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Home > Archive > Home Repair forum > February 2008 > Reconnecting Gas Dryer
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Reconnecting Gas Dryer
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| I disconnected my gas dryer for some construction work and now ready
to re-connect it.
The dryer, flex hose, and fittings were all replaced three months ago.
I have a few questions:
1. Since these connectors are almost brand new, I assume there is no
reason to replace them? Or should I play it safe and get new
connectors, or even replace the flex hose?
2. Do I need to install new pipe dope or teflon tape when
reconnecting? I believe pipe dope (some green stuff) was used when the
plumber did the original install, but assume it is dried out now so I
need more.
3. What kind of wrench should I use to tighten the connectors? Is
there any danger of overtightening, or should I go as far as I can?
I realize I should do the dishwasher soap test to ensure there are no
leaks once I'm done.
Any advice would be appreciated.
--
Dave
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| Blattus Slafaly £ ¥ 0/00 :) 2008-02-27, 5:25 pm |
| DaveR wrote:
> I disconnected my gas dryer for some construction work and now ready
> to re-connect it.
>
> The dryer, flex hose, and fittings were all replaced three months ago.
> I have a few questions:
>
> 1. Since these connectors are almost brand new, I assume there is no
> reason to replace them? Or should I play it safe and get new
> connectors, or even replace the flex hose?
Connectors are ok. Hose is ok.
>
> 2. Do I need to install new pipe dope or teflon tape when
> reconnecting? I believe pipe dope (some green stuff) was used when the
> plumber did the original install, but assume it is dried out now so I
> need more.
Use teflon tape.
>
> 3. What kind of wrench should I use to tighten the connectors? Is
> there any danger of overtightening, or should I go as far as I can?
>
It's easy to overtighten and destroy the fittings.
> I realize I should do the dishwasher soap test to ensure there are no
> leaks once I'm done.
>
And keep your nose open.
> Any advice would be appreciated.
>
> --
> Dave
--
Blattus Slafaly ? 3  7/8
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| DerbyDad03 2008-02-27, 5:25 pm |
| On Feb 27, 2:46=A0pm, "Blattus Slafaly =A3 =A5 0/00 "
<boobooililili...@roadrunner.com> wrote:
> DaveR wrote:
>
>
>
> Connectors are ok. Hose is ok.
>
>
>
>
> Use teflon tape.
>
>
>
>
> It's easy to overtighten and destroy the fittings.
>
>
> And keep your nose open.
>
>
>
> --
> Blattus Slafaly =A0? 3 =A0 =A0 =A07/8
Hmm, seems a bit incongruous to say these 2 things in the same post:
1 - Connectors are ok.
and
2 - It's easy to overtighten and destroy the fittings.
How could any of us, sitting ~24" from a computer screen, know if #1
is true, especially in light of #2?
Only the OP can determine the condition of the hoses and connectors.
The rest of us can only speculate.
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| Stormin Mormon 2008-02-27, 5:25 pm |
| Use lots of soapy water in your nose?
--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..
""Blattus Slafaly £ ¥ 0/00 "" <boobooililililil@roadrunner.com> wrote in
message news:47c5bd9d$0$24101$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
And keep your nose open.
> Any advice would be appreciated.
>
> --
> Dave
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| hallerb@aol.com 2008-02-27, 5:25 pm |
| if the flexible line was twisted bumped or got any other abuse in
transit your better off replacing the line.
| |
| autobus_prime@yahoo.com 2008-02-27, 5:25 pm |
| On Feb 27, 2:22=A0pm, DaveR <NOSPAM_drubin@NOSPAM_i-2000.com> wrote:
> I disconnected my gas dryer for some construction work and now ready
> to re-connect it.
>
> The dryer, flex hose, and fittings were all replaced three months ago.
> I have a few questions:
>
> 1. Since these connectors are almost brand new, I assume there is no
> reason to replace them? Or should I play it safe and get new
> connectors, or even replace the flex hose?
>
> 2. Do I need to install new pipe dope or teflon tape when
> reconnecting? I believe pipe dope (some green stuff) was used when the
> plumber did the original install, but assume it is dried out now so I
> need more.
>
> 3. What kind of wrench should I use to tighten the connectors? Is
> there any danger of overtightening, or should I go as far as I can?
>
> I realize I should do the dishwasher soap test to ensure there are no
> leaks once I'm done.
>
> Any advice would be appreciated.
D:
If you don't know what you are doing, you need to hire a plumber. If
you aren't
locally allowed to work on gas, you need to hire a plumber. With that
said, you
will probably do what you will do, and so I think it's best to say why
a plumber will
do what he will do.
