Fixing Tiny Gas Leaks

[nobes]

Hello,

I'm looking for advice on fixing a very small natural gas leak. In advance of my final inspection I did a leak test on my NG system. I lost about 0.2PSI from 10PSI in 15 minutes. I spoke to an inspector and he said there is a zero tolerance on the leak test.

I've done some fairly extensive searching with the soapy spray bottle and found a very tiny bubbling culprit, right smack in the middle of the system (threaded black iron). I would have to cut out the piece and install a L&R - no unions allowed in the crawl space. The problem I'm anticipating is that I don't have any wiggle room to install the L&R - the pipe that would be removed is very short and is constrained between two unmovable objects.

I guess I have two questions:
1) Is there something that can be applied to the exterior of the joint to inhibit leaking? Or is there some way to inhibit leaks w/o unthreading?

2) I've never used a L&R - how much room do I need to install it? What is the tolerance on getting the length right? Any other general L&R advice? All I need to do now is replace one tiny leaker with two big ones!

 

[nobes]

Hello,

I'm looking for advice on fixing a very small natural gas leak. In advance of my final inspection I did a leak test on my NG system. I lost about 0.2PSI from 10PSI in 15 minutes. I spoke to an inspector and he said there is a zero tolerance on the leak test.

I've done some fairly extensive searching with the soapy spray bottle and found a very tiny bubbling culprit, right smack in the middle of the system (threaded black iron). I would have to cut out the piece and install a L&R - no unions allowed in the crawl space. The problem I'm anticipating is that I don't have any wiggle room to install the L&R - the pipe that would be removed is very short and is constrained between two unmovable objects.

I guess I have two questions:
1) Is there something that can be applied to the exterior of the joint to inhibit leaking? Or is there some way to inhibit leaks w/o unthreading?

2) I've never used a L&R - how much room do I need to install it with the help of gas leak repair in Fort Worth? What is the tolerance on getting the length right? Any other general L&R advice? All I need to do now is replace one tiny leaker with two big ones!

thanks in advance for any help

 

[havasu]

It happened to me once, and understanding the prohibited unions, I was forced to disassemble 75' of pipe and start over. Afterwards, I used Rectorseal to lubricate and seal all pipe.

 

[Snoonyb]

L & R, MPT nipples are 4" long.

These immovable objects, were moved into place.

Another alternative would be 2 street 90's and CSST.