[madflame991]

Tangential-ish:

I used to live in a place where we had gas resources and gas stoves. Gas pipes would be painted yellow to stand out and people always had some sort of respect and caution around them - you don't mess with gas pipes - I learned that as a kid. At the slightest whif of gas people would light up a match or a lighter and run it along the pipe to check for leaks - I always thought this is what "smoke testing" meant (altho there would't be any smoke). I still don't know if this is safe or would even work or it's just something people did and keep doing... and I have no gas pipes around me anymore.

[asmos7]

for the love of god if you smell gas please don't light a match to check. Real quick way to blow your house up if you do have a gas leak.

[Forbo]

I remember watching my grandfather spit on pipes to find the source of a leak. It was viscous enough that it would bubble up. Taking flame to a gas pipe sounds absolutely terrifying.

[spiketom]

> At the slightest whif of gas people would light up a match or a lighter and run it along the pipe to check for leaks

What is this? Some kind of Tom & Jerry show? Light a match near a leaking gas pipe and BOOOM!!!

[JasonFruit]

Use soapy water instead and watch for bubbles. Less exciting but much safer.

[mikestew]

I recently learned that there is such a thing as "gas leak detector". Bah, looks like fancy soapy water to me. Looked up such things, and it turns out that soapy water can cause corrosion and other bad things. "Gas leak detector" also works at sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures if one needs to check refrigerant lines. On top of that, I bought some because I need to somewhat regularly crack a propane line on the RV/camper, and it was all of $5 for what is probably a year's supply.