How to avoid "the drip" in Las Vegas.

[DavidDeBord]

But it is code and there are times it does its job.

[Metalman0880]

Metalman, did any of that crap get in to the Gas Valve?

There wasn’t a gas valve. Just a self contained regulator with a 12v solenoid. I did pull the plunger out and it was fairly clean. Most all of what was in the trap never made it into the unit.


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[DavidDeBord]

I had a Customer, awhile back, that had one of the "Big Name Companies" from Cinti., Ohio put in his furnace. We don't have a Mechanical Department nor Electrical Department out here, so this "Company" threw the Code Books out of the Van window, once they crossed the "County Line".

The Customer, that winter, on a friday evening,developed several problems, during an ice storm, & when he called the Company, they told him that they wouldn't be able to get to him, for at least 72 hours.

This Dude called me, & was frantic, so after making it very clear, that he was going to pay me immediately when I got him up & running, then settle the matter with this "Company", I drove out to his house at about 10 mile an hour (Studded Snow Tires), & it blew me away to see that this guy got "Raped with his clothes on" with this installation.

Anyway, one of the things that I found, was that the supply side of the Gas Valve was loaded with Pipe Dope & Burrs from the gas line having been improperly cut, & de-burred. The Gas line was sagging due to no supports. The branch circuit was tied in to the same Aluminum wire that the Old furnace was, It was literally Hot! The Condensate piping literally came down the side of the furnace & stopped & the H.O. told me, that this "Company" said that the floor drain about ten feet away would handle the condensate! And, there were many more Issues with the installation, that would've immediately drew that "Red Tag" from an Inspector. I took pictures of everything.

I got him going, & he *****ed about the bill, that was a 3 page Invoice, listing all of the Code violations, & what I did to correct them, but he paid me.

The "Company" from Cinti., called me Tuesday morning, & this "Supervisor" started immediately going "Ape Crap" on me, threatening to Sue me, & demanded that I reimburse the Customer, etc.

I told the "Supervisor", that I listed everything on the Invoice, & took dated pictures of what I found Wrong, & that I had no problem with getting a State Inspector from Batavia to come out, & verify the Code Violations/ Crappy Installation, & that I's make the "Company" Famous in Court, & on the Media. It sounded like the SOB "Supervisor" broke the phone while slamming it down.

The H.O, about 4 days later called & Thanked Me, for what I did. The "Company" Reimbursed him, what I charged him, & apparently when he told them that he was going to hire an Attorney & Sue them, ... They offered to settle with him.

Sorry abut being long winded here.

[ch4man]

In all fairness a drip leg done right is of a waste of fittings too, at least I've never seen one catch anything.

well,,,, ive seen it enough times over 30+ years to know it is a good idea. doesnt happen often, but does enough to not bi_ch about a few fitting that the customer is going to pay for anyway

[ECtofix]

If the actual gas line drop already has a correct drop leg, and that flex is coming off the bull of the tee not pictured then their wrongly piped drip leg is just a waste of ftgs.

Everyone has their own local codes to follow and I understand that, BUT I don’t care what anyone says, if you don’t change the direction of flow your not going to allow anything to fall Into the trap.

See below:




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This is a no bs story....I was working on a larger standby generator. Was having gas flow issues. I believe the main was 2” main and reduced to 1” at the gen set. I pulled the drip leg out and it was full of a gritty oily substance. It only had a 2-3” trap on it but was full up all the way of the nipple and building into the tee. The drip leg was 1” also. Generator would run fine with no load. As soon as a load was on the system it would start to stumble and die under load.

Now we weren’t the installing contractor, I’m not sure if the lines had a combination of dirt and threading oil in them or what. I will say that’s the first and only time I’ve seen that.


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I had a Customer, awhile back, that had one of the "Big Name Companies" from Cinti., Ohio put in his furnace. We don't have a Mechanical Department nor Electrical Department out here, so this "Company" threw the Code Books out of the Van window, once they crossed the "County Line".

The Customer, that winter, on a friday evening,developed several problems, during an ice storm, & when he called the Company, they told him that they wouldn't be able to get to him, for at least 72 hours.

This Dude called me, & was frantic, so after making it very clear, that he was going to pay me immediately when I got him up & running, then settle the matter with this "Company", I drove out to his house at about 10 mile an hour (Studded Snow Tires), & it blew me away to see that this guy got "Raped with his clothes on" with this installation.

