Gas pipe to wall heater, can I just put a plug in it?

16782 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by diymonkey, Apr 9, 2009

diymonkey

Discussion Starter · Apr 9, 2009 (Edited)

I have an old wall heater in both bathroom that we never use. I want to remove these heaters since we are redoing the sheetrock.

Would it be best to cap/plug the line in the wall or plug the line in the attic? Im not sure what the connection looks like in the wall, but it wouldnt be less work since I wouldn’t have to remove the pipes. On the other hand, it maybe cleaner to just plug the pipe in the attic.

Also, I see black pipe being sold at Home Depot for gas lines. I think the pipe in my attic is steel pipe. Do I buy a steel plug? What type of material is that black pipe at Home Depot?

Please see my pics below

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Grampa Bud

· #2 · Apr 9, 2009

I have run the gas lines for new, old, and remodel jobs and installed and removed many flush mount heaters; even surface mount and stand alone heaters over the past 30years and if this photo is of one of your heaters I believe you may already have a code violation. Your pipeage in the attic is correct for this heater even though someone ran "Galvanized" instead of the more affordable "Black" steel pipe. Your other picture shows the heater, but doesn't show any access door or panel to get in to the fittings to connect
(or disconnect) the gas line coming down the wall. I don't know about Louisiana, but here in Ills in noise state code requires free and open access to a gas cock on the end of your gas line. At that point there different interpretations how to terminate the line into the heater. One mandates that the gas cock be "hard-piped" with nipples,elbows, and a black union into the heater. This is definitely the safest route, but you can lose a few hairs trying to do it. The other way, and this depends on your building department codes, is to use a teflon coated stainless steel gas flexy. This is much simpler, but if ever there were a fire in the house, the 1/2" black pipe would still be intact long after the gas flexy vaporized. Either way put a 1/2" ball valve type gas cock on the end of your gas line (They do not leak) and when you do your remodel just put a 1/2" plug in the open end of the gas cock.

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diymonkey

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 9, 2009

Grampa Bud said:
I have run the gas lines for new, old, and remodel jobs and installed and removed many flush mount heaters; even surface mount and stand alone heaters over the past 30years and if this photo is of one of your heaters I believe you may already have a code violation. Your pipeage in the attic is correct for this heater even though someone ran "Galvanized" instead of the more affordable "Black" steel pipe. Your other picture shows the heater, but doesn't show any access door or panel to get in to the fittings to connect
(or disconnect) the gas line coming down the wall. I don't know about Louisiana, but here in Ills in noise state code requires free and open access to a gas cock on the end of your gas line. At that point there different interpretations how to terminate the line into the heater. One mandates that the gas cock be "hard-piped" with nipples,elbows, and a black union into the heater. This is definitely the safest route, but you can lose a few hairs trying to do it. The other way, and this depends on your building department codes, is to use a teflon coated stainless steel gas flexy. This is much simpler, but if ever there were a fire in the house, the 1/2" black pipe would still be intact long after the gas flexy vaporized. Either way put a 1/2" ball valve type gas cock on the end of your gas line (They do not leak) and when you do your remodel just put a 1/2" plug in the open end of the gas cock.

Thanks for the reply. So you wouldn’t recommend removing the pipe in the attic at the T union and plugging it at the T union?

Regarding black vs gal steel pipe, my house is about 50 years old and most of the plumbing is gal steel.

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Scuba_Dave

· #4 · Apr 9, 2009

Are you installing another gas heater?
If not I would remove the pipe back to the attic & plug there
Less worry about a concealed pipe in the wall that may leak
Or maybe cut into by a future HO DIY

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diymonkey

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 9, 2009

Scuba_Dave said:
Are you installing another gas heater?
If not I would remove the pipe back to the attic & plug there
Less worry about a concealed pipe in the wall that may leak
Or maybe cut into by a future HO DIY

Nope, not going to replace the heater. I dont even know why someone would put a wall heater in, Louisiana doesn’t get that cold...lol

They must have not had central air/heat when the house was built, put those heaters in the bathroom instead.

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al's sewer

· #6 · Apr 9, 2009

I agree with scuba dave. Take out the old pipe to avoid confusion in future re models and plug it up in the attic. That way if you ever add on another gas fixture in the future you could tie in right there in the attic. Make sure to do a soap and water test to check for leaks after you are done.

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diymonkey

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 9, 2009

al's sewer said:
I agree with scuba dave. Take out the old pipe to avoid confusion in future re models and plug it up in the attic. That way if you ever add on another gas fixture in the future you could tie in right there in the attic. Make sure to do a soap and water test to check for leaks after you are done.

Thank for all the replies. I am going to go ahead and start from the bottom and remove the heater first, then connecting pipe, etc. Plug it at the T shown in the picture.

Before I turn off the gas, I am going to light up the wall heater, then shut the gas off. This would this be the best way to clear the lines out before working, right? Ive never worked on gas lines before, but I know its not a big deal as long as you are safe.

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