Bruce
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
I bought a gas leak detection tool a few years ago at the suggestion of another list member @LMichaels
A long story follows. Don't bother unless you are board. Just go out and buy one of the leak detectors if you use gas grills and especially if you rehab them. It is a lot easier to use than the soapy water test and can be used on indoor appliances as well. LP or NG.
I probably wouldn't have bought one if I didn't rehab grills, but I figured it would be really handy for testing my rehabs. I have found a couple leaky connections/hoses since purchasing it. Most recently, it helped me resolve a problem on one of my own grills. I had NG piped to the house last year and had a tap piped out to the front deck and one out to the back deck. Well, on the back deck, I converted my Q220 to NG and hooked it up with one of the many NG lines I had collected from rehab grills that I picked up. Everything went really well. At first, I turned the tap off after every cook, but then thought, why? I don't know anyone else that turns off a NG between cooks. So, once or twice I noticed a possible NG smell when I was on the deck but not sure. I used the leak detector tools on the tap and the grill connection. I tried it a couple different times because I kept getting a faint whiff every so often. It needs to be used when the wind is at or very near zero for it to work well. Every time, I got no signal of a leak. So, I turned the tap on and left it. Well, I got my next NG bill and clearly something was amiss. It went up triple of normal. Today, I noticed the leaves were absolutely still so I went back out and did another check. Still no leaks at the grill connection or the tap. But it popped into my head that maybe the hose was bad. Sure enough, about a foot from the tap, it had a leak. Now I know the problem and how to correct it and don't have to worry about leaving the tap open any longer. I grabbed another used hose ( I have a bunch of them) and will install that when the temps get a little warmer this afternoon....but I will surely test the new hose this time along with the connections.
A long story follows. Don't bother unless you are board. Just go out and buy one of the leak detectors if you use gas grills and especially if you rehab them. It is a lot easier to use than the soapy water test and can be used on indoor appliances as well. LP or NG.
I probably wouldn't have bought one if I didn't rehab grills, but I figured it would be really handy for testing my rehabs. I have found a couple leaky connections/hoses since purchasing it. Most recently, it helped me resolve a problem on one of my own grills. I had NG piped to the house last year and had a tap piped out to the front deck and one out to the back deck. Well, on the back deck, I converted my Q220 to NG and hooked it up with one of the many NG lines I had collected from rehab grills that I picked up. Everything went really well. At first, I turned the tap off after every cook, but then thought, why? I don't know anyone else that turns off a NG between cooks. So, once or twice I noticed a possible NG smell when I was on the deck but not sure. I used the leak detector tools on the tap and the grill connection. I tried it a couple different times because I kept getting a faint whiff every so often. It needs to be used when the wind is at or very near zero for it to work well. Every time, I got no signal of a leak. So, I turned the tap on and left it. Well, I got my next NG bill and clearly something was amiss. It went up triple of normal. Today, I noticed the leaves were absolutely still so I went back out and did another check. Still no leaks at the grill connection or the tap. But it popped into my head that maybe the hose was bad. Sure enough, about a foot from the tap, it had a leak. Now I know the problem and how to correct it and don't have to worry about leaving the tap open any longer. I grabbed another used hose ( I have a bunch of them) and will install that when the temps get a little warmer this afternoon....but I will surely test the new hose this time along with the connections.
