gas piping

[homerepairjrg]

extending line to a gas dryer. house was built in 1940 and i find the gas pipe is gray/silver steel painted red oxide instead of black pipe. was this type of pipe used in the past and can i reuse it?

[LazyPup]

This is really a two part question.

1. Is the existing pipe suitable for gas?
&
2.Can you connect your dryer to this line?

Both the International Residential Code and the Uniform Plumbing Code approve both black Iron Pipe and Galvanized Iron Pipe for gas however most local codes only permit black iron pipe.

Only your local inspector could confirm whether of not that pipe is suitable for your jurisdiction. The problem is the red lead paint. If that paint is a factory finish it may be indicating a different allow or type of pipe which may not be suitable on the other hand if that red lead was applied after the pipe was installed many inspectors would not permit it because you cannot positively identify the type of pipe.

The next problem you may encounter is that many jurisdictions have a very strict color code for piping. By example, in my jurisdiction if we have pipes conveying Non-Potable water the pipes must be painted yellow except Fire Sprinkler piping which must be painted red. (An example of a non-potable source would be a house which has upgraded to municipal water supply but also still has the old home well hooked up for lawn irrigation. The home well would then be considered a non-potable source and must be totally isolated from the house potable water distribution system.)

Even if you determine that the pipe is suitable for gas that still does not guarantee that it has the capacity to add another appliance on the line.

in order to determine line sizing we would need to know the diameter of the line, the lenght from the municipal gas main to the furthest point of demand and the individual BTU/Hr rating of all appliances connected to that line plus the BTU/HR rating of the appliance you would like to add.

[HayZee518]

pipe appears to be hot dipped galvanized pipe - take lazypup's advice.