I had a natural gas line installed to my kitchen for a gas cook top. The line was connected past the main regulator. After installing the line, the installers ran a pressure check at 10 psi. It held pressure while they were here and through the next several days. Due to labor shortages the county inspector came about a month latter. At this time the gage was reading 0. The inspector said that means there is a leak and failed the inspection. The installer said they will come back and pump up the line and reschedule the inspection. Should the pressure have held for a month? Does this indicate maybe a slow leak? The installer who is a larger local company that did my hvac system, said it was just the time between the inspection and installation.
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1It should not leak at all, zero.– DIY75Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 17:47
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2If the line leaked air over a month, it'll also leak gas when the gas is turned on. That's why the inspector failed it. Don't forget, this was only a month, there will be gas in that line for years to come. You don't want some leaking out every day. Bad for the gas bill. Really bad for breathing. Exceptionally bad should there be a spark in the house.– FreeManCommented Aug 11, 2022 at 17:53
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Is this the only line in the house or is this line teed off from other lines you were using?– crip659Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 17:54
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1Could've been the gauge that leaked. It doesn't take much volume loss to lose 10PSI. I wouldn't be surprised if that would be a common occurrence over a month's time.– isherwoodCommented Aug 11, 2022 at 18:05
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1@BenMarkel if you fill up your gas tank, and it empty a month later due to leaking ? Certain things are made not to leak at all, no when and if.– DIY75Commented Aug 11, 2022 at 18:38
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1 Answer
There should be zero leaks from a gas line. Period.
Any leakage will:
- Increase your gas bill
- Be bad for your health, including:
- Breathing natural gas isn't good for you.
- Having natural gas collect in an area where there could be a spark or open flame tends to lead to things going boom. This is generally considered a Bad Thing™.
It is possible that there is a leak at the pressure gauge, so be sure to test with a 2nd gauge to ensure that wasn't the problem, before tearing everything else apart to redo the whole line.
A collection of the wisdom posted in the comments.
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Thank You. Contractor is coming back out to go back over everything. The bad part is if the inspector came out the day after the contractor pressurized the lines it would have looked good and everything would have passed and I would have not known there was a problem. Good thing the inspections were so slow. Seems like they are back on schedule now. Commented Aug 14, 2022 at 2:39