Propane leak solved

[Robfike]

Streamers,
A while back I started a thread about a propane smell we had when our rear furnace started up.
Here is what I found.
#1. The rear furnace leak was determined to be from the flair fitting at the furnace shut-off valve. The fix was to take it loose, clean the mating surfaces, and reassemble.
#2. While looking for #1, I started having a very strong propane smell in the middle of the coach. I found that the stove regulator was leaking.
BOTH OF THESE LEAKS DID NOT SHOW UP WITH SOAPY WATER!
It took an electronic gas sniffer to find them. The stove regulator had cracked where it threaded onto the stove manifold. The crack is visable in the photo at about the 7:00 position.
My first replacement regulator leaked also, so be sure to check even a new part.
I also discovered that my main shut-off valve at the tank does not shut-off all the way. So now I have some flair plugs to plug off any offending appliance.
Rob

[clancy_boy]

Nice detective work. I envy that determination to locate those pesky leaks. I have some and have not yet delt with the issue - until I do the gas stays off on the 66 Caravel.

[markdoane]

I smell natural gas.

Got up this morning and had no water pressure. A guy from the city rang my doorbell to tell me the water main out front had broken. Again. Will take 5-6 hours to repair.

Went out to breakfast. On the way back I couldn't get within 500 ft of the house because fire trucks were blocking both ends of the street.

I guess the city guys wanted their buddies at the gas company to share in the windfall overtime (triple-gold platinum overtime), so they busted the gas main while looking for the broken water main.

I'm typing this so that if you never hear from me again you will know what happened. I leave all my karma points to Tom, and Bob can have all my tools. Jerry can have the Airstream if there is anything left.

[flyfshr]

I don't really care about the karma points or the tools, but how can I get you to will the TradeWind to me? I need an Ohio built '59 TW.

Brad
FF

[moosetags]

Thanx for the tips. It's always nice to have some suspect areas to start checking.

[CanoeStream]

Originally Posted by markdoane

I leave all my karma points to Tom, and Bob can have all my tools. Jerry can have the Airstream if there is anything left.

Cleco-licious! This isn't a fun way to spend your day ... sorry! Ultradog, you lucky ... uhh ... lucky Ultradog!
Bob

[markdoane]

Well, what I thought was going to be a rather amusing diversion has turned into a real PITA.

The gas leak is fixed, I hope, but we still are without water. In the meantime, a real blizzard has set in. Just as the last of the daylight was fading, the power goes off! I march up the street to inquire of the watermain crew which overhead line they had knocked out with their backhoe. They denied any responsibility.

Now I'm in deep do-do. The driveway is filling up with snow, fast. My car is still parked two blocks away because of the gas leak, and I have only two quarts of gas to share between the snowblower and the generator.

So I put a splash in the snowblower, plow a path to the shed where the generator is, get the gas can, and walk across the wilderness to the car, which is buried in a snowbank. I get the car shoveled off, throw the gas can in the trunk, and head for the gas station. OOPS. Didn't see that tree branch fallen across the road.

Back from the gas station, filled up the generator, got power back to the furnace; Bob's your Uncle!

Then I see one of the watermain fellas approaching the fire hydrant at the top of my driveway. This can't be good. They need to flush the watermain when they turn the water back on. I know (from the last time) that the water from the hydrant will flow right down my driveway into the garage, and leave me with a double car ice rink!

He and I quickly assemble a dam out of snow across the top of the driveway. Diaster averted!

Except that when he turned the hydrant off, the main line sprung another leak. I guess we'll be at this all night.

At least the power came back on.

[clancy_boy]

Markdoane - I would wish you a Happy New Years but I am afraid all the fireworks at your house would start a fire. Good luck.

[davidz71]

Mark,
Maybe one of your New Year's resolutions is to not have any bad luck! It sounds like you saved most of it up for the end of '06.