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dpb[_3_] dpb[_3_] is offline
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Default How does a thermocouple have enough power to operate a gas valve?

On 12/8/2018 8:21 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Sat, 8 Dec 2018 17:55:55 -0600, dpb wrote:

On 12/8/2018 1:26 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
...

They USED to have "wild pilots" too - where the gas flowed to the
pilot even if the pilot light blew out.
Nasty things, those wild pilots.


The little heater in the well house was one for over 50 years until I
swapped it out for a safety valve setup a couple years ago....the amount
of gas through the pilot is so small as to be essentially negligible
unless the area is extremely small and very tight...in the 10x16x8 well
house, it was difficult to smell the odor even if it had been a day or
more before discovered it was out.

But, the gas co guy during one leak check visit said he didn't dare let
it go any longer as "by the book" he could be as much as fired if
another tech came by after him and noted it and he hadn't...

Not that it isn't better to have than not, but they really aren't _that_
risky.

Not in a drafty well-house. Not with natural gas. But propane in the
well house, or natural gas in an unvented area could be a "big bang"
not only in theory- - - - - -


It's _not_ "a drafty well house"...it's a well-built, insulated block
building...heavier than air propane is potentially a different animal, yes.

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