gas pipe exposed to fire

ed wallace

looked at a job in Gloucester ma. today fire in basement caused by combustubles piled against water heater house needs new water heater,boiler, and electrical wires was asked to bid on the job my question is should gas lines be replaced

Unknown

Yes

Without a doubt, Ed

Noel

Al Gregory

steel fittings could have been damaged

Weezbo

Ed i was under the impression....

that any time there is a fire, the lines must be removed in thier entirety. i do not remember where it was like in a code..... it was something i picked up a long time ago... same goes for the electrical...all the wires and the curcits in any way shape fashion or form connected all the way back to the panel. if there is sign of fire at the breaker then that means to me bye bye panel ...
now , maybe that isnt in the codes buh i'd rather be safe than sorry any day of the week. yes i have seen a pair of jumper cables being used as a welder off a 200+ amp panel. that dont make it a good idea.

Bob Harper

fire changes the properties of materials

We spec. out materials for construction of homes based on standards such as ASTM. However, once such a material has endured a significant fire event, the properties can change. For instance, many alloys of stainless steel do well at temps. up to about 1382F. Above that, chromium carbides can form resulting in intergranular corrosion. Therefore, while type 316 stainless is much better for oil or coal burning, type 304 actually holds up better after a 2,100F chimney fire from wood burning even though it is less corrosion resistant.
Now, tell me what has changed in that iron pipe? How about it's corrosion resistance? Brittleness? Tensile & compressive strength? Yaddah, yaddah, etc.
The fact is you Don't know because we test this pipe under controlled conditions and therefore can predict performance. You cannot once it has endured high temps. For that reason, stainless steel factory chimneys and liners should be replaced after chimney fires. They did their job. They protected the home from an unfriendly fire that was a sudden occurence and therefore an insurable loss.

I don't see how any insurance co. would write a policy on a building that suffered a major fire. Even the masonry changes state. The lime in the mortar calcines at about 750F.

Geno_15

Excellent Point,

they did their job, time for a rest, a second fire or stress may split them, they've been stressed by heat, take 'em out.

If someone outbids you becaue they are not replacing pipe walk away, they must have great lawyers.

Unknown

You bring back memories

On my test for second class electronics tech in the 1970's, they wanted to know the name of the white powder that forms on aluminum waveguides at sea on radar equipment.

A. Intergranular exfoliation.

Why the heck do things like this stick in the ol' brain for so long, never used, while stuff from this week slips away unnoticed?.....

Noel

ScottMP

Lots of

Talk about how the pipe may have been effected.

How about the fact that the pipe dope has all melted out of the joints ?

Scott

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Geno_15

wow

I feel stupid, thanks for stating that, you are 120% correectamundo, there is no more pipe dope in the threads and therefore no seal.............. what a way to start the weekend.

ed wallace

pies exposed to fire

thanks everybody for the responces my feelings are that they need to be replaced along with any copper exposed to flames

EJW

The copper is anealed like a pex crimp ring. I am sure that's not how it's spelled. EJW