Opened the gas valve on the garage heater for the first time since spring. 1 hour later I went in the garage and I could smell a trace of NG. The unit had not turned on yet. I shut off the valve and opened the doors to air the place out. Question is can there be some leak when first opening a valve? I am planning on turning the valve on and checking for leaks with soap and water…any other ideas?
P.S. the heater was installed professionally about 8 years ago, it is a 16 000btu with dsi pilot light.
Direct spark ignition. The pilot lights when the thermostat calls for heat. Maybe the first attempt failed and I was able to smell the gas following? There is no hissing or other audible sounds from the short piping. The gas meter is not turning when the valve is open.
A friend of mine is a realtor and was about to buy a house last month. He had the gas and water turned on and went to check on the house and smelled gas. He opened the windows and went to turn on the fan to air it out. The electricity from the fan ignited the gas and the house exploded. Literally exploded - all windows blown out, roof off, etc. He survived somehow, but with burns all over his body and has a very long road ahead of him in recovery.
Get someone who knows what they are doing out there before you mess with it.
You could check all the connections with a soap solution and look for bubbles. It sounds like something between the isolation valve that was previously closed and the burner is leaking.
I see you have the gas co. coming, so this info is late, but I put it out there for others or for next time.
I’ve done some gas fitting myself, and besides counting on smell, I always soap tested each joint. NG is heavier than air, and will settle in to low areas, so you should not trust your nose alone on new installations.
I called them to ask the cost of assessment, they stated it was an emergency and they had to come out. Oh well, apparently it costs me nothing so I may as well have them check for peace of mind, rather than the above noted cases and have my mind in pieces!
I do not know a way to answer this with out breaking a few rules my mother once told me.
The final verdict…there was a leak at a connection. It was an easy fix but had I not smelled it there could have been a much bigger issue. I wonder why we all do not have NG detectors by each appliance. Seriously the garage could have filled with gas throughout the night and early in the morning when the temp. dropped and the thermostat kicked in…It makes me shudder. My boys sleep above that garage.
If you are worried about the future you could always install a barn exhaust fan (they are explosion proof due to methane) that you turned on during the time of year you run the heater. They probably have very low powered slow moving ones that might help prevent gas buildup without exhausting all the heat.