TOPIC: Drip leg: paralell or perpendicular? (hope I spelled that right)

So, can a drip leg be paralell to the ground and under the house (in the crawl space)?

Are you sure it is a drip leg and not a capped T?

If it is a drip leg they are to be installed in a vertical position.

What is upstream of the piping?

Here is a good report illustration for a water heater drip leg.

You can crop the dirt leg caption if the application is for another appliance.

Where did you get that picture?
What is the difference between a drip leg and a capped T?
As I've been looking around for info I've also heard people say drip leg and sediment trap.  Sometimes it's used interchanagable and other times not.  Comments?

(Upstream- just the water heater and gas furnace)

Boy, one question and answer always seems to lead itself to lots more.

A drip/dirt leg is for sediment.

A capped T would be a line that feed elsewhere for an gas appliance.

The picture is from my illustrated home collection.

A horizontal drip leg is about as good at catching dirt as a pail laying down is at holding water.  I don't think that is meant to be a drip leg.

The purpose of a "sediment trap" is to trap sediment (dirt, rust, debris in the gas line). That is why it is called a "sediment trap".

The purpose of a "drip leg" is to collect "drips" from moisture within the gas and condensed inside the pipe on the pipe walls, which then runs down the pipe walls (inside the pipe) to the lowest point. That's why a "drip leg" is called a "drip leg".

- G2419.2 (408.2) Drips.
Where wet gas exists, a drip shall be provided at any point in the line of pipe where condensate could collect. A drip shall also be provided at the outlet of the meter and shall be installed so as to constitute a trap wherein an accumulation of condensate will shut off the flow of gas before the condensate will run back into the meter.

- G2419.3 (408.3) Location of drips.Drips shall be provided with ready access to permit cleaning or emptying. A drip shall not be located where the condensate is subject to freezing.

- G2419.4 (408.4) Sediment trap. Where a sediment trap is not incorporated as part of the gas utilization equipment, a sediment trap shall be installed downstream of the equipment shutoff valve as close to the inlet of the equipment as practical. The sediment trap shall be either a tee fitting with a capped nipple in the bottom opening of the run of the tee or other device approved as an effective sediment trap. Illuminating appliances, ranges, clothes dryers and outdoor grills need not be so equipped.

Notice in the drawings that the orientation of the T fitting is so the leg of the T is horizontal.  They are often installed incorrectly with the leg of the T in a vertical position.  The gas must make a 90  degree turn.  This way gravity ensures that sediment and drips fall into the trap.