Almost set myself on fire

[Stelth]

Yesterday, I went to do a plumbing repair in a garage in a condo. There was obviously a leak of some sort, either water or waste, occurring in a wall between the garage and the kitchen, behind the water heater. I had cut a couple of holes in the wall and determined that the water heater needed to be removed to get to the leak. 40-gal. gas water heater was on a stand, as is normal in a garage. So, I disconnected the flex connectors at the top, sweated the copper T&P relief drain off, disconnected the gas flex, took apart the "earthquake" straps, drained the heater, and finally put it down on the floor. Cut open the wall, and, to my surprise, found a 1" 90 degree elbow leaking from a pinhole in the sweep of the elbow. Kind of unusual to find a leak in the actual fitting rather than in a solder joint, particularly on the cold side.

So, having drained the system, I made a cut on one end, and sweated the 90 off of the other end with a torch. I put the replacement parts in, and began heating them with my torch so that I could solder them up. As I was waiting for sufficient heat to develop, I thought I smelled gas. A gas odor is not uncommon when gas appliances are disconnected, due to the odorant which adheres to the now-open gas supply. I didn't think too much of it. But the smell got stronger, so I extinguished my torch to investigate. Good thing I did. While working on the pipe in the wall, I had backed into the gas cock for the water heater and opened it completely with my leg. My upper thighs, backside, and naughty bits were in great danger. Things could have ended very differently, maybe with just a slight breeze.

In nearly 30 years of plumbing experience, nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Be careful.

 

[Ndx]

You should be wearing gas detector on you.. Sometimes smell is not enough

Lucky you

 

[simple_gifts]

Lesson learned I imagine.

I set my sweater on fire one Thanksgiving, just my right arm. No damage done, needlesstosay, not a bucket list item.

 

[jeepman3071]

Should've bought a lottery ticket.

Glad you were lucky.

 

[4wheeldog]

Better than this, if you are disconnecting gas lines to do soldering, it is probably wise to include an assortment of caps and plugs in your kit, to safety the gas valves. DAMHIK.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Wow! Lucky man!

I almost burned our ( new at the time) house down when a moderate electrical soldering project turned ugly when the Archer(r) Mini butane palm torch went up when the gas bottle became partially dislodged from the U bracket/clamp. Very dangerous portable soldering device.

 

[dave123]

Wife works in a big major burn unit it keeps me very aware of what can happen when you do not respect things.

 

[Merkava_4]

I would've turned the gas off at the meter.

 

[wog]

Put a cap on gas line,it is a good habit to have and it is not difficult to do. Never heard of a valve(gas) opening from bumping. In to it,unusual, but that is how accidents happen,strange circumstance creates problem.

 

[DoiInthanon]

Thankfully you were alert. Burns are horrible. I respect first responders and health care people that voluntarily witness severe burns.

My coxswain was engulfed/blown off the skimmer into the river. Within seconds a nearby skimmer crew started to haul him aboard their craft. The flesh on his forearm came off in the rescuer's hands. His skin was ashen gray, but his greens were still there. Mercifully, he was unconscious. 44 years ago next month.

Respect explosive, flammable material.

 

[Stelth]

Originally Posted By: 4wheeldog
Better than this, if you are disconnecting gas lines to do soldering, it is probably wise to include an assortment of caps and plugs in your kit, to safety the gas valves. DAMHIK.


Since it never happened to me before, I haven't given that much thought. I think I may have a few flare caps, and I think I may be using them in the future.