Gas Safety

Unknown

Let us say that you have a meter capable of detecting natural gas. You installed a water heater yesterday in this residence. The customer calls you and says they smell gas. You arrive and proceed to the basement door.You are entering the basement door ready to proceed down the stairs. Would you test above the door or below the door?

When you test your meter registers 2.5% gas, what would you do.

What if it registered 5.5% gas what would you do?

Does gas always have an odor?

What if you did not have a meter would you enter the basement to find out if you left a leak on your install the day before?

Weezbo

dude:) how about protecting the people living there first?

tell them to leave the house dont play with the light switches:)) leave the automatic garage doors closed how about you get the call there is a smell of gas, and proceed to communicate they ..leave ..the building frick the gas meter let them turn it off from outside You have NO important things on the agenda YOU ARE THERE!> it may not be something you did Yesterday! IT might be ANOTHER THING ENTIRELY! are you suggesting you just call it good until you decide to show up? is this a TRICK QUESTION? )

Unknown

Weezbo, to answer your question

no it is not a trick question. Your answer concerning the customer is correct. I wonder how many plumbing and heating contractors would actually have their customers leave the premises.

Now Weezbo, what would you do upon arriving at the location? You can answer that from any one of two perspectives.

1. You have a combustible gas meter.

2. You do not have a meter.

Weezbo

Tim i have some various tools...

one is oft apt to flow on by the ones God gave them Dealing with nat gas is different than propane.. one "rises" one "sinks". one must be a bit careful even on New construction where people may have just moved into thier home.i am slightly side stepping the question just to shed a bit of light on a What Could be....could be they had shmuck and company stop by and install a propane gas log fire place just 5 mins after you left the previous day. ....... wandering around in a basement could be extremely dis advantageous ....... it is best when possible to ask a few pointed questions when you are trouble shooting the "Minor Technicalities"
having said this i think it is fairly important to take a look at the Big picture also...Could that over sized yellow iron Knick knack have had anything to do with the sudden gas smell? did joe homeowners apparent lack of sobriety evidented by the parking of the family suv in the living room contribute to the Gas odor? you gotta be careful...I know it looked like the garage to you when you jumped outta the truck....:) while these examples are not answering the ? in a way you have to be fairly vigalent when dealing with service calls of any type...i dont do much service work as it has aspects that id rather not disscuss at this momment, might be too much information...... Let me say "You cannot judge a book by its cover"....
however back to using snifter gas meters or Not... complacentcy is similar to mechanical behaviour or habits,not all habits are evil in the sence they may be the things that are improving our lives on a day to day basis...what i am getting at here is the "nature of all mechanical things is decay...."relying on gadgets is secondary to activating the brain...

Dale

Contractors responsibility

Your main job is not fixing the boiler, your main job is public safety. This is interesting, most gas companies in my state evacuate the building if the free air test ( just inside the front door) is 1% or more, or 20% LEL. If the customer calls and smells a strong odor, hears, sees or feels gas they are told to evac. Sadly natural gas sometimes has no odor by the time it gets into the basement. A leak outside getting in is much more dangerous than an inside house piping leak. A gas odor and construction equipment in front or near the house means real potential danger. Propane odor fade is within 5 minutes to the tech in the basement, so with propane service I think a leak sensing meter is a must. As to a contractor, follow the fuel gas code and check all your piping for tightness before you leave any job, learn to read the test dials of a nat gas meter, use the test dials for any concealed piping. Evacuate the customer with any strong gas odor, leave the doors open, a house will naturally vent, not with LP of course. Become friends with the local fire dept. they want you to call and have been trained to safely ventilate and can get the gas utility to shut off supply as needed.

Matt Undy

ventialtion

Ventilation can be dangerous as well. If the concentration is above the UEL it could bring the concentration into the flamable range and cause an explosion.

Matt

DaveC

Thank you, Timmie...

Your heating related postings are always one of the top reasons that I frequent this establishment!

Unknown

Gas Safety

The proper handling of a potential gas incident is first of all safety. That is your safety and the safety of your customers. When you have an odor of gas, or any odor for that matter in a contained area and you do not know its source the best thing to do is get out. Evacuate yourself and your customer.If your phone center receives a call and the customer smells gas it is better to be safe than sorry tell them to get out and wait for your service rep. That should be an immediate emergency call by the way. In some cases it may not be gas but could be a Carbon Monoxide related odor. When you arrive secure possible sources of ignition if safely able to do so. Ventilate the affected area again if safely able to do so. Have someone outside of the potential hazard area call the gas company. The gas company should have test equipment to determine the level of gas concentration. The recent requirement is to evacuate at a much lower concentration of gas than in the past. They are evacuating at 20% of the lower explosive limit of the gas. The lower explosive limit of natural gas is around 4.5% gas to 95.5% air. Do not go back into the affected area until instructed by officials that it is safe to do so. Explosive limits of natural gas 4.5% to 14.5%. Explosive limits of LP gas is 2.4% to 9.6%.

Do not be so anxious to repair that possible leak you left yesterday that you get yourself killed.

If you have a combustible gas indicator, it is calibrated correctly,set up for the gas you are going to measure (LP or Natural) and know how to use it properly then proceed with caution. Set it up in a gas free environment proceed to test in high areas as natural gas is lighter than air and will rise. Propane is not the same it accumulates in low areas due to its higher specific gravity 1.52 as compared to air which is 1.0 and natural gas which is around .6 and lighter than air. Propane does not dissipate easily so be very careful. If you get a reading above 1% to 2% natural gas or LP EVACUATE. If the reading stays below 1% to 2% VENTILATE and proceed to test until the reading goes above 1% to 2%. So above 2% EVACUATE below 2% VENTILATE.

Odorant is added to both gasses but it has occured that the odorant has been filtered out and in that case it is undetectable without an instrument.

BE SAFE AND NOT SORRY!!!!

Weezbo

I Knew i liked your persistence:)

Ken_8

If the meterset is not in the basement...

Someone might want to consider closing the outdoor gas cock at the meter?

Duh!

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Weezbo

Ken ))

no you doit , no you doit Homeowners dont always know what a gas cock is:) it may even sound like you are making some kind of vauge innuendo.... Tim is correct Life Safety is the first concerne get the people outta there to a neighbours phone Gas can take out more than the building where the leak occured.so,the gas company should be there and the same goes for the contractor,it is normal for me at least, to walk the home owner thru the To Do List in the event of a gas noticeable gas leak. at the time of sale of the home. What the thrust of Tims thought is belongs in the lets at least agree on the safety side of the deal first,turning off the gas meters valve to the home is something an Informed Homeowner might just be able to do ON THIER WAY OUT OF THE BUILDING,TO SAFETY