Just occured to me to wonder if there is any danger here. I need to solder a cap on a 1/2 ” copper pipe (about 6″ long) that runs into the cast iron sewer line in my basement. (The copper pipe was the hook up for the water softener discharge.)
TIA
Thon
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I wouldn't worry about it, but if you think it's a concern, use superglue or epoxy.
Test it before you solder.
Light a match.
BWA HAHAHAHAHA
You were probably thinking of methane. Landfill sites have plenty of it but sewer gas? Don't think so.
There is methane generated in landfills, sewer treatment plants and in small quantities in septic tanks. The first two aren't going to get to your house.
If you are a P-trap away from a septic tank, there is nothing to worry about at all. Even so, the chances are minute. And even if there is methane, it has to be within the explosive range which is pretty narrow or non-existent with high CO2 and low oxygen atmospheres.
There have been cases where sewer or storm water drains have blown, most memorably Guadajuara, Mexico about 10 years ago when a mile of main street turned upside down (really!). The state-owned PEMEX refinery was dumped 1000s gallons of hexane and other gasoline-range hydrocarbons down the drain. Something ignited it. Don't do this at home.
So, sweating the copper line? I wouldn't worry.
Ralston Purina did the same thing in Louisville, KY back in 1979. I think Hexane was also the solvent dumped. Took out several miles of streets on it way to the treatment plant. Brke windows, cracked foundation, and a host of other structural problems, not mention the number of vehicles it destroyed.
Hexane and sewers= bad.
Just took a confine space class and found out that the most lethal gas the municiple sewer systems need to watch for is hydrogen sulfide. CO, methane, CO2, and O2 levels are critical, bus hydrogen sulfide kills faster.
Dave
> There have been cases where sewer or storm water drains have blown,
> most memorably Guadajuara, Mexico about 10 years ago when a mile of
> main street turned upside down (really!). The state-owned PEMEX
> refinery was dumped 1000s gallons of hexane and other gasoline-range
> hydrocarbons down the drain. Something ignited it. Don't do this at
> home.
Yeah, happened in Louisville, KY, about 30 years ago, when a soybean processor dumped something like 100 gallons of a volatile hydrocarbon down the storm sewers. Blew up about ten city blocks, damaged hundreds of homes. Luckily no one was seriously injured.
Also happened about 5 years ago in Rochester, MN, when gasoline from a leaky service station tank got into a telephone conduit. Blew holes in the roadway a half-mile away.