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Sharks Eat Bear posted:Hose problems. I also have a leaking soft hose.  The same thing happens with my elastic hoses and vacuum breakers. Once off, after a brief pause, the pressure vents at the hose faucet and squirts a little ring. Only mine also makes a sad, trombone like toot.
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May 20, 2022 12:21
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Sharks Eat Bear posted:Is this going to be a problem with any soft hose + vacuum breaker setup? Yes, except it's not a problem: they are doing their jobs and functioning as designed. If, for some reason, you are not interested in protection from frost or hose water backflowing into your drinking water you can replace the hose bib with a standard one and this won't happen anymore. But I wouldn't recommend it.
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May 20, 2022 14:20
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I have a personal vendetta with those frost free anti siphon/vacuum breaker spigots. The VB always leaks eventually, and it's not surprising when you see the fiddly little plastic bits in there. I've replaced those bits numerous times, and it always seems to return. Nice, solid metal spigot ruined by 5 cents worth of plastic. I now only install the regular FF spigots without breaker. Honestly, I don't even need the FF, because I always install a ball valve with bleeder inside the house... and I'm not a dope that leaves the spigots on in the winter.
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May 20, 2022 14:47
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Okay next question for my PEX conversion for a short line run to my Hose bib. Looks like everything is 1/2" for ones with PEX connection on it. so I assume I'd want to run 1/2 PEX from the galv pipe to that.. Do I want anti-syphon or breaker? I can't say I've ever had anything other than a regular sillcock here but I am in the Northeast where it's cold and freezy. I plan on doing an inline quarter turn shutoff as well because gently caress gate valves, anything older than 10 years and they start leaking. edit: oh look it was answered upcountry. tater_salad fucked around with this message at 18:45 on May 20, 2022 |
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May 20, 2022 17:03
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Motronic posted:Yes, except it's not a problem: they are doing their jobs and functioning as designed. If, for some reason, you are not interested in protection from frost or hose water backflowing into your drinking water you can replace the hose bib with a standard one and this won't happen anymore. But I wouldn't recommend it. Fair enough, more of a slight nuisance than a problem but yeah I understand the function
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May 20, 2022 18:31
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So, PO put a box around the hose bib for reasons unknown. The box is set up so that you can't actually turn the lever (old-fashioned two-lever knob , like a propeller) fully in either direction, even though the PO cut a notch into the box to make it move farther. I thought I'd seen devices you could attach to the hose bib to lift it into the air, so it's 3 feet off the ground for instance. I can't figure out the right google search term. Does a thing like that have a name? No, I am not prying that box apart. Let it keep its mysteries.
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May 20, 2022 19:00
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I should be putting insulation on my PEX that's in a basement with windows where it's not going to be behind a ceiling or anything Right?
tater_salad fucked around with this message at 02:45 on May 22, 2022 |
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May 22, 2022 02:42
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Anyone have experiences with under sink water filters? I’m moving into a new house and I’d like to get away from the Pur faucet mounted water filter that I’ve been using. There seem to be a lot of options but they appear mostly similar. I had tried a Culligan faucet mounted filter in the past but I found that the water would take on an odd taste after sitting in a cup/pitcher, while the Pur filtered water would not.
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May 22, 2022 10:01
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I have a Woder single stage under sink that filters the cold line. I’ve been quite happy with it for the past 4 years and I haven’t noticed any issues with taste other than the lack thereof. Guests think it’s tasty which is a good endorsement. It’s advertised as full flow, but it’s definitely slightly restrictive with my 80psi local supply. If torrential tap pressure is a requirement, I’d consider two in parallel.
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May 22, 2022 14:08
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tater_salad posted:I should be putting insulation on my PEX that's in a basement with windows where it's not going to be behind a ceiling or anything Right? It would be ideal since light is not good for PEX. With that said, I see PEX stub outs in bathrooms where there are windows and plenty of light and no one seems to care about those, so maybe light exposure is only a real concern with direct sunlight. 
