Re: Soot Emitting From Kitchen Gas Line

15 years ago

Hi!

The other day, I thought, Wonderful! I am going to get this brand new gas range finally hooked up in my kitchen! The tech who came out connected all of the pipes that needed to be connected on the stove. Then he came to the gas line to connect it to the stove.

He "bled" the gas line, and this odor came out, which I had expected, but so did this small amount of soot. He then decided to do these other things around my house, and return to connect the gas line later.

5 hours later, he then tried reconnecting the gas line to the range. He "bled" the gas line again, this odor was emitted, and out came all of this soot worse than the first time he "bled" the gas line! I mean, a lot of soot was emitted which came out in small flakes and tiny crumbs! It took me awhile to clean up all of this mess.

The tech suggested that he would install a t-pipe horizontally to the gas line so that the gas going to the range would flow cleanly through one side of the "t" and to the range, and the soot residue would fall into the other side of the "t" via gravity.

I am not sure what to make of all of this, except that I am really disappointed with what I had seen.

I do live in an old house, and I do have old piping.

What is causing this soot residue? And, would something like what this tech is suggesting with the t-pipe remedy the problem?

To me, I would think that after awhile, if there is enough soot in the gas line, there will not be enough room for all of this soot to be held in that area of the t-pipe he is proposing, and that the soot would have no where else to go but up to the area in the t-pipe providing the entryway for gas to the range.

I have looked everywhere on the forums, and could not find an answer to my situation. Please help!

Sincerely,

MBlueTyphoon

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Comments (9)

brickeyee
15 years ago
It is not soot (carbon) but far more likely rust.

Is it normal to put a stub in to catch corrosion from inside the gas line (often caused by excess moisture in the gas itself).
antiquesilver
15 years ago
How old is the house & are the lines original? When gas first became available in the 19th century, coal was used but I'm surprised any of those lines are still in use. I have dorminant ones in my house & if you remove the cap, the smell of coal is obvious & they're soot lined.
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calliope
15 years ago
We've been having problems this winter with the pilot orifices getting really gunked up with black, sooty goo. Had to have a couple of the furnaces cleaned mid-stream because the pilots kept going out. Like Brickeye says, moisture in lines is one cause. The furnace man said that with weather like we have had this winter it has caused a huge demand and sucking up the gas like crazy and when that happens, it usually gets cruddy. We're on a co-op, using local fuel. How about you?
antiquesilver
15 years ago
My post above says 'dorminant'. Can't type today as it should have been 'dormant' meaning inactive.
brickeyee
15 years ago
"When gas first became available in the 19th century, coal was used but I'm surprised any of those lines are still in use. "

'Coal gas' was mostly carbon monoxide.
Coal was allowed to burn in a vessel resembling a coke oven, then doused with water to produce 'coal gas.'
It tended to be wet and dirty.

I would not trust a line old enough to have seen coal gas.
The joints are very likely to leak.
antiquesilver
15 years ago
Thanks, Brickeyee, for clarifying my post; seems like I was brain dead yesterday! I meant to say 'GAS MADE FROM coal....' (although I didn't know how it was manufactured til just now).

And I totally agree that those old lines & joints aren't safe.
worthy
15 years ago
The coal gas used here was primarily for manufacturing, cooking and lighting. House lighting was fed by much small diameter pipes than we use today. At least, judging from the pipes I've found in old homes I've demolished or renovated. Coal gas was replaced by natural gas in 1954.
antiquesilver
15 years ago
Interesting article, Worthy. We have one of those 'floating roof' gas works in Richmond VA, too (ours is falling down) that started up c. 1854(?).

The pipes in my house are original to the house built in 1858 & they aren't much smaller than what's used today. It's especially interesting if you consider they were only there to provide light.
calliope
15 years ago
I knew the old homes (especially in urban situations) had gaslines and were in use surprisingly early, but what astounded me was how recently our gas supplies converted to natural gas. I've had homes with gas lights, and the plumbing was still intact. In fact I own one now (not my residence) and the pipes are/were large....at least the size my new natural gas lines are in my residence. This means that most of the old homes I lived in likely did use the same pipes for both coal gas and natural gas and I never thought a thing about it then. I also have never had a problem with any of them. All have been inspected over the years and found safe and not leaky. If your supplier doesn't insist on a line inspection for leaks, you should probably do it anyway. Ours does and won't initiate service without it.