I have just installed a lot of gas piping (for a natural gas fired emergency
electrical generator) with many joints in the piping. I have looked online
at different combustible gas detectors (at places like hvactool.com) and
have found units ranging from $59 all the way up to several thousand
dollars. Does anyone have a recommendation for a sensitive, reliable, and
relatively low cost instrument which can detect / localize gas leaks?

Thanks very much for your advice.

Smarty

Dish soap and water on the joints and a good nose are better.

"m Ransley" wrote in message
...
Dish soap and water on the joints and a good nose are better.

A "good nose" is easier said than done! Try getting a child to smell for
gas; they are much more sensitive.

m Ransley wrote:
Dish soap and water on the joints and a good nose are better.

One time I had a gas leak that was too slow for bubbles to find. I
thought I would occasionally smell gas, so I eventually wrapped the
suspected joint in plastic food wrap and taped up all the seams. The
next day, it was mostly inflated, and when I squeezed out the contents,
it was clearly natural gas.

Probably not an immediate hazard, but it felt good to find it early.
It does go to show how sensitive a nose can be.

My sniffer is not what it used to be. Since I passed age 60, I don't want to
rely on my sense of smell to determine the absence or presence of something
as dangerous as a gas leak. Even my wife, who is about the same age,
complains that her very acute sense of smell is no longer that sensitive. I
found the plastic food wrap approach very creative, and I would have never
thought of using that approach. I have about 30 joints to inspect, and will
probably start with bubbles and also use a TPI detector as an alternative.

Thanks again,

Smarty


"mike" wrote in message
ups.com...

m Ransley wrote:
Dish soap and water on the joints and a good nose are better.

One time I had a gas leak that was too slow for bubbles to find. I
thought I would occasionally smell gas, so I eventually wrapped the
suspected joint in plastic food wrap and taped up all the seams. The
next day, it was mostly inflated, and when I squeezed out the contents,
it was clearly natural gas.

Probably not an immediate hazard, but it felt good to find it early.
It does go to show how sensitive a nose can be.

On Sun, 5 Nov 2006 08:13:50 -0500, "Smarty" wrote:

I have just installed a lot of gas piping (for a natural gas fired emergency
electrical generator) with many joints in the piping. I have looked online
at different combustible gas detectors (at places like hvactool.com) and
have found units ranging from $59 all the way up to several thousand
dollars. Does anyone have a recommendation for a sensitive, reliable, and
relatively low cost instrument which can detect / localize gas leaks?

Thanks very much for your advice.

Smarty



I always liked just soap bubble testing each joint. But then that is
me.

later,

tom @ www.Consolidated-Loans.info

Tom The Great wrote:
On Sun, 5 Nov 2006 08:13:50 -0500, "Smarty" wrote:

I have just installed a lot of gas piping (for a natural gas fired
emergency electrical generator) with many joints in the piping. I
have looked online at different combustible gas detectors (at places
like hvactool.com) and have found units ranging from $59 all the way
up to several thousand dollars. Does anyone have a recommendation
for a sensitive, reliable, and relatively low cost instrument which
can detect / localize gas leaks?

Thanks very much for your advice.

Smarty



I always liked just soap bubble testing each joint. But then that is
me.

That reminds me of the time I had a gas leak and the gas company was
trying to find the location of the gas line. The young guy that came out
had a couple of electronic devices in including a sniffer and some sort of
electronic sensor. He could not find it. He called in the supervisor. The
old guy got out of his truck, listened to the problem, went back to his
truck and pulled out what looked like two welding rods with a 90º bend on
one end. He used them like devining rods looking for water. Well he found
the pipe and marked it out and found the cut off. I asked him about it
after the other guy left. The run an electric tracer wire along the plastic
gas lines in my area and run a small current through it. The fancy
electronic tool they issue them break down often and are not as sensitive as
a good operator using the metal rods. :-) High tech does not always rule.



later,

tom @ www.Consolidated-Loans.info

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit

Soap bubble testing is not what I am after. I am wondering if anybody has a
recommendation for a reliable and sensitive gas detector. A divining rod to
find buried pipe is really not what I am looking for either.

Smarty


"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
.. .
Tom The Great wrote:
On Sun, 5 Nov 2006 08:13:50 -0500, "Smarty" wrote:

I have just installed a lot of gas piping (for a natural gas fired
emergency electrical generator) with many joints in the piping. I
have looked online at different combustible gas detectors (at places
like hvactool.com) and have found units ranging from $59 all the way
up to several thousand dollars. Does anyone have a recommendation
for a sensitive, reliable, and relatively low cost instrument which
can detect / localize gas leaks?

Thanks very much for your advice.

Smarty



I always liked just soap bubble testing each joint. But then that is
me.

