[MrAngles]

I have three gas lines running through a room in my basement where I want to sheetrock the ceiling. They have enough length to where I could run them completely outside of the room, I would just need to disconnect them from the distribution pipes near my furnace, run them through some joists, and hook them back up. I'm more of an electrical guy so I wanted to doublecheck, but don't I just need to turn off the main valve first, reroute the lines, use gas line teflon tape to hook them back up to the distribution pipes, and turn the gas back on?



Or will my house blow up.

 

[Seattle2k]

use gas line pipe dope, rather than teflon tape. Teflon tape may be code-approved in your area, but most-likely it is not. I've heard natural gas can cause the tef tape to degrade over time.

After making your connections, spray with soapy water, turn the gas valve on, and check for bubbles. If bubbles, turn gas off immediately.

Threaded connections lose strength each time they're undone and retightened.

I'm not a gas man. I'd hire a gas man, since it's a life or death thing.

 

[ddawg16]

use gas line pipe dope, rather than teflon tape. Teflon tape may be code-approved in your area, but most-likely it is not. I've heard natural gas can cause the tef tape to degrade over time.

After making your connections, spray with soapy water, turn the gas valve on, and check for bubbles. If bubbles, turn gas off immediately.

Threaded connections lose strength each time they're undone and retightened.

I'm not a gas man. I'd hire a gas man, since it's a life or death thing.

That is a new one for me.....as much as I deal with threaded pipe....I have never heard that.

One of the misconceptions about tape and pipe dope is that it's primary purpose is to seal....in reality, it's primary purpose is to reduce the surface friction of the pipe so you can get more turns on the connection...this is what really seals the pipe. In the case of pipe dope, it does give you a little bit of sealing...but a majority of the sealing is from the tightness of the connection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_seal_tape

Thread seal tape is a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) film cut to specified widths for use in sealing pipe threads.
Thread seal tape can be used in many ways, the most common of which is to seal pipe threads. Also known as plumber's tape, PTFE tape, tape dope, or popularly but incorrectly as Teflon (A Dupont trade name) tape.
In use, the tape is wrapped around the exposed threads of a pipe before it is screwed into place. The tape is commonly used commercially in pressurized water systems, such as central heating systems, as well as in air compression equipment and thread joints with coarse threads. One of the defining characteristics of PTFE is how good it is at defeating friction. The use of PTFE tape in tapered pipe threads performs a lubricating function, which more easily allows the threads to be screwed together, to the point of deformation, which is what creates the seal.

There are 5 types of teflon tape....

• White – used on NPT threads up to 3/8 inch
• Yellow – used on NPT threads 1/2 inch to 2 inch, often labeled "gas tape"
• Pink – used on NPT threads 1/2 inch to 2 inch
• Green – oil-free PTFE used on oxygen lines and some specific medical gasses
• Copper – contains copper granules and is certified as a thread lubricant but not a sealer

 

[joecaption]

Hire a real plumber with a an added gas licence or have the gas company do it.
Seems like a simple job until the house blows up.
You do watch the news, right.

 

[MrAngles]

It doesn't seem that complicated, but I would rather my house did not blow up. My HVAC guy can do it, I was just hoping not to have him come back out until I was ready to do the air returns.

 

[gregzoll]

The good thing is, redoing it, means that you can put in a proper manifold for the lines to distribute off at one point, than multiple points along the line.

 

[jagans]

The key to a good job is cutting pipe threads properly so you have a nice clean continuos thread profile. Good pipe dies, and continually backing off to clear the threads is very important. The pre-threaded pipe you buy at the big box stores is horrible, In my opinion. Im not even sure about the quality of the steel they use. As far as joining goes, a good set of rigid pipe wrenches is mandatory. all others suck. I use teflon pipe dope as I dont like the tape at all, but some people use both, or just tape. I like dope. As long as you properly support the pipe with real heavy galvanized straps, and screws, and test every joint with soapy water, I dont see where a mechanically adept person cannot do it. It ain't rocket science.