Anyway, one of the things that I found, was that the supply side of the Gas Valve was loaded with Pipe Dope & Burrs from the gas line having been improperly cut, & de-burred. The Gas line was sagging due to no supports. The branch circuit was tied in to the same Aluminum wire that the Old furnace was, It was literally Hot! The Condensate piping literally came down the side of the furnace & stopped & the H.O. told me, that this "Company" said that the floor drain about ten feet away would handle the condensate! And, there were many more Issues with the installation, that would've immediately drew that "Red Tag" from an Inspector. I took pictures of everything.

I got him going, & he *****ed about the bill, that was a 3 page Invoice, listing all of the Code violations, & what I did to correct them, but he paid me.

The "Company" from Cinti., called me Tuesday morning, & this "Supervisor" started immediately going "Ape Crap" on me, threatening to Sue me, & demanded that I reimburse the Customer, etc.

I told the "Supervisor", that I listed everything on the Invoice, & took dated pictures of what I found Wrong, & that I had no problem with getting a State Inspector from Batavia to come out, & verify the Code Violations/ Crappy Installation, & that I's make the "Company" Famous in Court, & on the Media. It sounded like the SOB "Supervisor" broke the phone while slamming it down.

The H.O, about 4 days later called & Thanked Me, for what I did. The "Company" Reimbursed him, what I charged him, & apparently when he told them that he was going to hire an Attorney & Sue them, ... They offered to settle with him.

Sorry abut being long winded here.

Great info there, gentlemen. THANK you!

[karl k]

There's a reason that the drip/dirt trap needs to be threaded. It is intended to be emptied periodically if needed.
Back in the day, humidity in the supplied gas (whether methane or coal gas) was the usual cause of the trap filling up. The trap also has the added benefit of trapping oil and swarf from when the pipe was threaded.

I agree that the trap should be at the bottom of a drop, even though local code will allow it on horizontal runs.

[nickpt828]

I’ve honestly always heard and call it a “drip leg” I was told it is to collect the moisture in the gas hence “drip” and that is why we aren’t allowed to install them where they can freeze. I’d think horizontally the moisture would just drop down into it unless it was light enough for the gas to carry it on through the gas valve. I don’t see how as for sediment it needing to be on a vertical run for changing gas flow direction because wouldn’t the gas pressure just kick up the crap and carry it on through anyway? If it’s light enough for it to “ride” on the gas wouldn’t it go with the flow regardless of pipe run? To explain my thought, imagine a piece of paper and a traffic cone, blown horizontally the paper would fly over a man hole while the cone falls in and vertically the cone wouldn’t come back up but the paper most likely will get caught in the torrent and fly back out. My thinking could be flawed but I’m going to research more on the difference between drip leg vs sediment trap.


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[jnewton]

Can’t put them inline for quite a few years now and you have to have a Chang of direction and the drip leg be the lowest point of however you pipe it in.

[shavedneon]

It seems more like a definition problem. A drip leg can be on a horizontal section, it’s to capture any moisture in the gas. A sediment trap is what’s being described above, and can serve both purposes. Many install manuals from back east (maybe they have moisture in gas) have a drip leg pictured, but call it a sediment trap. It was explained to me that gas can have moisture in it in cold climates. A single grain of sand sized piece of debris can ruin a gas valve. The sideways tee with supply into the top, 3” nipple with cap out the bottom, and appliance out the side will protect the gas valve in the appliance from any moisture or rust, dirt and debris. That’s how I was taught 20+ years ago, maybe I was taught wrong or it’s not common knowledge. But makes total sense to me.

[VTP99]

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[DavidDeBord]

It seems more like a definition problem. A drip leg can be on a horizontal section, it’s to capture any moisture in the gas. A sediment trap is what’s being described above, and can serve both purposes. Many install manuals from back east (maybe they have moisture in gas) have a drip leg pictured, but call it a sediment trap. It was explained to me that gas can have moisture in it in cold climates. A single grain of sand sized piece of debris can ruin a gas valve. The sideways tee with supply into the top, 3” nipple with cap out the bottom, and appliance out the side will protect the gas valve in the appliance from any moisture or rust, dirt and debris. That’s how I was taught 20+ years ago, maybe I was taught wrong or it’s not common knowledge. But makes total sense to me.

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[DavidDeBord]

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