Hello,

I don't mean this to be a bitch. Just relating a recent experience w/a
plumber that someone out there might benefit from.
Recently had a gas line run to my kitchen. Guys did a pretty immaculate job
digging the trench, all in all was an excellent install, except....

I had marked on the wall where I needed the outlet based on the install pdf
of the range. I gave them a 4 inch x 6 inch rectangle to target. Shouldn't
of been a big deal. Well when it came time to go from the riser through to
the wall in order to make the location I needed some additional plumbing
would have been necessary. Really just a couple of els and nipples. The
guy kinda moaned about it and we looked at the pdf and he said that he
didn't know what he could do since the riser was so high etc. etc. ...

and I let him off the hook (mistake) and let him install it straight
through. The wording in the pdf was "suggested gas outlet location" not
"definite gas outlet location" and I let it slide.

Well... the oven arrived and I was checking out the install and determined
that where they installed the outlet was not going to work. I would have
kept the oven away from the way by about 4 inches due to the way the stove
is built.

Ok so I get him back and he gets the outlet to a suitable location and
doesn't even have to put another hole in the exterior. Simple... so simple
I wish he had just done it right the first time.

But it's not over. So a bit later I go ahead and complete the stove
install, exchanging the cap he left w/a shutoff valve and attaching the flex
connector from there to the stove. Some things are just too simple to screw
up and that's one of them so I was pretty confident that the stove would
light right off.

Nope. Turn the burner on, nothing. Let it go for a minute.. nothing. Put
a lighter up next to it.. nothing.
Go check the master gas valve, it's fine, go check the hot water heater,
pilot is lit and it lights when I turn it up.

Ok.. undo the connection to the stove, check out the fittings and
flexconnector and they are clean, put it all back together and light it up..
nothing.

So I'm thinking about this, ready to call the plumber back and have him
check the pressure coming out of this new line, when I thought that just
maybe the air he used to check the line for leaks hasn't been purged enough
yet.

So I go turn on the burner and let it stay on for a while this time....
about 5 minutes and finally it lights.

And this guy wasn't a slacker, he's been a plumber for almost 20 years and
the rest of the install was immaculate.

So the lessons I learned from all this are

homeowners: when you have a contractor, plumber whatever over and you need
the job done in a certain way don't let them talk you out of it unless you
are trying to have them do something dangerous or stupid. In this case I
should have just prodded him to put the outlet where it was supposed to be
according to the install pdf and shouldn't of accepted it elsewhere.

contractors: don't be lazy about stuff like that, if you need to charge a
bit more just say so. Also you should mention things like "you might have
to purge the air out of the line before the stove will light". Typical
Harry Homeowner would have had the plumber back the next day and possibly
the guy would have forgotten the test air (the original job was a month ago)
and spent a while trying to diagnose a nonexistent problem.

ml

I'm glad the purge went ok. A plumber blew up the inside of a few rooms in
a brand new building purging a pipe in NC a few years ago.

It may not have even been air he pumped in to test. Likely he just caped the
end and turned on the gas to check for leaks. I need to purge air to a
heater in a cottage everytime I shut off gas at the bottle. Its a pretty
common thing. I'll bet your instructions for the stove even say this. The
directions for my heater say you may need to wait 30 seconds but they assume
you shut off at the valve next to the heater not at the end of the line 15
feet away. So, knowing this I wait 2-3 minutes before lighting pilot. You
learned something and now maybe others will know this too.

wrote in message
...
Hello,

I don't mean this to be a bitch. Just relating a recent experience w/a
plumber that someone out there might benefit from.
Recently had a gas line run to my kitchen. Guys did a pretty immaculate
job
digging the trench, all in all was an excellent install, except....

I had marked on the wall where I needed the outlet based on the install
pdf
of the range. I gave them a 4 inch x 6 inch rectangle to target.
Shouldn't
of been a big deal. Well when it came time to go from the riser through
to
the wall in order to make the location I needed some additional plumbing
would have been necessary. Really just a couple of els and nipples. The
guy kinda moaned about it and we looked at the pdf and he said that he
didn't know what he could do since the riser was so high etc. etc. ...

and I let him off the hook (mistake) and let him install it straight
through. The wording in the pdf was "suggested gas outlet location" not
"definite gas outlet location" and I let it slide.

Well... the oven arrived and I was checking out the install and determined
that where they installed the outlet was not going to work. I would have
kept the oven away from the way by about 4 inches due to the way the stove
is built.

Ok so I get him back and he gets the outlet to a suitable location and
doesn't even have to put another hole in the exterior. Simple... so
simple
I wish he had just done it right the first time.

But it's not over. So a bit later I go ahead and complete the stove
install, exchanging the cap he left w/a shutoff valve and attaching the
flex
connector from there to the stove. Some things are just too simple to
screw
up and that's one of them so I was pretty confident that the stove would
light right off.

Nope. Turn the burner on, nothing. Let it go for a minute.. nothing.
Put
a lighter up next to it.. nothing.
Go check the master gas valve, it's fine, go check the hot water heater,
pilot is lit and it lights when I turn it up.

Ok.. undo the connection to the stove, check out the fittings and
flexconnector and they are clean, put it all back together and light it
up..
nothing.

So I'm thinking about this, ready to call the plumber back and have him
check the pressure coming out of this new line, when I thought that just
maybe the air he used to check the line for leaks hasn't been purged
enough
yet.

So I go turn on the burner and let it stay on for a while this time....
about 5 minutes and finally it lights.

And this guy wasn't a slacker, he's been a plumber for almost 20 years and
the rest of the install was immaculate.

So the lessons I learned from all this are

homeowners: when you have a contractor, plumber whatever over and you need
the job done in a certain way don't let them talk you out of it unless you
are trying to have them do something dangerous or stupid. In this case I
should have just prodded him to put the outlet where it was supposed to be
according to the install pdf and shouldn't of accepted it elsewhere.

contractors: don't be lazy about stuff like that, if you need to charge a
bit more just say so. Also you should mention things like "you might have
to purge the air out of the line before the stove will light". Typical
Harry Homeowner would have had the plumber back the next day and possibly
the guy would have forgotten the test air (the original job was a month
ago)
and spent a while trying to diagnose a nonexistent problem.

ml

On 23-Jun-2005, "No" wrote:

I'll bet your instructions for the stove even say this. The
directions for my heater say you may need to wait 30 seconds but they
assume
you shut off at the valve next to the heater not at the end of the line 15
feet away.

not a word regarding this. but then again brief is an overstatement for the
gas install directions.

Thinking about it now I suppose anyone experienced w/gas line installs would
know this. I've done two dryers before but they were both on existing
lines. This was my first stove (though it's pretty much identical to a
dryer install) and my first new gas line so I wasn't expecting it. Still
would of been nice if the guy had mentioned it.

ml