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This is a picture of the natural gas connection going into a pool heater. The heater no longer works. I just want to remove the heater and cap the gas line.

Please see the picture. I'm not sure what the different parts are here. Can someone direct me where I should clamp my first wrench and which fitting to loosen based on the picture?

enter image description here

crashed99
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2 Answers2

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You are looking at a union, with an elbow to the left and a valve to the right.

Put one wrench on the biggest "nut". Put the other wrench on the smaller "nut" immediately to the right of it - you'll notice both of them are more worn than the other ones.

Hold the smaller one still while unscrewing the larger one.

Here's a cutaway view, if this image link works. From Grainger, no affiliation nor endorsement implied. Down on this image would be right on your image.

enter image description here

Ecnerwal
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    All thought it appears that the valve in photo is in the off position it should stated that before disconnecting any union make sure you turn off the supply of gas ( close the valve where ever it may be ) – Alaska Man May 10 '19 at 18:23
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    Once you get the union apart, remove both sides of it and cap the remaining nipple coming out of the valve. – Mohair May 10 '19 at 21:58
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...natural gas...

　

...I'm not sure what the different parts are here...

Those two statements together equal "call a gasfitter".

Removing the appliance will leave the gas line unsupported, and that will lead to failure at the supported end off to the right.

The cap you want to install must be properly sealed or it will leak. Maybe now, maybe later. If the shutoff valve is faulty it will leak quite a bit of gas when you open the union.

Do you have non-sparking tools? Natural gas ignites very easily and burns very, very well.

A gasfitter will remove the pool heater, cut the pipe back to a proper place and cap the line properly. They will probably also dispose of the heater for you.

The worst-case for a do-it-yourself gas service is your house explodes. Another possible outcome is a nasty fire, with you standing in the middle.

And it's probably illegal for you to do this work yourself, which means if your house explodes your insurance will not pay out. Not an issue for you if you are home at the time, but your beneficiaries might be upset.

peter
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    Hello, and welcome to Home Improvement. First answer, and it's a good one. Keep 'em coming! – Daniel Griscom May 11 '19 at 14:39
  • "First answer..." -> why do you assume that? – peter May 11 '19 at 14:44
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    You've only made the one answer under [this profile](https://diy.stackexchange.com/users/101477/peter); no questions, no other actions. Nor is this linked to other Stack Exchange accounts. Do you have other SE accounts? If so, you should get them merged. – Daniel Griscom May 11 '19 at 15:11
  • "Do you have other SE accounts" -> Many. New one every time the browser session expires. Do you simply believe whatever the post counter says? And why would I bother to get the accounts merged? – peter May 11 '19 at 15:20
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    Sorry, but if you can't be bothered to maintain a consistent presence, the rest of us aren't going to treat you as anything but a newbie. Again, and again, and again. – Daniel Griscom May 11 '19 at 16:12
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    Well this comment thread turned weird quickly... – barbecue May 11 '19 at 19:46
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    @peter Your account has no other activity. It is perfectly logical that everyone will assume that this is your first time posting. Why would you be surprised that people don't have immediate, psychic knowledge of your elaborate sock-puppet ring? – J... May 11 '19 at 21:33
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    @peter despite what grumpus says, there is nothing wrong with being a new *or* senior user. However, SE works better when you maintain a consistent presence - not least, reputation accumulates, **and so *privileges* increase**, which helps you use SE more effectively. . – Harper - Reinstate Monica May 12 '19 at 00:14
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    And it's important for you to note -- even though *you* cheerfully do anonymous cookie-based "accounts" and refuse to tie to an email or OpenID etc., relative to everyone else, that is *very unusual* on diy.se. Now, I sympathize; I do exactly the same thing on Wikipedia because of the very salty environment there. It's just rather unusual on diy.se, so don't be surprised when *others* are surprised by your choice. Also, being salty about it is a a bad move; it [raises suspicion of another motive](https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/327539/338621). – Harper - Reinstate Monica May 12 '19 at 00:23
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    Oh, another reason *very relevant to diy.se*... I can't tell you how many times I've been able to solve a question by clicking "Username... Questions... Latest", **because she has other questions with rich background info, that inform *this* question**. (understandably, she didn't repeat all that). From the perspective of an answerer, losing that ability really sucks. – Harper - Reinstate Monica May 12 '19 at 00:28