I guess its more common than I thought but we dont do industrial

@EdTheHeaterMan LOL I would be ready to call out an exorcist

@tim smith I saw where techs poured hot water on the meter but I would be leery of messing with their meter.

@JUGHNE I could see that happening

tim smith

ShiverMEtimbers

1992 Portland Maine—early fall I just closed on a 3 family I was going to occupy. Had the 3 oil fired snowmen replaced (insurance demand), and hired Northern Utilities bring their natural gas service into the building. I was a young modern landlord… Was originally told the gas meters/piping would be run to the side of the building, out of sight. A few weeks later the contractor they hired to do the job said, "No way we ever run the lines that far underground—should my guys keep working or head home?". To my measuring the difference in distance between the spot I wanted and where NU had dug was 12 feet. Already had the new steam boilers, black pipe and burners on site. Single digit temps expected a few days out—I shrugged and let them get back to work. Location not related to the frozen meters—just the poor customer service.

Meters in, systems plumbed and running, happy tenants. My cat loved the window radiator heat-seats. First cold night 11PM—nobody has heat. I'm not getting any gas at any burner. Northern Utilities gets a service person out the next PM. Meters froze—he didn't know why. But the service guy replaced the meters and we had heat/DHW and hot food again. Happened 5 more times—NU replaced the meters each time, but they usually took days to get to the building. Bought a bunch of 'milk barn' electric heaters for my tenants and told them to give me their next electric bills. Several nights below zero I was running kerosene heaters in the basement to keep the pipes from freezing. NU's goodwill offer of compensation—bupkis.

Ultimately they put all 3 meters in the basement—meter readers HATED that…

mattmia2

My brain doesn't work that way, I need to troubleshoot before the chaos of being on site ensues. I need to think about what I'm going to look at before I get there. I work on a college/health system campus which means the logistics of getting in the room and getting there means I need to bring some of the common solutions to common problems with me.

@EdTheHeaterMan that meter problem was probably something with the linkages from the bellows to the valves or the valves that alternate bellows in the meter, maybe needing more pressure differential to make the switch.