Neigbours noisy gas mains

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blackjack17

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#166054 1-Mar-2015 08:50

Wondering if there are any gas fitters or other knowledgeable people can advise.

Our neigbours gas mains are about 2-3 meters from our main bedroom and when they use gas it produces this loud squeak. We have told the neigbour and they contacted nova, Nova sent someone out and found no fault and then charged them for the call out.

However this squeak can not be normal (sound file attached), plus there is always a slight gas smell out there.

Can some one provide a potential diagnosis so that we can go back to Nova?

Cheers

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1432583/neigbours%20gas.mp3

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MikeB4

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#1248716 1-Mar-2015 09:39

are you sure its the gas and not a high speed water hammer?

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

blackjack17

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#1248722 1-Mar-2015 09:50

Their califont is about 2 meters away and the sound is not coming from there. It is a loud squeak very regular about every 5 seconds but not all the time. My guess is that is only happening when the gas is being used.

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Bung

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#1248727 1-Mar-2015 10:05

Geekzone member Aredwood is a plumber & gasfitter. If he doesn't notice this thread maybe message him.

gzt

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#1248765 1-Mar-2015 11:40

I will guess the noise is coming from the meter/house regulator and being transmitted down the pipe.

Google "squeaky gas meter" for similar results.

to confirm can you go inspect the meter area (or other termination) while the noise is occurring?

Aredwood

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#1248894 1-Mar-2015 16:09

Thanks for the recommendation Bung.

That noise sounds like it is coming from the gas meter. I have heard them make almost the same regular squeak before. Just not that loud. They have a system of bellows and levers inside them. The bellows inflate and deflate as gas is being used. 1 of the levers has worn and is causing the noise. Also is there a manufacture date on the meter? As if it is around 20 years old then it will probably be needing replacement soon due to getting inaccurate. (Although any inaccuracy will most likely be in the customers favour instead of the gas companies favour). Also is there a capacity rating on the meter? As if it is only a 3 cubic meter per hour one then it will be overloaded supplying gas to an infinity. And alot of the early gas meters didn't have any 1 way valves inside them. Meaning people could easily steal gas by swapping the inlet and outlet connections. The meter would then run backwards when they used gas. Most of these old gas meters in Auckland have been replaced because of this and the inaccuracies.

I have never encountered this complaint before so Im not sure what the gas company will do. If it is 20+ years old the gas company should just replace it. And if it is undersized then you have a good reason to get them to replace it also.

blackjack17

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#1248895 1-Mar-2015 16:20

Cheers all

looks to be a 2003 model max flow looks to be 6m3.

I have attached a couple of photos

I might give nova a call, my neigbours are otherwise great, this isn't their fault and they barely speak English

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froob

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#1249049 1-Mar-2015 21:43

Sounds a bit like there's a kiwi in there... http://www.whatbird.co.nz/content/kiwi-brown

Good luck getting it sorted.

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