The Spunkster
Member
- Location
- South Jersey,USA
- Occupation
- NJ Lic. Electrical Contractor /1995 to present
Local gas utility was out replacing a valve on the meter. He tells me there is quite a gas leak indicating at the meter. He checked the entire piping system in the house,(no luck) went back out side to the meter area,sprayed the entire site and found the leak located on the 1" black iron pipe into the house from meter. Told me to have the pipe replaced ASAP. Plumber removed the pipe to measure for replacement and discovered the pipe is full of pin holes about 6" long under the sill. The pipe is about 32 yr. old, sleeved loosely in some kind of black plastic pipe, with some kind of cement filler surrounding the black metal pipe. (1983) install. Entire system is grounded,not bonded. I verified it myself with a Fluke meter. The damaged portion of the 1" black iron pipe looked like a piece of donor metal in an electroplating set-up after a hard days work. The plumber replaced the 1" pipe from the meter to the house with galvanized pipe (about 4' long) and installed plastic cement used specifically for this type of application. The house is from 1785/with oak or chestnut sills(6"X 6") the damage to the pipe was directly under under the sill. No conductive surfaces were in contact. The black plastic sleeve may have just touched the bottom of the sill. Anybody have an idea what may have caused this? How to prevent it from happening in the future? The gas utility isn't much help.
