Smell of gas

bucksone

We had a new paver patio installed last November. One of the things installed was a new natural gas grill. The company ran a gas line through the basement wall. The line comes out at ground level and has a shutoff valve at that point. They put a round plastic enclosure with a lid around it to protect it (it says irrigation valve on it.) The line then goes underground around the outside of the curved seat wall that goes around the patio. When it gets to the grill's position, there is a line that comes up out of the ground so the grill can be hooked in with a quick connnect valve. The gas line continues underground around the wall until it ends at the firepit.

When we started using the grill this spring and summer, we sometimes would catch the odor of natural gas afterwards. To prevent this, I shut off the gas at the shutoff valve each time I use the grill. I would like to avoid this if possible. As I get older, I'm less eager to get down on my hands and knees to do this.

Today I tried using soapy water on the fittings to see if it bubbled to indicate a leak. I checked the shutoff valve, the quick connect between the grill's hose and the gas line, the connection between the hose and the grill, the part where the gas line connects to the manifold, and the three knob areas on this Weber grill. I couldn't detect any leak.

I've noticed that the smell seems strongest when I lift off the cover of the plastic enclosure around the shutoff valve to shut off the gas.

I'm wondering if there is something else I could try to pin down this leak? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Canarywood1

Just call your gas provider,and tell them you smell gas at the enclosure around the shut off valve,they'll be there in no time.

Fairview

If you need a new toy google gas sniffer. Prices range from the teens to hundreds.

notmrjohn

A short whiff of gas when turning an appliance on or off is not unusual and not a major concern. Odor of gas in valve box is not unusual but is a concern, follow canary's advice, call gas company, they got all kinds of neat toys.

Not a bad idea to shut off gas when grill or pit not in use. Here's some toys that will save the knees, depending on what kind of handle is on your valve one of these may work or be modified to fit. There are other styles, the "pronged" ones have various spacings and often fit in notches around or holes in a round handle. They also make knee saving tools to open box.

Don't worry that box says "irrigation" basically a box is a box, may cause brief confusion for someone unfamiliar with set up, you can relabel with a paint pen. I suppose if you were to irrigate melons with gas, they'd float up for easy harvesting. Gas melons instead of water melons. Might get real exciting when roasting pumpkins.

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