A plumber will:
-replace the flex hose and any damaged or doubtful adapters. It's
cheaper than an explosion.
-never use teflon tape. It is not for gas lines. Small pieces can
break
off. Some tf tapes are allowable for gas - read the label. Rectorseal
is preferable.
-properly tighten the connector, but not overtighten it.
-not use dish soap to check for leaks. Instead, he will use a leak-
checker
fluid, which costs only a few dollars at a plumbing house and is made
to be
the proper consistency for reliability.
But again, gas is not a place to make mistakes. Propane is
particularly
dangerous.
A P
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| Blattus Slafaly £ ¥ 0/00 :) 2008-02-27, 5:25 pm |
| DerbyDad03 wrote:
> On Feb 27, 2:46 pm, "Blattus Slafaly £ ¥ 0/00 "
> <boobooililili...@roadrunner.com> wrote:
>
> Hmm, seems a bit incongruous to say these 2 things in the same post:
>
> 1 - Connectors are ok.
> and
> 2 - It's easy to overtighten and destroy the fittings.
>
> How could any of us, sitting ~24" from a computer screen, know if #1
> is true, especially in light of #2?
>
> Only the OP can determine the condition of the hoses and connectors.
> The rest of us can only speculate.
He said they were working fine before he disconnected them. No reason to
think he destroyed the equipment while disconnecting it. But then you
never know what people are capable of.
--
Blattus Slafaly ? 3 7/8
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| On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:54:11 -0800 (PST), "hallerb@aol.com"
<hallerb@aol.com> wrote:
>if the flexible line was twisted bumped or got any other abuse in
>transit your better off replacing the line.
I can't imagine much damage, after just three months or so.
OP parts are recently new.
--
Oren
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| On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:54:11 -0800 (PST), "hallerb@aol.com"
<hallerb@aol.com> wrote:
>if the flexible line was twisted bumped or got any other abuse in
>transit your better off replacing the line.
Now that you mention it, I initially left the hose connected to the
dryer side and tried to get it through a door but the hose wouldn't
fit, so it got twisted around a bit as I disconnected it while the
dryer was in an awkward position.
So to play it safe I guess I should invest in a new hose.
As far as the fittings are concened, how would I know if they are
damaged? The connectors were extremely tight; it took quite a bit of
force to remove them.
What is the ideal tool to use to ensure that the fittings are properly
tightened, but not overtightened?
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| On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:56:52 -0800 (PST), autobus_prime@yahoo.com
wrote:
>If you don't know what you are doing, you need to hire a plumber.
Thanks for the advice. To be honest I planned to re-connect the dryer
temporarily, to use for a few weeks. Then after the construction is
done I planned to hire a plumber to check everything including
replacing some old leaky water valves.
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| mkirsch1@rochester.rr.com 2008-02-28, 1:25 pm |
| DaveR wrote:
> What is the ideal tool to use to ensure that the fittings are properly
> tightened, but not overtightened?
Frankly it's always bothered me when all the instructions say is, "do
not overtighten." That leaves it open to opinion. Your idea of
overtighten is not my idea of overtighten, and both are probably
completely different from the manufacturer's idea of overtighten.
Ideally, they'd provide a torque spec, but then you'd need to rent/
borrow/buy an expensive torque wrench, or rig up some Rube Goldberg
contraption with a scale to measure torque.
From a technical standpoint, you want the joint tightened to the
minimum torque where it doesn't leak: Use a standard wrench, and
gently increase the torque little by little until you don't get any
bubbles when you slather soapy water on the joint. Obviously, with
natural gas involved, this is not an ideal method because you could
well have the house full of gas before you get the joints all tighened
adequately, so you need to GUESS. Use your best judgement. Don't
noodle-arm the wrenches, but don't go HULK SMASH on them either.
Unless you're a total wimp or a massive body builder, your idea of
tight-but-not-too-tight will be close enough.
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| On Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:54:36 -0800 (PST), mkirsch1@rochester.rr.com
wrote:
>DaveR wrote:
>
>Frankly it's always bothered me when all the instructions say is, "do
>not overtighten."
My mother always used to say, Don't use too much. That bothered me
quite a bit until I decided to replace it in my ears with "It's
possible to use too much." That still left the determination in my
lap, but at least it wasn't an annoyingly vague instruction..
So just read it as "It's possible to overtighten."
>That leaves it open to opinion. Your idea of
>overtighten is not my idea of overtighten, and both are probably
>completely different from the manufacturer's idea of overtighten.
>
>Ideally, they'd provide a torque spec, but then you'd need to rent/
>borrow/buy an expensive torque wrench,
And a crow-foot thingy to go on the end.
>or rig up some Rube Goldberg
>contraption with a scale to measure torque.
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