Up and running........
Cranked the heat up to 75 in the house and shut off the gas at the meter
I ran the stove and dryer to help purge the line and got out the hacksaw
There was still some pressure in the line, because it hissed when it cut through the original 3/4" line, that was about 7' long
I added a 10" ******, union, and another 8" ****** between the original elbow and the new T fitting
The I had the section of ole 3/4" cut and threaded down to 52-3/8", connected it to the union, and used an 8" ****** to connect it to the T
I also picked up some more pipe hangers and one bracket for the 1/2" pipe, that feeds the dyer (it was just dangling in place)
I turned the gas back on, opened the two valves (in the basement and one in the garage) and began to check each joint and fitting for leaks
No leaks so I think I am all good
I plug in the heater and switch the gas valve to on, and turn the tstat to "HEAT"
The green light on the gas valve (inside the heater) is blinking..........6 total in each sequence. Bottom burner will light and shuts right back off within 5 seconds
The blower fan and exhaust fan I can hear (and see)
So I start doing some online research and finally just let the heater run for 20 minutes, just blowing cold air
I believe I just had air in the new line (???), because it then fired all three burners and was throwing heat. Very pleased
It is currently around 23 degrees outside and within 30 minutes my garage was mid 50s and within an hour temps were 65 inside
Here is what I ended up with in the basement: