A Near Disaster

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Dennis Alwon

Dennis Alwon

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Chapel Hill, NC
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Retired Electrical Contractor
These people got lucky. The electrician was called because the house was hit by lightning. My friend went to enter the basement but the homeowner warned him that there was a dead animal down there. He open the door and quickly stopped the owner from turning on the lights. He recognized the smell of LP gas and told her to call the gas company.

They found this piece of Csst that had been hit by lightning. The pic is accurate as it is hard to even see the hole when you are holding the pipe. Just a pin hole which fortunately didn't create a torch effect that is so often the case with csst being hit by lightning. It wasn't hard to convince her in an upgrade to bond the piping. The hole is on the 3rd spiral from the left. The jacket was ripped right off of the piping.


enhance
 
CSST

CSST

Scary situation indeed. One thing that has always puzzled me about this known issue with CSST. How come we don't see this same kind of pin hole in the standard yellow flexible appliance connectors. Do they really have that much of a thicker wall?
Another question. Has this pin holing been observed where the CSST system has been bonded as is now required for most types?
 
Dennis Alwon said:
These people got lucky. The electrician was called because the house was hit by lightning. My friend went to enter the basement but the homeowner warned him that there was a dead animal down there. He open the door and quickly stopped the owner from turning on the lights. He recognized the smell of LP gas and told her to call the gas company.

They found this piece of Csst that had been hit by lightning. The pic is accurate as it is hard to even see the hole when you are holding the pipe. Just a pin hole which fortunately didn't create a torch effect that is so often the case with csst being hit by lightning. It wasn't hard to convince her in an upgrade to bond the piping. The hole is on the 3rd spiral from the left. The jacket was ripped right off of the piping.


enhance
Click to expand...

I was on location where some fuses were replaced on a 3 ton condensing unit that were blown, without checking for any ground faults before re-energizing the system. The Compressor happened to be grounded, and the system was not grounded in any way shape or form. The power found its way back inside by way of the lineset, blew right through the gas flex and started a very quick gas blaze in the furnace cabinet. Quick reaction time and knowing where a fire extinguisher was stopped what would have been a very fast moving structure fire.
The furnace was also, not properly grounded.
While I got the fire put out quickly, it opened my eyes to what is possible with electricity and those types of connectors. It was shared at the local RSES meeting that week in Dallas, Texas.
 
I can't believe that stuff is legit. Way to easy to get damaged. Unlike electrical there is no fuse. IMHO
 
texie said:
How come we don't see this same kind of pin hole in the standard yellow flexible appliance connectors.
Click to expand...
My guess: because the total length of appliance connectors in a house is a small fraction of the total length of gas piping in the house. Also, perhaps the location of appliance connectors, in the finished living space, means they are less likely to be exposed to lightning induced voltages.

As to CSST being horrible, it depends on your lightning risk versus other risks. I live in a seismically active region where the lightning risk is low. So I value the decreased chance of rupture in an earthquake more than I disvalue the increased lightning risk.

Cheers, Wayne
 
Of course, today they make lightning resistant Csst. Omegaflex calls their product- Counterstrike and says it does not need any extra bonding however, I don't believe the gas code makes that distinction.
 
I still have no use for CSST, a soon to be rental has 1/2" black pipe on the ground & it has been like that for 61 years, I doubt that CSST done as poorly as the 1957 black pipe would do half as well, after it's replaced that will almost be the end of 1943 & 1957 vintage pipe in that house, now to get a halfway cool day to get it out.
 
texie said:
Scary situation indeed. One thing that has always puzzled me about this known issue with CSST. How come we don't see this same kind of pin hole in the standard yellow flexible appliance connectors. Do they really have that much of a thicker wall?
Another question. Has this pin holing been observed where the CSST system has been bonded as is now required for most types?
Click to expand...

I just had some CSST installed in my house and the entire 50 foot run is covered with yellow plastic. The installer told me that was the 'good stuff' and was much safer than regular CSST.
 
Dennis Alwon said:
Of course, today they make lightning resistant Csst. Omegaflex calls their product- Counterstrike and says it does not need any extra bonding however, I don't believe the gas code makes that distinction.
Click to expand...

That’s correct. I’ve been bonding it at the entrance fitting or the hard copper splitter in the attic anyway. Maybe a waste of dollars on my part but at least I’m certain it’s bonded.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
texie said:
One thing that has always puzzled me about this known issue with CSST. How come we don't see this same kind of pin hole in the standard yellow flexible appliance connectors. Do they really have that much of a thicker wall?
Click to expand...

My guess is because they are usually connected directly to an appliance that is grounded via its line cord.

-Hal
 
K8MHZ said:
I just had some CSST installed in my house and the entire 50 foot run is covered with yellow plastic. The installer told me that was the 'good stuff' and was much safer than regular CSST.
Click to expand...
I hope so but I doubt it. The yellow stuff was the faulty stuff but IDK, perhaps that brand has a counterstrike that is the same color. Omegaflex distinguishes the two and the counterstrike is black.
 
My house has electric heat, but i use a 30,000 BTU LP heater in the living room. I used black iron from the tank until it goes through the wall, then flexible copper with a flare connection at the heater. I was gonna redo the final connection this fall using yellow CSST. Now i'm rethinking that idea.
 
romex jockey said:
Lightning resistant ...?

....seriously ?


~RJ~
Click to expand...

Well, it is supposedly a thicker material and not prone to being split as the original product is. Of course, nothing can stop lightning totally.

http://www.omegaflexcorp.com/Products/TracPipe_CounterStrike/

Here is their claim

[h=2]The Only Gas Piping That Withstands the Forces of Nature[/h]
tracpipe.jpg
Used in natural gas and propane piping installations, TracPipe® CounterStrike® has been shown to be up to 400 times more resistant to the damaging effects of electrical energy than yellow corrugated stainless steel tubing.
The safest choice for both the installer and the customer, the benefits of TracPipe® CounterStrike® can also save time and money. There are no additional bonding requirements for TracPipe® CounterStrike® imposed by the manufacturer's installation instructions. It lays straighter and pulls easier, dramatically decreasing installation times. And unlike competitive brands, TracPipe® Counterstrike® is non-annealed, making it more crush-resistant, safer to install and easier to cut.
Click to expand...
 
400 times?

I wonder what that makes plain old threaded iron pipe?

also whatever nrtl methods they employed .....


young_frankenstein.jpg


~RJ~
 
Dennis Alwon said:
Well, it is supposedly a thicker material and not prone to being split as the original product is. Of course, nothing can stop lightning totally.

http://www.omegaflexcorp.com/Products/TracPipe_CounterStrike/

Here is their claim
Click to expand...

It was mentioned earlier that this product didn't need bonding.

Note the, "...no additional bonding requirements....imposed by the manufacturer's installation instructions."

So it still needs bonding per national and local codes. Cleverly worded.
 
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