Gas Leaks

[Legacy Posts]

:wave Years ago I always carried a small bottle of soapy water to check for gas leaks. A few years ago I went high tec and bought a gas leak detecter for around 40 bucks and as I checked it out when I opened the unlit burner on our range it made a beep ing sound. So I have used it all these years whenever I change a tank or modify a fitting or such. Durring our last trip I could smell a slight gas odor when sitting outside so several times I got out my little gadjet and carefully examined all fittings NO BEEP Still the smell .:sick so I found the misses had a spray bottle of some kind of cleaner . So I started spraying things with that right away I found a small leak. Yet the detecter when held right at the leak was silent!! So I threw the detecter in the trash as all it was good for is to tell me that gas was goming to a range burner:lol . NEW ISN"T ALLWAYS BETTER!!!:censor

[Legacy Posts]

I had a climate control tech out at the house a few weeks ago, servicing my central air unit, which apparently has a slow leak. Anyway, we discussed the leak detectors somewhat. Our talk was specifically about freon detectors, but touched on the gas ones as well. His opinion was that the ones that actually "sniff" gas are not just useless, but dangerous, as the sensor loses sensitivity over time, and readings can be widely affected by even the slightest movement of air near the leak. He used a "snooping" sensor, which is a highly sensitive microphone that listens for the sound of escaping gas.

Mind you, I'm not expressing an opinion here (least-a-ways, not my own). I'd imagine other people would poo-poo his ideas, but that's what makes this country great. By the way, as sensitive as his device was (and it was -- I saw it in action), he didn't find the leak, as it was apparently buried too deep in the workings to get to.

[Legacy Posts]

At the Coleman dealership where I work part-time (retired, so to speak) we use a gas pressure detector. You fasten a rubber tube to a stove burner pipe, turn on the gas bottle to pressurize, read the dial and remember the reading and turn off the gas. If the pressure reading stays the same you have no leak. At that point we can send the camper along to the new owner or renter. If the reading drops you have a leak somewhere in the system. Then we start looking for the leak with sprays, etc.