# Gas leak on control valve



## Apprentice2 (Mar 28, 2013)

Hello everyone, this is my first time visiting. Plumbing Zone was recommended by a friend. I am hoping someone has come across the problems I was faced with today. 

I will layout the whole situation in a timeline. 

July 2012- installed need Bradford white, direct vent, lp water heater. Everything was fine and the customer was happy. 

February 2nd- our company received any emergency call for a gas smell at the same water heater. I was not the tech on call, so one of my colleagues handled the call. After trouble shooting the problem with Bradford white, they determined the gas valve was faulty. The valve was replaced. 

One week later- we get the same call, the customer stated that there had been absolutely no smell until that evening. The heater is in a unfinished basement and the smell was very obvious once you entered the basement. While monitoring the manifold pressure with a digital manometer, the pressure climbed to 30 + "wc. At this point the propane provider was called in to check the regulator. 

The next day- the propane company determined the regulator to be faulty and replaced it. This is a single regulator that sits on a above ground 120 gallon tank. There is no regulator at the house. 

One week later- same scenario as before. No smell all week and then all at once, the basement is full of gas. Gas valve was replaced again. 

One week later (today)- same scenario again. This is my first time back sense I installed the heater. When I walked up to the heater, the heater was satisfied and there was no noticeable smell. I fired the heater and put my nose to the right upper side of the gas valve, where I know the vent to be, and instantly smelled gas. First I sprayed down every visible joint, no leaks. I then sprayed the burner tube connection to the valve, all good. I then checked the incoming pressure, it stayed steady at 12"wc. I continued to monitor this for 30 minutes with no significance change. At this point at this point I shut the gas valve off and let the pilot go out. I then isolated the gas valve and my manometer by shutting the gas cock off. Doing this, I witnessed a .8"wc drop over one minute. I used a sniffer and checked for bleed through from the valve into the burner chamber, no indication do gas. Using the sniffer the only place I could detect gas was at the vent port on the control valve. 

After doing all of this I have determined that the gas valve has failed, but why? Something has to be underlying. The propane provider assured me there is no way the regulator let the pressure spike and then go back to normal. 

The only thing I can think is thermal expansion, but I has never know of this to happen. 

Some other info that might be helpful- 
1) this heater and a fireplace are the only gas appliances 
2) the gas line is 1/2 copper from the tank to the house, about 15' and then 1/2" black steel. Catches the fireplace right inside the house and the runs about 30' to the water heater. 
3) the valve stays shut off to the fire place 
4) the water heater has a standing pilot with sealed combustion. 
5) it was very cold and snowy last night and this morning, it has been cold all week. 

Sorry for the lengthy post. I just wanted to make sure you got the whole story. I'm sure one of you guys will pick up on this fast. 

I thank you ahead of time for any input


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## JK949 (Mar 18, 2009)

Just curious, how does the copper connect to the steel?


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## dclarke (Dec 22, 2012)

Technically you should post an intro before asking questions. I do believe by your post your not some handyman or homeowner but most people here don't like answering without an Intro letting us know a little bit about yourself.


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

Profit margin is GONE. 


This is why I will not supply water heaters, only install customer supplied. No matter what you made in profit off of the heater alone, take the next 5-10 heaters and it'll still consume the financial gains off of all of them. 

That way, you could of sent in the authorized rep for this water heater, had it covered and protected your profit margin on the install. 


Just an FYI to the young whipper-snapper.


The source of that fuel is to blame; no way it isn't. Gas valves just don't start leaking unexpectedly unless there's a reason, especially numerous times. 

Could be bad fuel supplier. Ask them if they've changed suppliers.


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## smitty123 (Dec 25, 2010)

Apprentice2 said:


> Sorry for the lengthy post. I just wanted to make sure you got the whole story. I'm sure one of you guys will pick up on this fast.
> 
> I thank you ahead of time for any input


You will end up installing you own inline propane regulator before the Icon gas valve. Then change the Icon gas control one more time and that should do it.
The Bradford Icon valve when taken apart you will see has it's own "relief port" 
and once and a while when the main burner kicks on, you may smell gas. Very minor though.


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## Apprentice2 (Mar 28, 2013)

JK949 said:


> Just curious, how does the copper connect to the steel?


A brass flared by FIP


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## Apprentice2 (Mar 28, 2013)

Just as Smitty suggested, I installed a Regulator at the heater and replaced the control valve. I ran a similar test to yesterday and witnessed a .1"wc drop per minute. Much better than yesterday. The incoming pressure is now at 9.34" wc. The Bradford White tech support was happy with these numbers, I was a little worried the incoming pressure was too low, but the flame is nice and blue. I guess time will tell. 

Thank you everyone for your input, very helpful!


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## Apprentice2 (Mar 28, 2013)

dclarke said:


> Technically you should post an intro before asking questions. I do believe by your post your not some handyman or homeowner but most people here don't like answering without an Intro letting us know a little bit about yourself.


Will do


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## DesertOkie (Jul 15, 2011)

They send apprentices out to do water heaters?


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## Greenguy (Jan 22, 2011)

Back home it's very common to have apprentices do water heaters. Here in northern Nevada, have yet to meet another journeyman plumber.


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## Apprentice2 (Mar 28, 2013)

We are back at it, our customer called 2 weeks ago with a gas smell yet again. He was leaving town and didn't want us there until yesterday. I called Braford White and they dispatched another service tech from a neighboring company. I meet the other tech at the house. When we entered, there was a noticable gas odor. We ran the same test I ran previously. Now we have a .3" drop per minute. The incoming pressure is at 9", which is what it was when I installed the appliance regulator. Bradford White calls for a minimum incoming pressure is 11". I called Bradford when I first installed the regulator and tech support said "I like those numbers". Now Tech support is saying the appliance regulator is causing the leak. We removed the regulator and nothing changed. Bradford White suggest we replace the gas valve! This will be the 5 th gas valve! Tech support tells me these smart valves discharge 200 cc per hour, which is a "sub missable amount." My issue is we are installed In a dug basement with no ventilation. If there is any leak at all with Lp we have a problem. Called Rheeme and they said their heater will do the same thing. We are looking at converting to electric if Braford can't come up with a solution.


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## wyrickmech (Mar 16, 2013)

Is the gas pressure at the secondary regulator 11 in. Sounds like you have a supply pressure problem. Are the regulators adjustable? If you had the proper pressure would that stop the drop? If it is LP when you have low pressure you will get a odor.


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