Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

CSST

I got this in an email from a friend and associate in the business and wanted to share it with all of you that may work with CSST.





[<strong>The following information appeared in Joe Rose’s PGANE Weekly Membership Update, and we wanted to alert you.  </strong>







<strong>I wanted to bring something to your attention that is concerning.  It has been reported by a New England marketer that in the last week they have run into identical problems where a house has not held pressure during a leak test.  What was found was both of these had flood damage and the gas lines were submerged during last year's floods!  The water got inside the jacket of the CSST gas pipe and eventually corroded the pipe.  I recommend alerting all customers who had flooding and urge them to have all wrapped gas piping tested and possibly replaced if it has flooded in the recent past.</strong>







<strong>This is the first time I had heard about this and wanted to pass it along!   Maybe at a minimum add this to your duty to warn mailing</strong>.]
Your friend in the industry,



Alan R. Mercurio



www.oiltechtalk.com

Comments

  • kcopp
    kcopp Member Posts: 4,418
    Thanks...

    What type of water was it? Salt or fresh?
  • Alan R. Mercurio_3
    Alan R. Mercurio_3 Member Posts: 1,620
    Re:CSST

    Good Question! I’m not sure but I’d think either would lead to corrosion perhaps the salt water would have an adverse effect in a shorter amount of time? Being this was a New England Marketer I suppose it could have been either.
    Your friend in the industry,



    Alan R. Mercurio



    www.oiltechtalk.com
  • Mark Eatherton
    Mark Eatherton Member Posts: 5,853
    I am free at last...

    All, for the last 2.5 years, I and my company have been the potential litigation target surrounding a CSST catastrophic failure that burned a very nice house to the ground.



    I did not install the system, nor did I perform any replacements or repairs to said system. All I did was recommend to the homeowner that he get his existing installation in compliance with the manufacturers requirements as it pertains to bonding and grounding, which he did.



    To make certain that it was in complete compliance, I recommend additional jumpers at the distribution manifold to insure "omni potential" grounding, which he hired his electrician to do.



    6 months later, there was a lightning strike that hit roughly .6 miles away from the home. When the fire department arrived (10 minutes after first call came in), the home was completely involved in the basement as well as the attic. The fire chief said his crew was able to make one sweep of the dwelling before they had to pull out. He said it was the hottest fire their department had responded to in its 100 year existence...



    It was all they could do to keep it contained within its foundation and not have it spread to the nearby forest.



    I and my company have been a released of any responsibility for this devastating fire. The homeowner is VERY thankful for my recommendations. It pertains to bonding and grounding, because if he hadn't gotten it properly bonded after the fact, his homeowners insurance would not have covered his loss. As it is, they weren't properly compensated for all of the personal belongings lost in the fire.



    Who the manufacturer was doesn't matter. The fact that there are MANY systems out there that are NOT properly bonded is an accident waiting to happen. If you or your customers have this material in their house, make DAMNED sure it is properly bonded and grounded, or you to may be named in a subrogation claim like I was for the last 2.5 years. That or God forbid, your customer experiences the same potential loss as mine did, they may not be insured. Fortunately, no human lives0 were lost, just some very precious pets.



    Another important lesson I learned in this situation was that due to the fact that I had recommended to the homeowner that they bring it into compliance, my liability insurance company viewed it as "consulting" , and I had no errors/omission binder on my liability policy, therefore they would not cover me if the subrogation had gone through. Even though I didn't charge for the free advice, it is considered consulting....



    I do not want to bring the wrath of the CSST manufacturers down upon me for ANY reason, so just consider this a tale of potential woe that if you see or know of any systems out there with this material in them, that they are in full and complete compliance with the manufacturers requirements.



    Now, if someone will show me some place on the face of this big blue marble that has earth quakes, but no lightning, I will install this stuff till the second coming....



    Travel safely out there....



    ME
    It's not so much a case of "You got what you paid for", as it is a matter of "You DIDN'T get what you DIDN'T pay for, and you're NOT going to get what you thought you were in the way of comfort". Borrowed from Heatboy.
  • Tom_133
    Tom_133 Member Posts: 883
    Nice Post Mark

    I can remember when I was still a bit green, my boss hated using any csst. I didn't listen because it cut labor costs and the work load in half or less. So I ran it 4 stories on the inside of the sheathing on an outside wall 4 separate lines to individual apts. Never even gave a thought of the siders!!! Well as you have guessed the foam insulators sprayed the pipe against the sheathing and the siders nailed the snot out of it. My boss was less then impressed. Now that I run my own company its all black iron, less possibilities for catastrophic failure.



    Glad it worked out for you Mark.
    Tom
    Montpelier Vt
  • Steamfitter66
    Steamfitter66 Member Posts: 117
    edited November 2013
    bonding and grounding

    I believe all metallic piping systems are to be bonded according to the NEC.

    There are a lot more catastrophic failures with gas piping when its not black pipe.



    I have bonded the piping in my own home and shop as well as my parents.
This discussion has been closed.