Bubbling up from underground. What??

[Tom_Tildrum]

@kayaker

I took a torch out to the area just now. It stopped raining last night, and there’s no longer a puddle present. I waved the flame around the area and nothing happened.
Will try again if conditions recur.

:eek:

You actually waved an open flame over what might be a gas leak of unknown volume, just out of curiosity?

[carnivorousplant]

@Tom_Tildrum

:eek:

You actually waved an open flame over what might be a gas leak of unknown volume, just out of curiosity?

Nerves of steel.
The only serious natural gas flame I’ve seen is where a 6’ diameter area over a gas mail collapsed. It was quite a flame, several feet high, with a diameter similar to the hole.

[kayaker]

@Tom_Tildrum

:eek:

You actually waved an open flame over what might be a gas leak of unknown volume, just out of curiosity?

Yes!

But check this out. This past spring I bought and installed a new gas dryer. I used soapy water to check all the joints and everything looked good. We began using the dryer and all seemed perfect.

One day my gf thought she smelled gas near the dryer. She told me and we both went and neither could smell anything. Periodically, one of us would note the odor of gas, but we both thought it was imagined.

Then, a plumber/friend happened to be over and I mentioned the gas issue. We all went into the basement and at his suggestion slowly walked back to where the dryer lives. We all smelled gas. He said he thinks it is such a minor leak that normal air currents quickly dilute the odor.

So, my plumber friend checked for leaks using his lighter!!! It turns out the leak wasn’t near the dryer, and the very minor leak occurred when I torqued on the line during removal of the old dryer and installation of the new one. He fixed the problem.

[kopek]

@Tom_Tildrum

:eek:

You actually waved an open flame over what might be a gas leak of unknown volume, just out of curiosity?

And I doubt he said anything about “hold my beer while I …”.

Maybe hold something else but …

Like Plant said in the circumstance it was safe. To have enough gas to make the news (or the Darwin Awards) there would have to be enough flow for it to be obvious what the gas is and not just the bubbles visible.

[Tom_Tildrum]

@kopek

And I doubt he said anything about “hold my beer while I …”.

Maybe hold something else but …

Like Plant said in the circumstance it was safe. To have enough gas to make the news (or the Darwin Awards) there would have to be enough flow for it to be obvious what the gas is and not just the bubbles visible.

I suppose it’s cartoonish, but I guess I was picturing the possibility of a broken gas line underneath the road, filling a cavity held in place only by a thin and crumbling layer of pavement above.

[carnivorousplant]

@Tom_Tildrum

I suppose it’s cartoonish, but I guess I was picturing the possibility of a broken gas line underneath the road, filling a cavity held in place only by a thin and crumbling layer of pavement above.

I should probably remember the math behind that from a Process Control course, but I don’t.
I believe propane will “pool” near the ground. There are usually no voids around gas lines. I’ve heard of an open line in a house burning, and the guy said he just slapped his hande over the leak to put it out. From what I understand about the gas main collapse I mentioned above, there was a void, but the gas was burning as quickly as it came out of the pipe.