Lightning Strike on home that has CSST

[Nolan Kienitz]

The fellow on the screen and the TV stations news article used 'CCST' instead of 'CSST', but you get the idea.

Another home with a lightning strike and the home happens to have CSST.

BTW - I dislike CSST with bloody passion.  My $0.02 is that there is nothing wrong with black iron for natural gas delivery in a home.

 

East Texas (near Longview):  Lightning Strike on home that happens to have CSST

[Marc]

As far as I know, the issues were confined to the original CSST design.  The stainless layer was thick enough to carry lightning currents but not thick enough to avoid becoming overheated.  I'm not sure what they did but there's been no incidents on the new design, that I've heard of.

It's similar to radiant roof decking...the aluminum foil conducts but it's too thin to avoid becoming hot enough to ignite the adhesive that holds it to the OSB.

[Jim Katen]

The yellow stuff hasn't changed. 

The change has been the addition of a conductive layer on the outside of *some* of the products. It's supposed to conduct stray current away from the stainless steel pipe, itself. 

I have never been convinced that the more robust bonding requirements for the original product have done anything to reduce its potential for failure. 

 

[Les]

the entire csst story line is filled with nonsense.  I think it started with the silliness that you had to be a card carrying Qualified Gastite Installer to even buy the stuff!  At least here in Michigan that was the case.  I am pleased to see that Jim K is not convinced with the additional bonding requirements.  

[Marc]

4 hours ago, Les said:

the entire csst story line is filled with nonsense.  I think it started with the silliness that you had to be a card carrying Qualified Gastite Installer to even buy the stuff!  At least here in Michigan that was the case.  I am pleased to see that Jim K is not convinced with the additional bonding requirements.  

Those bonding methods aren't applicable to lightning currents on account of the extreme frequencies that lightning currents have.  High frequencies generate impedances (obstructions to the flow of current, somewhat like resistance) that these bonding designs ignore.  They don't work.  They must not have had an engineer onboard when they made those rules.

[Nolan Kienitz]

When the CSST issues became top item for local TV news a number of years ago a lot of folks and organizations got involved.

Notably the fire marshals weighed in and all of a sudden the City of Lubbock banned all CSST installation for new home construction.  I think that ban lasted a year or two.  Reason for Lubbock was where someone was killed when a home caught fire after a lightning strike and it also happened to have CSST installed. It was a home less than one year old.  The mother and family of the individual  killed in the fire has become the voice/face of the anti-CSST lobby that is quite prevalent in Texas.

The city of Frisco, TX changed bonding requirements to include CSST and then they went on to require that any metal in an attic must be bonded.  One can run into a cobweb of green bonding wires running every which-way from any metal in an attic to a multi-lugged barrier/terminal strip that has a #6 from the strip to the SEP.

And our wonderful TREC down here has changed some language in the rules that paints a slightly larger target on the inspector's back.  This is thanks to the lobbying efforts of the CSST manufacturers with the TREC Staff.

So glad I'm retired from inspecting anymore!!  🍷