Hello,

All the instructions I have seen for doing a pressure test on new
natural gas piping say to disconnect the meter, all appliances and all
shut-off valves and cap the ends of the lines. What is wrong with
just leaving the shut-off valves in place and turning them off? Local
code requires a pressure test of 10 psi for 15 minutes, and the WOG
ball valves I am using are rated to 600 psi (and tested to 100 psi).
So they should handle 10 psi!

Thanks, Wayne

Wayne Whitney wrote:
Hello,

All the instructions I have seen for doing a pressure test on new
natural gas piping say to disconnect the meter, all appliances and all
shut-off valves and cap the ends of the lines. What is wrong with
just leaving the shut-off valves in place and turning them off? Local
code requires a pressure test of 10 psi for 15 minutes, and the WOG
ball valves I am using are rated to 600 psi (and tested to 100 psi).
So they should handle 10 psi!

Thanks, Wayne

By doing it the way they say you are checking pipe & pipe joints in
inaccessable areas. A leaky valve can be easily replaced but a leaky
joint in a wall or slab cannot. You have to start with what you *know*
is good, then eliminate other sources. Doing it their way is
establishing a "known" good.

"Wayne Whitney" wrote in message
...
Hello,

All the instructions I have seen for doing a pressure test on new
natural gas piping say to disconnect the meter, all appliances and all
shut-off valves and cap the ends of the lines. What is wrong with
just leaving the shut-off valves in place and turning them off? Local
code requires a pressure test of 10 psi for 15 minutes, and the WOG
ball valves I am using are rated to 600 psi (and tested to 100 psi).
So they should handle 10 psi!

Thanks, Wayne


A new installation would not have any appliances, or shut off valves
installed cause your in "rough in stage" Nor would the pipe be covered up.
So finding a leak is easy.

Where I live gas lines are tested at 30 psi for 24 hours.

Capped ends seal better than valves. You might get some miniscual leak
through a ball valve which would cause the pressure to drop over the
duration of the test. Capping the valves avoids the possiblity of
getting a false fail.

The operating pressure and test pressure of natural gas are so low that
you will never break a valve or pipe from overpressure.

On 2006-02-06, wrote:

Capped ends seal better than valves. You might get some miniscual
leak through a ball valve which would cause the pressure to drop
over the duration of the test. Capping the valves avoids the
possiblity of getting a false fail.

Thanks for the response. It seems like it would be fine to test with
shutoff valves in place, the valves turned off, and the downstream end
of the valves open. Then if there is a slow leak, first check the
valves by plugging their downstream ends.

The operating pressure and test pressure of natural gas are so low
that you will never break a valve or pipe from overpressure.

Yet I understand the test pressure can damage the meter. So is a 600
psi WOG ball valve just after the meter sufficient to safely isolate
the meter?

Cheers, Wayne

On 2006-02-06, SQLit wrote:

A new installation would not have any appliances, or shut off valves
installed cause your in "rough in stage" Nor would the pipe be
covered up. So finding a leak is easy.

Thanks for your response, that makes sense for new construction. I
happen to be remodeling, plus all my pipe is accessible since my house
is one story over a crawl space.

Now I understand that the rough-in gas pressure test is done with the
meter disconnected. When using rigid pipe for gas, how is the final
connection at the meter usually made? A union? The meter should be
in an exposed location, so a union should be fine.

Cheers, Wayne

Wayne Whitney wrote:
On 2006-02-06, wrote:


Capped ends seal better than valves. You might get some miniscual
leak through a ball valve which would cause the pressure to drop
over the duration of the test. Capping the valves avoids the
possiblity of getting a false fail.


Thanks for the response. It seems like it would be fine to test with
shutoff valves in place, the valves turned off, and the downstream end
of the valves open. Then if there is a slow leak, first check the
valves by plugging their downstream ends.


The operating pressure and test pressure of natural gas are so low
that you will never break a valve or pipe from overpressure.


Yet I understand the test pressure can damage the meter. So is a 600
psi WOG ball valve just after the meter sufficient to safely isolate
the meter?

Cheers, Wayne

No. The pipe being tested must not be connected to the meter
in any way. I am surprised that you even have a meter. If
you are doing this much remodeling, I am surprised that the
gas company did not come out and pull the meter.

You can put a valve in the line after it has been tested, but
not to isolate the test from the meter.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

On 2006-02-06, Robert Allison wrote:

No. The pipe being tested must not be connected to the meter in any
way. I am surprised that you even have a meter. If you are doing
this much remodeling, I am surprised that the gas company did not
come out and pull the meter.

Thanks for the definitive response. Since the meter must be
disconnected at the time of the test, it would be standard to use a
union at the meter to make up the connection after the test?

As to my remodeling, I am replacing all the gas piping, but we are
currently living in the house. So I'm going to run all the new pipe,
pressure test it and get it inspected, then switch over the meter
outlet and appliances to the new pipe.

Thanks, Wayne

"Wayne Whitney" wrote in message
...
On 2006-02-06, Robert Allison wrote:

No. The pipe being tested must not be connected to the meter in any
way. I am surprised that you even have a meter. If you are doing
this much remodeling, I am surprised that the gas company did not
come out and pull the meter.

Thanks for the definitive response. Since the meter must be
disconnected at the time of the test, it would be standard to use a
union at the meter to make up the connection after the test?

As to my remodeling, I am replacing all the gas piping, but we are
currently living in the house. So I'm going to run all the new pipe,
pressure test it and get it inspected, then switch over the meter
outlet and appliances to the new pipe.

Thanks, Wayne

Another reason not to permit shutoff valves for testing is that if a valve
should leak slightly you will likely overpressure and ruin any gas control
the valve shuts off, including the meter. It wouldn't take much leakage and
the gas company would not be happy about that.

I think all or nearly all meter connections have integral unions for
removing and installing the meter.

Don Young

Wayne Whitney wrote:

On 2006-02-06, Robert Allison wrote:


No. The pipe being tested must not be connected to the meter in any
way. I am surprised that you even have a meter. If you are doing
this much remodeling, I am surprised that the gas company did not
come out and pull the meter.


Thanks for the definitive response. Since the meter must be
disconnected at the time of the test, it would be standard to use a
union at the meter to make up the connection after the test?

It is standard to bring your pipe to the meter location, then
(after testing and inspections) the gas company will make the
connection from their meter to your pipe. Although it
involves unions, it is probably not in the way you are
thinking. The meter itself has a union type connection on
both sides. The gas company will remove the cap or test cap
from your pipe, install the piping needed to attach to the
"out" side of the meter and install the meter. This does not
mean that you can just run the pipe out of the house just
anywhere, it must be close to the meter location (since you
have an existing location).

As to my remodeling, I am replacing all the gas piping, but we are
currently living in the house. So I'm going to run all the new pipe,
pressure test it and get it inspected, then switch over the meter
outlet and appliances to the new pipe.

Thanks, Wayne

Got it. What you should do is call the gas company and ask
them what they want. They are usually happy to come out and
tell you.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX