I was changing out a gas range and the way to do it is to secure a plumber's wrench on the shut-off valve and another wrench on the nut of the flex hose to loosen it. You keep the shut-off valve from turning while you apply torque to the nut and then remove the flex hose. At least that's how it was supposed to happen.
I was holding the shut-off valve steady when I hear a high pitched breaking noise. Like when you break a dish, but higher pitched and you could tell it was metal snapping. Somehow, and I don't know how, I managed to fracture the shutoff valve!
I could see the edges of the break clearly and gas under pressure was flowing out of the broken valve with no way for me to shut it off!!! D:
I released the wrench and the edges of the valve slammed back shut. The flow of gas seemed to stop. Temporarily relieved, I had no choice but to call the gas company. I suspected that the valve may still be slowly leaking and would need my service shut off at the meter. I called an emergency in and the gas tech shows up in 15 minutes. Pulls the gas tester out and verified there even though he can see a crack, there is no more leak. Advises that we will need to get the shut-off valve changed because broken/faulty equipment is technically in violation of the agreement and he could shut off my service for this. His price to change it was $250 and I thought I should call a plumber in the area since that was high. He said he wasn't going to turn off my service since it was 10 degrees and doing so would prevent me from being able to heat the house. The valve was secure and no longer leaking so it didn't present a threat as long as I didn't try to use it again. To that end, he did screw a cap with thread-locker in the end of the shut-off valve, effectively rendering it useless and forcing me to change it. In his opinion, this kind of stuff happens all the time: sometimes you torque the valve the right way and it breaks. The valve is made of brass which is not the strongest metal.
I call a plumber later to come and fix it, thinking that I will need someone to turn off the service at the meter so there is no pressure at the valve when I'm trying to change it. The plumber agrees on the phone that this is what will need to be done. Instead the plumber arrives and proceeds to change the valve without shutting off the gas service first! I heard the gas hissing out of the open end of the pipe as he then fitted a new fitting and shutoff valve. All in all, he was done in 4 minutes. It took him longer to write up the damn bill than to change the broken fitting. $140!!
Now to tell the truth, I have also done it this way too but not in my own house. I was helping a buddy install a gas dryer in his basement and we needed to extend the gas line to the other end of the basement. Stunned I watched him add new sections of gas line to the pressurized line without turning off the service! Everytime he opened the end of the pipe to add a new section, gas escaped. Doing it this way in your own house is one thing, but I was stunned that a professional plumber would run that risk on a job. But realistically, the pipe only flowed for 10 seconds and barely any gas smell in the kitchen.
Moral of this story: plumbers are useless and I'll do it myself next time
I was holding the shut-off valve steady when I hear a high pitched breaking noise. Like when you break a dish, but higher pitched and you could tell it was metal snapping. Somehow, and I don't know how, I managed to fracture the shutoff valve!
I could see the edges of the break clearly and gas under pressure was flowing out of the broken valve with no way for me to shut it off!!! D:I released the wrench and the edges of the valve slammed back shut. The flow of gas seemed to stop. Temporarily relieved, I had no choice but to call the gas company. I suspected that the valve may still be slowly leaking and would need my service shut off at the meter. I called an emergency in and the gas tech shows up in 15 minutes. Pulls the gas tester out and verified there even though he can see a crack, there is no more leak. Advises that we will need to get the shut-off valve changed because broken/faulty equipment is technically in violation of the agreement and he could shut off my service for this. His price to change it was $250 and I thought I should call a plumber in the area since that was high. He said he wasn't going to turn off my service since it was 10 degrees and doing so would prevent me from being able to heat the house. The valve was secure and no longer leaking so it didn't present a threat as long as I didn't try to use it again. To that end, he did screw a cap with thread-locker in the end of the shut-off valve, effectively rendering it useless and forcing me to change it. In his opinion, this kind of stuff happens all the time: sometimes you torque the valve the right way and it breaks. The valve is made of brass which is not the strongest metal.
I call a plumber later to come and fix it, thinking that I will need someone to turn off the service at the meter so there is no pressure at the valve when I'm trying to change it. The plumber agrees on the phone that this is what will need to be done. Instead the plumber arrives and proceeds to change the valve without shutting off the gas service first! I heard the gas hissing out of the open end of the pipe as he then fitted a new fitting and shutoff valve. All in all, he was done in 4 minutes. It took him longer to write up the damn bill than to change the broken fitting. $140!!
Now to tell the truth, I have also done it this way too but not in my own house. I was helping a buddy install a gas dryer in his basement and we needed to extend the gas line to the other end of the basement. Stunned I watched him add new sections of gas line to the pressurized line without turning off the service! Everytime he opened the end of the pipe to add a new section, gas escaped. Doing it this way in your own house is one thing, but I was stunned that a professional plumber would run that risk on a job. But realistically, the pipe only flowed for 10 seconds and barely any gas smell in the kitchen.
Moral of this story: plumbers are useless and I'll do it myself next time
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