Beware- Trigger Start Torches - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

mrmike · 01-30-2009, 08:08 AM

I was going to a hardware store for a part for a job I was doing yesterday, when I heard a hissing sound that I never heard before in my Service van. I went a little farther & started to smell a rotten egg smell, and as it was getting stronger, it hit me-My spare BernzMatic trigger start on the floor in the back was the culprit.
Stopped the van & moved it as it had rolled over & the button was depressed letting all the propane out- Learned my lesson here- to never leave the head on the tank when not in use!!!
This really scared me & I opened all the doors of the van-with my four ways flashing on a busy street, with me standing in the snowbank waiting for the fumes to clear. Whew!

threaderman · 01-30-2009, 08:12 AM

Sounds like you learned that lesson the same way that most of us did

.

**Leo G** · 01-30-2009, 08:14 AM

Now all you have to do is worry about the tank itself leaking after you remove it a bunch of times. I never leave my head on the tank. One day I took it off and about 5 minutes later I smelled the gas. I stuck my ear right up to the threaded outlet on the tank and it was hissing. I reinserted the head a couple of times and it stopped the leak. So you just gotta watch out either way. Undo it and listen, carefully.

MALCO.New.York · 01-30-2009, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo G

Now all you have to do is worry about the tank itself leaking after you remove it a bunch of times. I never leave my head on the tank. One day I took it off and about 5 minutes later I smelled the gas. I stuck my ear right up to the threaded outlet on the tank and it was hissing. I reinserted the head a couple of times and it stopped the leak. So you just gotta watch out either way. Undo it and listen, carefully.

PROPER Preventive Procedure!!!!!!

Winchester · 01-30-2009, 10:26 AM

Better yet, have a spray bottle full of water with some dish soap in it.

I once worked for the gas utility installing underground natural gas lines and gas meters. (I was a fuser)

The standard test is to spray with soapy water and if you see bubbles forming, it's leaking.

Quick, cheap, easy, and very reliable.

Bodger · 01-31-2009, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winchester

Better yet, have a spray bottle full of water with some dish soap in it.

I once worked for the gas utility installing underground natural gas lines and gas meters. (I was a fuser)

The standard test is to spray with soapy water and if you see bubbles forming, it's leaking.

Quick, cheap, easy, and very reliable.

I once saw a plumber looking for a leak in a gas pipe that ran under an outdoor deck to a hot tub heater. When he thought he located it, he put his lighter up to it and lit it. It came right up like the burner on a stove.

As I recoiled in horror, he said "Nah, it's okay as long as there's pressure in the pipe"

Have you ever put a can of marking paint in your tool box and had the nozzle hit just right to empty the whole can in there?
Fun.

neolitic · 01-31-2009, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bodger

.........
Have you ever put a can of marking paint in your tool box and had the nozzle hit just right to empty the whole can in there?
Fun.

Nope.
It was WD-40.

Chris Johnson · 01-31-2009, 03:33 PM

Put a can of low expansion foam in your luggage and check it at the airport!!!

Hope you don't like your clothes.

olyteddy · 01-31-2009, 11:35 PM

Back in my cable TV days a buddy of mine had his trigger torch actually light up in the trunk of his Buick. Made a mess of a couple of toolbags. Not much worse, thank goodness.

HitchC&L · 02-01-2009, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bodger

Have you ever put a can of marking paint in your tool box and had the nozzle hit just right to empty the whole can in there?
Fun.

Yup...haha

Good thing it wasnt MY toolbox, or MY truck

shanekw1 · 02-01-2009, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bodger

I once saw a plumber looking for a leak in a gas pipe that ran under an outdoor deck to a hot tub heater. When he thought he located it, he put his lighter up to it and lit it. It came right up like the burner on a stove.

As I recoiled in horror, he said "Nah, it's okay as long as there's pressure in the pipe"

Have you ever put a can of marking paint in your tool box and had the nozzle hit just right to empty the whole can in there?
Fun.

Sounds like this guy who repairs gas tanks, fills them with GASOLINE before starting welding on the tank. "It's only the fumes that burn"

And yes, it was a can of spray paint I had bought to use on my truck, did a test spray right out front of the store to check colour match then tossed it in the lock box, it was empty by the time I got home.

TempestV · 02-01-2009, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neolitic

Nope.
It was WD-40.

WD-40 in my job box over night, and a can of white spray paint in the cross box on my truck (which I realized when I saw it dripping down the side of my blue truck)

silvertree · 02-06-2009, 09:44 AM

5 gallon can of contact cement. My helper knocked it on its side when loading my Jimmy. Sears job 150 miles from home.
I was sincerely singing along with the radio about 20 miles back to the shop.