Interesting enough today the wife and I went shopping the local home
improvement chain stores [northwest Chicago] for light fixtures and I took a
look at their flexible gas connection kits out of curiosity. Both chain
stores included skinny WHITE Teflon tape spool with their kits for use with
the gas connections. Apparently a LOT of water heaters are being installed
with the white Teflon tape. --- Steve


"Steven L Umbach" wrote in message
...
Thanks for all the replies. All continues to work well and I verified that
the gas connections are leak free. I did some searching on the internet
and could not find any evidence of more than usual premature failures of
gas water heaters [gas delivery related] because of using white Teflon
tape on the gas pipe connection. My guess is that there probably is some
sort of inlet screen on the thermostat to stop large particles from
getting into it. Also I feel that disassembling it at this point could do
more harm than good due to all the Teflon tape that would come loose in
the threads during the removal process. Thanks again and next time for
sure I will use the yellow stuff. --- Steve


"Steven L Umbach" wrote in message
...
I replaced my water heater yesterday and used a flexible gas pipe to
reconnect natural gas to it. I used my white Teflon tape on the fittings
for a seal and all appears well. Then I noticed some info on the internet
that you should not use white Teflon tape on gas fittings - only yellow.
Apparently there is a risk [don't know how great] that the white tape can
damage the gas regulator or such due to bits of it shredding off. Now I am
wondering if I should change it or just leave it. My thinking is that
removing/reinstalling the fittings may introduce more risk that just
leaving well enough alone? The gas heater is installed in the basement
next to the furnace right next to a floor drain. Any advice
reciated. --- Steve