On 03/16/2015 9:15 AM, trader_4 wrote:
On Sunday, March 15, 2015 at 8:53:40 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sun, 15 Mar 2015 14:48:22 -0500, wrote:

On 03/15/2015 1:46 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 15 Mar 2015 10:01:04 -0500, wrote:
On 03/15/2015 9:36 AM, trader_4 wrote:
...

I don't know what size pipe he's talking about where it was welded.
I've seen welding done to join large gas mains, eg 12" diameter, but
never the typical small lines to a residence. Those are just black
pipe using couplings/fittings. They are supposed to be covered in a tar type
compound to protect them from corrosion. ...

I also was puzzled; I'd surely think never do such a thing on smaller
diameter than 6", either......
...
4 inch and up MUST be welded. 2 inch and up are commonly welded
lines.

Not sure where that's coming from...from the PSEG manual I quoted earlier...

"Steel piping up to and including 1-1/4 inches shall be of the threaded
construction with line pipe couplings. Steel pipe larger than 1-1/4
inches may be of threaded, welded or compression coupled construction."

And that disagrees with what I said how??? You may find in some areas
1 1/4 to 4 inch pipe MAY be threaded - while in other areas all of
those, or most of them, will be welded.

I doubt you'd find many 1 1/4" or 2" gas pipe lines welded. I've
never seen one around here. For one thing,
it's a hell of a lot harder to weld a joint than it is to screw a coupling or fitting because to weld you need clear access all the way around the joint
to get to it. That means a wide trench spot if it's underground or substantial
clearance on all sides if it's inside a building. Given that those
pipes inside a building tend to run up against joists, inside walls,
etc, how would a welder get in there to weld it? Then factor in the fire
danger. Plus you need a welder, which is typically an additional truck
and a guy certified to weld gas pipes. The plumbers around here, I've never seen them show up with a welder. Where I have seen welding and then X-raying going on is on large, pressurized distribution lines. That's the other
factor left out here. If a 1 1/4 or 2" pipe is being welded, what pressure
is this pipe at? Is it the low pressure on the customer side, or some
high pressure application?
....
I think if you look farther you will find 4" and up are never
threaded. However, very unlikely you will find large pipe on the
customer side of the meter, so your quote is irrelevent in the case of
the feeder line to the house IN MOST CASES, because, at least here,
the meter is at the house.

It hasn't been clear to me for a while now whether we're talking about
only customer side or high pressure, or both.

I think at this point he's mostly "just talking"...not that there's
anything specifically "wrong", it just isn't particularly applicable to
the specifics at hand...back earlier at the beginnings of this subthread
I was trying to guesstimate what might have been done on this specific
line altho my gut feel is that more than likely it was laid by hand by
dad and used straightforward threaded connections. It was in a sidebar
that I was/am expecting to have to replace it most any time altho if it
was indeed really wrapped and coated maybe it'll be somebody else's
problem and not mine.

I've stated from the git-go this is the supply line _from_ the meter to
the farmstead which runs about a quarter-mile from where the meter is
located in the fence line of the native grass pasture where the main
high-pressure line crosses it before again crossing cultivated ground.
It is definitely under 2" but it's been long enough since I myself have
been close to the meter and paid any attention at all to it that I don't
really recall what it is there; the feeds that come above ground at the
various locations around the farmstead vary from 1/2" to 1-1/4"
depending...I've also never checked just what the feed pressure is in
that main; it's not line pressure by any stretch but it is higher than
end-pressure as there are regulators/reducers at each end point...

In general, if were installing welded underground, would think it would
be done basically as they do the larger lines; lay it out and do the
welds on the ground beside the trench then put the finished line in and
make the end connections.

I'd also grant for virtually any commercial or other large customer
today if were going to use iron it'd be a hired-out job or they would
have the facilities to do it in house and welding is likely what would
be done (altho I can't imagine anybody wouldn't use plastic these days)
but this was/is a farm installation that I'm guessing Dad did although
it is possible he hired it done that would be an unusual thing given his
penchant for doing anything and everything possible themselves as actual
money was tight; time was available.

On your comment regarding access issues I've seen some pretty creative
solutions in various power plants for nuclear-grade welding of steam
and/or water lines during outages... I've also seen some major
chunks of concrete/rebar taken out to get access when there was no other
way that had to be rebuilt afterwards.

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