That reminds me of the time I had a gas leak and the gas company was
trying to find the location of the gas line. The young guy that came out
had a couple of electronic devices in including a sniffer and some sort of
electronic sensor. He could not find it. He called in the supervisor.
The old guy got out of his truck, listened to the problem, went back to
his truck and pulled out what looked like two welding rods with a 90º bend
on one end. He used them like devining rods looking for water. Well he
found the pipe and marked it out and found the cut off. I asked him about
it after the other guy left. The run an electric tracer wire along the
plastic gas lines in my area and run a small current through it. The
fancy electronic tool they issue them break down often and are not as
sensitive as a good operator using the metal rods. :-) High tech does
not always rule.



later,

tom @ www.Consolidated-Loans.info

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit

"Smarty" wrote in message
...
Soap bubble testing is not what I am after. I am wondering if anybody has
a recommendation for a reliable and sensitive gas detector. A divining rod
to find buried pipe is really not what I am looking for either.

A bubble test IS the standard. (NOT soap though)

http://www.amgas.com/ltpage.htm

Unless you're going to calibrate your tester regularly, and is part of
what you do for a living, bubbles are the way to go.
The "electronic" gets pulled out if don't want bubble juice
dripping all over the place, or other mitigating factors are in place.

http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/pr...sp?sku=1035000

The electronic is very good, but really is a go/no-go tool.
It won't tell concentration levels of the leak you have, and that isn't
even necessary to know with regards to common domestic pipe work.

If I have to win a wager to find a leak, (say one pica-bubble every 20
secondsg)
I'm using bubbles. HTH.

-zero

Thanks zero. This really does help, and I found the link you sent extremely
informative. I had no idea that this method is so sensitive, nor did I know
that specialized surfactants and bubble solutions were formulated
specifically to do this job very well. Thanks again for your help/

Smarty


"-zero" wrote in message
...

"Smarty" wrote in message
...
Soap bubble testing is not what I am after. I am wondering if anybody has
a recommendation for a reliable and sensitive gas detector. A divining
rod to find buried pipe is really not what I am looking for either.

A bubble test IS the standard. (NOT soap though)

http://www.amgas.com/ltpage.htm

Unless you're going to calibrate your tester regularly, and is part
of
what you do for a living, bubbles are the way to go.
The "electronic" gets pulled out if don't want bubble juice
dripping all over the place, or other mitigating factors are in place.

http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/pr...sp?sku=1035000

The electronic is very good, but really is a go/no-go tool.
It won't tell concentration levels of the leak you have, and that isn't
even necessary to know with regards to common domestic pipe work.

If I have to win a wager to find a leak, (say one pica-bubble every 20
secondsg)
I'm using bubbles. HTH.

-zero

I own a Tif, and a TPI. I like the TPI a lot better.
http://www.afcintl.com/720.htm

Check on Ebay, where I got mine. Mine didn't work when it arrived. I
called their customer service, and the fellow talked me through fixing
it. He let me send it back, and he replaced a bad on off switch,
donated a carry case, and mailed it back to me, no cost to me.

The customer care at TPI was excellent for me.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Smarty" wrote in message
...
I have just installed a lot of gas piping (for a natural gas fired
emergency
electrical generator) with many joints in the piping. I have looked
online
at different combustible gas detectors (at places like hvactool.com)
and
have found units ranging from $59 all the way up to several thousand
dollars. Does anyone have a recommendation for a sensitive, reliable,
and
relatively low cost instrument which can detect / localize gas leaks?

Thanks very much for your advice.

Smarty

Thanks for the reply. I see an inexpensive TPI for $79 at:
http://www.allgasdetectors.com/products/g404-0725.shtml and a more deluxe
one at $179 at:
http://www.allgasdetectors.com/products/g280.shtml

Does the better model 720a/b seem like the one to buy?

Smarty


"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
I own a Tif, and a TPI. I like the TPI a lot better.
http://www.afcintl.com/720.htm

Check on Ebay, where I got mine. Mine didn't work when it arrived. I
called their customer service, and the fellow talked me through fixing
it. He let me send it back, and he replaced a bad on off switch,
donated a carry case, and mailed it back to me, no cost to me.

The customer care at TPI was excellent for me.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
.

"Smarty" wrote in message
...
I have just installed a lot of gas piping (for a natural gas fired
emergency
electrical generator) with many joints in the piping. I have looked
online
at different combustible gas detectors (at places like hvactool.com)
and
have found units ranging from $59 all the way up to several thousand
dollars. Does anyone have a recommendation for a sensitive, reliable,
and
relatively low cost instrument which can detect / localize gas leaks?

Thanks very much for your advice.

Smarty