Had a plumber in Tucson tell me to skip the Teflon tape on gas fittings

Everyone online swears by it, but he showed me how dope (pipe dope) alone seals better and doesn't shred into the valve. Tried it on my water heater install last month and zero leaks. Has anyone else been told to ditch the tape for gas lines?

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diana5122mo ago

Is it just me or does this apply to like half the "expert advice" out there? I feel like people cling to old habits even when better stuff comes along. Like how everyone still over-tightens their car oil drain plugs even though the manual says to torque it proper. Or how folks pile on the salt on their icy driveways even though it's known to kill the plants. Your plumber sounds like he actually kept up with how things changed instead of just doing what grandpa did. Sometimes the old way is good but sometimes it's just the way people are too lazy to learn something new.

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victor_robinson2mo ago

Yeah but the oil drain plug thing actually has a good reason behind it - a lot of those torque specs are calculated for brand new gaskets, and people crank them tighter because they're reusing old ones that have gotten compressed and need a bit more squeeze to seal right. Your mileage may vary on the salt killing plants thing though, that one's pretty straightforward bad advice.

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