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Can You Believe This?

Posted on 01/23/2012 7:51:46 AM PST by chopperman

I just had a visit from the meter reader (gas). I asked him why he knocked and didn't ring the bell. He said they're not allowed. It might cause an explosion.


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1 posted on 01/23/2012 7:51:50 AM PST by chopperman
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To: chopperman

Yep, if your house was filled with gas, a minute spark from the doorbell button or mechanism could set it off. Just a standard policy practice.


2 posted on 01/23/2012 7:57:34 AM PST by headstamp 2 (Time to move forward not to the center.)
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To: chopperman

Ye gads, chopper — what a way to start your week! Had you reported a possible leak, or is this standard procedure? Where in the country do you live?


3 posted on 01/23/2012 7:57:50 AM PST by Jedidah
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To: chopperman

Yes. In the event of a gas leak, the contact switches that energize the doorbell and its circuits CAN arc enough to act as a source of ignition.

If you report a gas leak they’ll tell you to leave your house immediately and NOT to switch any lights on or off for the same reason.

Perhaps excessive, but not unscientific or unreasonable.

(former volunteer firefighter)


4 posted on 01/23/2012 7:59:42 AM PST by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur: non vehere est inermus)
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To: chopperman
It might cause an explosion.

What about when you get the bill?

5 posted on 01/23/2012 8:04:18 AM PST by Navy Patriot (Join the Democrats, it's not Fascism when WE do it. (plagiarized))
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To: chopperman

If your house was so full of gas that a doorbell would set off an explosion, I doubt you’d have been conscious enough to answer a knock at the door.

OT, six of the most beautiful Canadian geese just landed outside my window. I’d say that’s a nice start for the week.


6 posted on 01/23/2012 8:05:25 AM PST by bgill (The Obama administration is staging a coup. Wake up, America, before it's too late.)
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To: chopperman

Probably a liability thing.

Its OK for you to accidentally blow your house up but if they do it they don’t want to get sued.


7 posted on 01/23/2012 8:06:12 AM PST by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: chopperman
It doesn't make any sense if they are just going to check the meter, other than it might be beaten into them for that one time in a hundred they are checking for a leak that they must always knock.

Turn off the lights in your room and unplug a plug that is drawing current - you'll probably see a spark right when contact is broken. It is possible to make non-arcing connectors and switches, but it isn't worth the money unless you are installing them in an area where explosions are a real danger.

8 posted on 01/23/2012 8:06:36 AM PST by KarlInOhio (Herman Cain: possibly the escapee most dangerous to the Democrats since Frederick Douglass.)
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To: chopperman
These meter readers are getting bold. I had one knock while I was in the back of house getting ready for the day. Then the doorbell rang several times and I heard the dogs bark, but didn't pay much attention. Once I was dressed and went to the door I found a nasty note - on the gas co. card - about how many times they rang bell and had no answer!!

What's up with that?

9 posted on 01/23/2012 8:19:04 AM PST by Jane Long (Soli Deo Gloria!)
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To: chopperman

Great, now we get jihadist meter readers.


10 posted on 01/23/2012 8:20:37 AM PST by Phillipian (Post Tenebras Lux)
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To: bgill

Not true. The lower explosive limit for natural gas (methane) is only 5.1% at ~68 degrees, a common thermostat setting. Methane is NON-toxic at those levels and that is also nowhere near a suffocating % of the atmosphere.

Natural gas is tainted with a mercaptan (the sulfur/skunk/cabbage smell) so you can detect a gas leak, AND CALL THE GAS COMPANY.

The trouble is the mercaptan tends to populate the smell receptors in your nose, and after a while, you can’t tell the leak has gotten worse/ more concentrated.

Without being an alarmist, when you smell gas (the mercaptan) CALL THE GAS COMPANY. They really don’t mind.


11 posted on 01/23/2012 8:22:41 AM PST by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur: non vehere est inermus)
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To: headstamp 2

We knew a young man who was renting a condo in Las Vegas, while attending UNLV. He entered the condo and flipped on the light switch and the whole place blew up.

There were no gas appliances in his condo, but other condos did have gas. The leak was in the wall.


12 posted on 01/23/2012 8:27:45 AM PST by Eva
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To: chopperman
Had three of our neighbors lose their homes that way back in the 70s. House in the middle of 3 single family homes had the gas leak. Mailman rang the doorbell. All three homes vaporized when the middle one exploded. Miraculously, no one was killed, despite all families being home at the time. Bad day for one family though. Emergency responders found their 50 pound stash of marijuana in the wreckage.
13 posted on 01/23/2012 8:36:35 AM PST by PowderMonkey (WILL WORK FOR AMMO)
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To: chopperman

If you had made a trouble call it makes sense. My stepson’s grandfather who worked for a gas company as a troubleshooter was killed on a call such as that.


14 posted on 01/23/2012 8:39:00 AM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie (zerogottago)
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To: Blueflag; bgill
>> The lower explosive limit for natural gas (methane) is only 5.1% at ~68 degrees, a common thermostat setting <<

Sounds about right to me.

Moreover, I was once told (by a fireman or gas worker — don't remember which) that when the gas concentration gets extremely high, the danger of an explosion is lower than with a moderate concentration, because with so much gas there may not be enough oxygen in the house to allow combustion. He said that for this reason, it can be very dangerous to open the windows to let the house “air out” — unless the procedure is done by professionals who know exactly what steps are required.

In other words, if you think your house has a gas leak, don't operate any kind of electrical switch, don't leave any windows or doors open, and get out right away.

15 posted on 01/23/2012 8:40:17 AM PST by Hawthorn
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To: Hawthorn

Yep. upper explosive limit is about 16%.

Call the gas company. Touch nothing. Get out. Get away.


16 posted on 01/23/2012 8:49:17 AM PST by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur: non vehere est inermus)
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To: Jedidah

Western PA


17 posted on 01/23/2012 9:32:17 AM PST by chopperman
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To: chopperman

Two words- liability lawyers. They tell you in your business, control the controllables. And they can’t control the possibility your home has a gas leak (for which you have called them, say) and they ring an electrical ding dong door bell and THEY cause the spark in the bell unit?===BOOM. Cause- the repairman in joint liability with the gas supplier.
This is standard ops, now. And maybe because this happened somewheres. And I think they can’t hire smokers at all for this job.


18 posted on 01/23/2012 9:35:08 AM PST by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: PowderMonkey

I can see the mailman standing at the still standing front door with all around it in smoldering ruins. Then he rings the bell again.


19 posted on 01/23/2012 9:46:37 AM PST by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: Jane Long; chopperman
This happened not far from where I live.

One home was blown off its foundation and another badly damaged by a natural gas explosion in northwest Harris County. ..... Click the link for more information., Houston, TX, on Nov. 2, 2000.

20 posted on 01/23/2012 10:15:21 AM PST by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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