A smell of gas near the dryer — the valve was leaking — Closter, NJ
The repair here is the small part of the story. The part worth reading is what to do when you smell gas, and who to call first. It is not an appliance company.
- Appliance
- Gas dryer
- Brand
- Whirlpool
- Location
- Closter, NJ
- Symptom
- Smell of gas near the dryer; the machine itself running normally
- Cause
- Leaking gas valve on the burner assembly
- Repair
- Valve assembly replaced; connections re-checked with a calibrated detector, reading zero
The call
The customer called because they could smell gas near the dryer. Nothing about the way the machine ran had changed. It was the smell, and they were right to treat it as the whole problem.
What we found
First, because it matters more than anything else on this page: if you smell gas in your home, the first call is not to an appliance company. Leave the building, and from outside call your gas utility or 911. They come out at any hour, they do not charge for it, and making the property safe is their job, not ours. Everything below happens after that has been done.
In this house the source turned out to be the dryer. A gas dryer has a valve that opens to feed the burner, and this one was letting gas past. We confirmed it with a calibrated detector rather than by nose: a nose tells you something is wrong, an instrument tells you where.
Worth being exact about the boundary. Gas piping in a house is a licensed plumber's work and we hand it over every time. A faulty valve inside the appliance is ours. Those are two different jobs, and anyone who blurs them is worth being careful with.
The fix
Replaced the valve assembly as a unit rather than trying to rescue it. Then went back over the connections with the detector: zero, which is the reading in the last photograph.
The habit to keep from this one is short. A smell of gas is never something to watch for a couple of days to see whether it gets worse. It gets acted on the same hour, every time, whether it turns out to be an appliance or not.
Seeing the same thing?
If your appliance is behaving this way, we can usually tell you what's happening on the first visit. Every call starts with a $110 diagnostic — sales tax included — that's credited toward the repair.
More on Washer & Dryer Repair and appliance repair in Closter.
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Tell us what's going on
Leave your details and describe the problem. We'll call you back to book a visit — every repair starts with a $110 diagnostic that's credited toward the fix.