On Dec 3, 3:26Â*pm, dpb wrote:
DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Dec 3, 3:03 pm, " wrote:
On Dec 3, 2:54�pm, Edge wrote:

On Dec 3, 12:31 pm, (Chris Lewis) wrote:
According to Oren :
Recently the gas company was out to put a new meter on a new home. She
installed the meter and opened a gas line inside the garage to purge
the line. ...
For what it's worth, I was watching TOH a few weeks ago where they
tapped into the gas main to run a new line to a customer. They used
something very similiar to those needle valves you use to tap into a
water line. Â*It was more sophisticated in that they drilled the line
first and then attached the valve, but the device they used kept the
gas line sealed at all times. I know that's not a repair, but the
point is that they kept the system both pressurized and sealed at all
times.

However, I do have a question about your repair scenario: If they
actually opened the lines and vented the gas to the open air during a
repair, wouldn't there be a "gap" in any downstream gas delivery that
would extinguish any pilot lights that were burning?

That was the new service line to the residence that was being purged,
not the main, so the answer is "no", they wouldn't have noticed.

As for the tap-in, sure they seal and are careful of sparks, too, but
the main lines are at much higher pressure/volume than a single service
line so they lose much more gas than the scenario here.

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If you were responding to my post, you may have misunderstood my
question ...

I was asking about his repair scenario, not the new service line to
the customer.

hallerb said "gas companies do it all the time, as proof whens the
last time your gas was shut off when they did repairs?"

I am assuming he means that the gas company does not shut off the gas
every time they repair a gas line. Here's my question: If they open a
line and vent it to the air during the repair, then wouldn't any
downstream customers lose pressure and therefore lose their pilot
lights? I'm not questioning the fact that they do or don't shut off
the gas, but it seems to me that to any customers downstream of the
repair, it's going to look like the gas was off if they open the
line.

Perhaps they tap around the repair before opening the line? If that's
the case, no one would lose service, but they are not really doing the
same thing as a guy installing a valve or T in a house like the OP
(and I) have seen them do.