In article , tom w
writes
Hi

I'm in the process of removing a gas fire in our dining room in order to
reinstate the open fire that was there previously. I've removed one already
in the lounge, which was easy enough as the gas supply was copper pipe under
the floorboards and a compression stop-end did the job easily. In the dining
room, the job is complicated by the fact that the gas supply is through lead
pipe. I want to cut this off, but access is tricky, and certainly wouldn't
allow me to do the 'bash it flat, fold over the end and bash it flat again'
approach. I've gathered from past posts that a lead-loc adaptor is what I
need, but I'm having trouble finding one to fit. The lead pipe is marked as
1/2" 2lb, and I've not seen any lead-loc fittings for pipes below 1/2" 6lb.
Does anyone know if I can I use one of these, or do I need to find another
solution to the problem? My idea was to use the lead-loc followed by a stop
end, which would be neat(ish) and would allow the supply to be used in the
future if ever needed (I would remove all the lead piping if it wasn't for
the access problems).

Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

Tom

You may find that the pipe is not lead at all, but "block tin". I've got some
of this that I took out my place & it has a smother finish than lead and will
be very shiny if cut or the oxide removed.

Good news is that if you remove it you will get many times the price that
lead fetches at the scrappy. Unfortunately it will be many times more
difficult to work or to cap than lead. If you try to form wet joint using a
blowtorch you will likely end up with a large blob of liquid tin on the floor
(low melting point and abrupt change of state) and if you use compression,
the thin wall thickness is likely to collapse.

I'm sorry to say that in your place I would take it back to copper, even if
that means breaking open floors/walls.

ps: the scrappy will tell you it's lead - it's not . . .
--
fred