Gas line testing?

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ken froese

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I'm doing a gut renovation on a 2500 sqft house. I hired a plumbing company to replace all the waste lines, gas and water.
The job is taking twice as long as it should have and I'm completely fed up with them at this point. They tested out the gas lines with 15psi of air pressure and said it was good and I should call for my rough in inspection.
The next day next morning the gauge was at 9psi. I went through all the connections and found a leak at a connection on the black pipe. They came back and fixed it and pumped up the system again and now 36 hrs later its down 3psi.
Why are gas lines tested with such low pressure? I understand gas comes in at 2-4 psi, but if water lines can hold over 100psi, why not gas?
I'm in Los Angeles and I believe code is 15psi for 10min.

Should I be concerned about loosing 3psi over a 36hour period? To me that indicates a leak

The gas is a mix of Black pipe and Trac pipe, there are no appliances installed, everything is capped and it is not hooked up to the meter yet.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated?
 

Reach4

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I understand gas comes in at 2-4 psi,
Gas comes into a residence in the US at more like 0.25 psi.

This is not a comment on what the expectations for a pressure test should be.
 

Dj2

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You have to understand that gas is not like water. 10 to 15 psi is a lot.

Regarding the loss of 3 psi over 36 hours: it won't pass inspection. The inspector expects no pressure drop over 36 hrs. Don't exasperate the inspector, call for an inspection ONLY when you have no pressure drop.

Did your contractor use yellow teflon and gas pipe dope on all connections? Are all connections tight?
 

ken froese

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No yellow teflon tape was used, just pipe dope.
The plumber is telling me Code in Los Angles is hold at "15PSI for 15 min"
 

Cwhyu2

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Soap test every joint when the system is under pressure, then you will find the leak or leaks.
 

hj

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CODE is 15 psi for 15 minutes, but SAFETY is "little or no loss" over 24 hours or more. I have had 10 psi tests on gas lines which lost ZERO psi over a period of many months. THe connections to the TracPipe is where I would look for leaks.
 

Cwhyu2

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CODE is 15 psi for 15 minutes, but SAFETY is "little or no loss" over 24 hours or more. I have had 10 psi tests on gas lines which lost ZERO psi over a period of many months. THe connections to the TracPipe is where I would look for leaks.
I agree but would still soap test every joint while under pressure.
 

Bluebinky

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When you do the soap test (the kids bubble making soap works good), double check around the gauge. It always seems to leak there.

Also, when you get the leaks stopped, the pressure will go up and down with temperature changes throughout the day.
 
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