According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, certain older gas connectors may be dangerous. Gas connectors are corrugated metal tubes used to connect gas appliances to fuel gas supply pipes. These older brass connectors have a serious flaw in how their tubing was joined to their end pieces.
Over time, the end pieces can separate from the tubing and cause a serious natural gas leak, explosion or fire. While these dangerous uncoated brass connectors have not been made for more than 20 years, many of them are still in use. And the possibility of failure still exists. The older these connectors get, the greater the possibility of failure. Uncoated brass connectors should be replaced immediately. Although not all uncoated connectors have this flaw, it is very difficult to tell which ones do. Therefore, any uncoated brass connector should be replaced immediately with a new plastic-coated brass connector or a new stainless steel connector.
Connectors can wear out from too much moving, bending, or corrosion. Moving the appliance, even slightly, whether to clean behind it or to inspect its gas connector, can cause the complete failure of one of these older weakened connectors and possibly result in a deadly fire or explosion. As a rule, you should replace the connectors whenever the appliance is replaced or moved from its location.
Only a qualified professional should check or replace connectors. Do not move your appliance to check the connector! They can easily break if moved even slightly. For your safety, make sure a qualified professional performs the inspection and immediately replaces any uncoated brass connectors with an acceptable connector.
Acceptable Flexible Connectors
