A few weeks ago we had a new gas line brought into the house. That line is of course Black Steel. The plumber and I are talking and he reminds me that he needs to wrap the line where it enters the foundation because that’s what the inspector wants to see. “Most guys use black electricians tape,” he says, “but I like to use a short length of pipe or tubing.” Sounds like the guy is going the extra mile so I leave and return to find that he’s used a length of copper tubing as a sleeve around the pipe where it passes through the foundation.
Now I do a little boating and granted we aren’t talking about salt air or anything but there are metals that just aren’t mixed. So the best I could determine was that these two metals were pretty far apart on the corrosion chart so I asked him to switch it out for something else. (Which he did and he owes my kids a new whiffle ball bat.)
The inspector didn’t balk at this the gas company didn’t have a problem. Maybe I’m paranoid. Is anyone familiar with galvanic corrosion to shed some light on this?
Parkinson’s Law: ‘Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.’
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Good call. I checked it out. Iron is anodic to copper by about 0.8 volts. Get a little water coupling them and the iron will start to oxidize.
Not what the kids had in mind for the bat though.
Thats what I thought. I wouldnt want to guess at the number of installations where the plumber had sleeved a black steel gas line with copper. Whats more surprising is that neither the gas company or the inspector had a prolem with these two metals being together.
Scarry.Parkinson's Law: 'Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.'
It's been awhile but as I recall, gas lines installed under the UPC should be factory wrapped except at the joints and at that point, black electricians tape isn't what they call "code". I'm puzzled by your statement that the inspector and gas company signed off, OK'd , this install. Something's not right here and your suspicions are right on in this case. Dig deeper cause this sounds like a real "hair ball" installation and we're talking serious consequences down the road.
In my area, gas company installs gas line up to house but then it's yours from that point on. They hook you up once the inspection is signed off. Gas company here uses black plastic hose that looks nothing like anything I've seen available on the market. I have no idea what they use in their distribution system but when it's on your property you need professional install and inspection. The gas company has their own rules and regs and the building inspectors have no jurisdiction on the gas company's system.
"In my area, gas company installs gas line up to house but then it's yours from that point on." - Same here in the east woodway. From the other sideof the meter into the building is mine. In order for the plumber to bring the gas into the house he needs to pull a local permit. The local inspector signs off when that work is done.
As I mentioned we have removed the coper sleeve from around the black steel line. Parkinson's Law: 'Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.'