DMS1
join:2005-04-06
Carrollton, TX
| reply to rawgerz
Re: And this is why
said by rawgerz  :How can you pierce a iron/steel gas line with a 6 foot copper rod? And how did the gas get inside the house from outside? Incoming gas lines are yellow plastic of some sort, with only the risers at each end being metal. A metal spike hammered into the ground would easily go through this. Given that the ground rod would be within a few inches of the house I would have thought that it wouldn't be too hard for the gas to creep in somehow. |
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mwf
join:2000-11-26
Granite Quarry, NC | The yellow plastic is just sheathing, the actual gas line inside the yellow is metal and flexible. |
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DMS1
join:2005-04-06
Carrollton, TX
| said by mwf :The yellow plastic is just sheathing, the actual gas line inside the yellow is metal and flexible. Are you sure? I must admit I have never seen the inside of a gas line here, but I know in England the lines look identical and they are 100% plastic. Are you sure you are not confusing the meter-to-house connection with the main gas lines which can be metal coated in yellow plastic. Even if they are metal, the fact that it is flexible means it is also thin. |
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alfnoid
Premium,MVM
join:2002-02-18
| reply to mwf
said by mwf :The yellow plastic is just sheathing, the actual gas line inside the yellow is metal and flexible. Sheathing is only on the tracer wire buried with it.
The lines that I have had exposure to are 100% plastic.
In fact, if the tracer wire has been cut you can't even locate the lines and you must dig until you can find the tracer wire to be able to locate it.
(I am a former locator and gas was one of my utilities)
peace |
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tmies
join:2002-10-11
Champaign, IL
| Plastic Gas line is made of HDPE (high density polyethylene). I installed the same material for high pressure CO2 gas a couple years ago. I has a high pressure rating, and typical 5x burst rating, so it is very safe as long as it not punctured. It is naturally black, but has yellow pigment added for nat. gas id. The material with flex metal liner mentioned above is for inside distribution. |
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ltship
join:2002-08-11
Sturgeon Bay, WI
| reply to mwf
there are gas lines that are totally plastic, from the main in the street to the service connecting it to the metal riser to the meter at the facility it is serving. Here in WI you can have up to 8" mains in newer areas that are plastic (without a metal or sleeved insert).
Most states have a "One Call" facility to handle locate before you dig services. In this case, it is not the home owners responsibility to call in the locate, it is the cable company or their installers responsibility. It does not say if this was a aerial to the home, and the installer was grounding the interface box on the side of the home, or was a direct buried to the home and he was again installing a interface box that needed grounding.
It doesn't take much to punch a hole in a plastic service line to a home. Investigated allot of those type damages in my time, luckly without loss of life. |
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