Gas line busted = no heat

Last night I came home to a cold house. Thought the furnace had broke down and called the repair guys. Then my wife tried to light the gas fireplace. No go. It won't light. Gas stove won't light either. Gas is out. Crap.
It's 20 degrees here with high winds. And I have to go trace 2500 ft of gas line to see if I can find the leak. (I have a well on the back of my 50 acres and I have a free gas hookup. Problem is when it fails, I'm the gas man.) So I try to fire up the ATV. No go. Dead battery from sitting all season. I planned to replace the battery this spring but that didn't help me NOW. Had to pull start it, which is never fun, but I finally got it going, and I bundled up like the michelen man and headed out.
I was able to find that the well tenders graded the road to the gas well. They check the well weekly, and I had not been that way for a couple of months. Going slow on the road I found a spot where I smelled gas. Had to look for 1/2 hour for the leak but finally found it. A tree had fallen in the road and the well tender had cut it up and pushed it to the side. Looks like they nicked the gas line in the process. I marked the line and go to the well and shut off the gas. This was just before dark last night.
Then I got ahold of the well tender. He is going to meet me this morning and we are going to try to get the line fixed. it's 18 degrees here, so this willl not be fun at all.
Sure was cold in the house all last night. I have a heat pump for backup but when the temps go below freezing heat pumps can't keep the temp much above 55.
Wish me luck in getting the heat back to normal in the house.
And to top it off, I'm supposed to head to Louisville at noon today. Going to be a tight schedule for sure.
Long way of saying ...I will be scarce on here today. Yall have fun.

wow.
no fun.

if you had any of that silicone "magic tape" I'd suggest trying that as a temporary patch, as it's supposed to be good for even that sort of thing, but I don't know if the methane would react to the glue or not.

good luck!

The leak is fixed and gas is back on here at the house. Ahhhhhhhhhh. Dang squirrels gnawed into the line. The gas tender said he had seen it before, lots of times. for some reason the dumb animals like the type of pipe I have (black plastic pipe). Now days they add something to the pipe manufacturing process so the animals don't like it, plus the line is yellow rather than black. Live and learn.

I'd never considered that Erik, it might very well work in a pinch. The well tender showed me another way different than the way I would have fixed it. So now I have a few tricks up my sleeve.

Sure is nice to be back in business. Now I can go on the road trip to a houseboat show in Louisville and not be concerned about things back home.

Glad ya got it fixed! I know how something like that can make ya appreciate it when you are back up & going.

Gee, such problems with a free gas hookup, I am so glad I have to pay for my own propane

Geez Doc, would I love to have free gas. Alas, nothing is truly free though.
Glad you have heat...and you know I know what it's like to lose a service!
You'll be within 60+ miles of me at that show in Louisville!

You are so right olcowhand, free gas sure is not free. But it sure beats the alternative.

Are you right off of 64? I came across it last night. It was a parking lot from mile marker 28 to 21. We got off the interstate but found lots of other folks had the same idea. Arriving around 5pm in the Friday rush hour was not the best choice.

Went downtown the morning and crossed over into Indiana. Found the Ohio River Falls Park and Lewis and Clark park. Both right on the Ohio River. Neat stuff. If some of the pics come out I'll share them if there is interest.

The houseboats are out of this world. So extreme / luxurious. Out of most folks price range unless you get one of those 7 figure bonuses, then I'm sure you could handle it.

No Doc, I'm 60+ miles south, down & off from I65.

Just a little out of our way. Maybe next trip we can get together for lunch er somehing.

whats up Doc....not the temp...lol its like 70 here and the only white suff is along the ocean.. how come the pipe is plastic I tough all gas lines should be metal or some type like that...glad you got the line fix that weather not for me...stay warm

howierd3866 said:

whats up Doc....not the temp...lol its like 70 here and the only white suff is along the ocean.. how come the pipe is plastic I tough all gas lines should be metal or some type like that...glad you got the line fix that weather not for me...stay warm

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For smaller feeds like I have you can use plastic. For such a long feed (2500 ft) it saves a fortune in cost. Maybe the bigger higher pressure lines require pipe ...but I'm not the guy to know that for sure either. I know they okayed the plastic for me, and I see it all over in use at other wells in WV. so it appears to be fairly common practice for 1 inch line.

Be careful with gas

Gas line explosion...

WOW! Scary stuff.
And ...my gas went out again last night. I got the supplies and found another little hole and spliced in a new piece. Got the gas going. All is good ..for about an hour and dang if it doesn't go out again. Walked the lline and can'f tind a leak. Check the meter and it does not show gas being used / lost. So I come back to the house and check the shut off and sure nuff it stays on. Then it goes out again in an hour or two. Driving me bonkers. I can always reset the little john pressure regulator. If the pressure is not enough then the littel john will not allow gas in the house. Gas is working again right now, just can't count on it. I talked to the well tender tonight. We need to figure out whats up. It's been great for 10 years now all teh sudden it's not reliable.

Greg, propane regulators sometimes do the same thing. My gas guys pour warm water over top of the regulators to de-ice them internally. Takes very little warmth to take care of it. Might be your problem.

The well tender mentioned something along that line. He never told me about the warm water idea though. I reset the valve and the gas lasted all night. After showers this morning it went out again.
I'll try the warm water idea after I get home tonight. Thanks Daniel!!!!!!

Doc said:

The well tender mentioned something along that line.

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Pun intended?

bczoom said:

Pun intended?

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No ....but you made me LOL.

Doc, do you have a calcium tank or ammonia bottle on your line to the house??? Should have one before the gas gets to the regulators.

Big Dog said:

Doc, do you have a calcium tank or ammonia bottle on your line to the house??? Should have one before the gas gets to the regulators.

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No, nothing of the sort. I've had a few well folks out here over the years and none of mentioned that. Maybe we don't need that down here?

Doc said:

No, nothing of the sort. I've had a few well folks out here over the years and none of mentioned that. Maybe we don't need that down here?

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Bullshit, no wonder your having problems. Your probably got lines full of water. Gas comes from the ground mostly saturate with water. It's inevitable that all your lines, regulators and pilots will or are getting water not to mention freezing and potentially closing in cold weather. I would highly recommend one or the other. No your not as cold there but marginally and you still see freezing temperature. You need to get something to keep your lines moisture free! Regulators and water don't mix!