Calling forum plumbers and gas-fitters, please.

[wurm]

I asked this on an appliance forum, but it's always good to get the thoughts of the pros here, so here goes.

We're taking delivery of our new washer tomorrow and in anticipation I had to unstack the dryer from on top of our old washer. Our town says we have to have a licensed plumber/gas-fitter do the disconnect and re-connect, so he came yesterday to disconnect the dryer. He'll come back to re-connect it after the washer is delivered. I know it was recommended to replace the gas line while we're at it, so with the old one in hand, I went to Home Depot today to pick one up. All the plumber recommended was to get a 48" if I could, rather than a 36", to give us a little more flexibility in maneuvering. He also said to just make sure the connectors are the right size.

Our old one looks to be a 5/8" OD flexible hose, but all the replacements at Home Depot that say they are for a dryer or other "medium demand use" are 1/2" and just look cheesy in comparison to our old one. The chart on the back says to select a gas connector with the maximum flow capacity HIGHER than the BTU input of the appliance. But it also says to select the one CLOSEST to the input rating. Well, the BTU input of the dryer is only 20,000. The 5/8" hose I bought says it's for "large demand" appliances and lists a furnace or a boiler, and gives a range of 75,001 to 106,000 BTU. According to the chart, the connector CLOSEST to 20,000 BTU is only 1/4" ID, and I couldn't even find anything that small.

So my question is, is there any negative to using a hose larger and with a much higher capacity than that required? I can't imagine there would be, and the difference in price is just a couple of dollars, so this is one instance where I'd just as soon buy better than is absolutely required. However, I obviously don't want to do something that will actually be a negative.

Any thoughts?

[Jimmypoo]

An Ache in Every Stake
The Three Stooges play ice delivery men in this comic short. It's a hot day, and they've been cooling off in the back of the truck; in fact, Curly has gotten his head stuck inside a block of ice. After the other two Stooges free him, he bowls a strike with another block of ice and some milk bottles. Finally he is put into service carrying some ice up a long, long flight of stairs (no, they're not the same stairs used in Laurel and Hardy's short, The Music Box, but they seem to be located in the same area of Los Angeles -- the Silverlake district). By the time Curly reaches the top, the ice block has melted into an ice cube. As a solution the boys bring the ice box down the stairs and load it up at the bottom -- a good idea except that near the top the filled cabinet goes barreling down the steps and smashes into a man (Vernon Dent) holding a cake. Up at the house, the Stooges annoy the cook into quitting, and the dismayed matron has no one to fix dinner for her husband's birthday party. The well-meaning Stooges volunteer their services, with the predictably disastrous results. The finale is a fresh cake, which the boys have pumped full of gas because the cake fell. With a huge blast it explodes, sending the Stooges back down the long, long flight of stairs.

[Racer X]

I have either a 1/2 or a 5/8 gas hose to my dryer, and it was hooked up with the hose that shipped with the new dryer.

[Plumbking]

I always get a 48" flex for dryers 1/2" NPT. 5/8 is the OD (outside diameter). 1/2 NPT (National pipe thread) is the ID (inside diameter). They are the same when refering to gas. Not so with copper tubing.

48" long so you can connect both ends and then slide it into place. 36" if you are skinny, but there is no such thing as a skinny plumber.

Your plumber doesn't want you coming home with a 3/8 flex for a 1/2 connection. Although gas flex fittings have inside and outside threads so not all is lost.

Flexes howl when pushing to many BTU's through too small an opening. This usually happens over 100,000 BTU's. Nothing to worry about in residential.

So if you bought the 1/2" x 48" flex from HD you're fine. Plus every plumber should have an assortment of fittings to make this installation work.

When you see how easy it was and how much he charged you, you will wish you did it yourself.

Good Luck

[Racer X]

My local appliance store has several guys on staff who are installers who have been certified by the state to do hook-ups as long as nothing is modified. Basic R&R is pretty easy.

[wurm]

Plumbking wrote:

When you see how easy it was and how much he charged you, you will wish you did it yourself.

Good Luck

I already know. $85./hr. with a 1 hour minimum...each trip. So a disconnect/reconnect is costing me $170. Another flat-rate plumber quoted me $257. Even if I wanted to do it myself, the town requires that it be done by a plumber. And it may have been easy, but I'm paying for his knowledge and the fact that I don't want to risk blowing up my house.

[Racer X]

I factored in the savings of NOT having to hire a pro for the install when I purchased from where I did. They have the certified installers on staff as an added sales tool. Even back in 2002 it would have been an extra $100 easy.

[Robert M]

Wurm,

Why don't you tell the plumber to bring the appropriately sized hose? You'd think any reputable plumber would have it in stock. That or go to a local store that sells replacement parts for appliances. Bring your make and model number and they should have the appropriate hose for you.

Robert

[mikebw]

The plumber probably would charge a lot more than what the stores charge.

[Jimmypoo]

Which fitting is for the cake????