Heard a guy at the supply house saying he never uses torque specs on gas valves

Was picking up a ignitor at Ferguson's in Denver yesterday and overheard this older tech telling a kid he just tightens gas valve fittings by feel. Never checks torque. I always follow the manual on gas stuff, that seems like a major leak risk waiting to happen. Anyone else run into techs that skip torque specs on gas or refrigerant lines?

2 comments

2 Comments

terry_bailey351mo ago

Wait, he said he just does it by feel? On gas? Man, that's a hard no from me. I've seen what happens when you overtighten a brass fitting on a valve body, it cracks that little casting and you've got a leak you can't even see right away. I always use a torque wrench on gas manifold bolts too, those are usually like 30 to 40 inch-pounds, not foot-pounds, it's way too easy to strip them out.

pat_park1mo ago

Read an article saying most gas pros don't even own torque wrenches for that.