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May 22, 2022 16:18
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localized posted:Anyone have experiences with under sink water filters? I’m moving into a new house and I’d like to get away from the Pur faucet mounted water filter that I’ve been using. There seem to be a lot of options but they appear mostly similar. I had tried a Culligan faucet mounted filter in the past but I found that the water would take on an odd taste after sitting in a cup/pitcher, while the Pur filtered water would not. Depends on what you're interested in it for. Are you thinking of full RO filtration on the main tap, or an one with a separate tap for drinking water kind of thing? If the latter, I've been happy with our AquaPure AP-DWS1000. Rated well for lead, good taste, not too pricey, and its flow meter to monitor filter life is mechanical instead of 9V battery powered, which isn't a huge deal but I find it neat. Consumer Reports does pretty good tests of them too btw, if you have access to them. Plenty of other good options other than the one I posted, but CR is where I picked mine out.
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May 22, 2022 16:36
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This is my weekend adventure at jackleg plumbing camp, where everyone gets to buy a crescent wrench and its awesome. (Cross post from home thread because I have questions at the end) We have been living in our 1963 brick rancher since 2016. On the plus side no asbestos OR aluminum wiring! No ground for most of it, but I can live. I have been reticent to work on things where I have to open up the wall, because sometimes, its done right and its an easy fix, other times it feels like Gover took a trip down to my area to help out a buddy. It's like opening a wall and finding a note that says "lose 2 weeks, do not pass go, lose $400" This situation is a little in between. The washing machine setup has been a little leaky, like a drop every 2 mins or something on the cold side. But also getting rusty, which seems like a not good thing. The connection is a little special seeing as we have a T in between the wall and the spigot for adapters that take it down to 1/4" from 1/2" for the refrigerator water supply. Wasn't that bad when we moved in and it was time to fix it up. (Full removed assembly below):  The junction had started leaking pretty bad, so I think to myself: "Ok this shouldn't take too long I just need to remove the stuff, go to the hardware store, get new to replace all the gross for 1/2" MIP copper and bob's your uncle!" Well, you might catch what is happening the in that photo. But that T isn't brass, its galvanized, which is screwed into the wall supply which is copper. I get the issue, it LOOKS galvanized, but scratching it with your keys will show its definitely copper. Which explains a LOT of the issues I had had with the water flow for the refrigerator which I can only describe as "ant pissing in the wind" I grab what tools I have, and YouTube on speed dial and get to work. I had to remove some paper towels some asshat had shoved in the wall around the 90 degree fitting screwed into the wall. That totally isn't foreshadowing for what will come later!   YUM!   Then the true fun begins, I wanted to remove the nipple in the wall threaded into a 90 degree fitting to replace with a longer one that will give me more working room to assemble all the fun stuff AND put a cut off in front of the new T. Its not pictured here because I lost my poo poo late afternoon Saturday trying to get it out. But penetrating lubricant and an internal wrench got me through. Which, by the way! Internal Wrenches! That stuff is amazing and I DID NOT KNOW about them until this issue trying to get that nipple out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfYDPhaf0Aw Very useful stuff, and I now have one for all the eventual new fun I am going to do to my house. Now, here is where the fun begins. I get everything "back together" and did some shifting so I have a red for hot and a blue for cold. Had to re-PTFE tape some connections and had to run to the HD like 4 times for parts because I am a new and didn't realize that MIP (male iron pipe) is different from flare. Well I know now! Everything fits! everything works! I have like two little leaks which while sad, is better than what I started with:  Also notice the rear end in a top hat level AC condensate drain slapped in-between this. I.. can't.. even with that one. Well as I am checking for leaks, I find water on the solder side of the joint in the wall where those new paper towels are sitting. I have done all that work, to still need to cut the 90 degree fitting off and redo it. This is a lesson that if it looks like a dumbass did something in the wall, expand your observation radius, you might only be in the eye of the storm. This where I finished up for today. It "works" for moment. And I am "done" working on my house for today, which is all I can ever really say. The wall fitting has me pretty pissed. I want to do it right, and I was shooting for temp fix, but now I am engaged enough to nail this thing straight to hell. Looking for some advice on my next steps. I have two avenues. Firstly, I want to reroute the drat condensate drain from betwixt my washer spigots. But I don't know where else I can re-route it, which is probably why they did it there to begin with. But even if I can't do that, I am thinking of cutting the copper fitting off and either: A. Use a shark bite 90 degree fitting which I bought as a Hail Mary if I couldn't get the nipple out. B. Cut a little lower down and connect in PEX and go that route, I have been planning that when I have to replace things in the house I would replace with PEX. While I'm at it I would do the same to the hot water line and get the cute little box and everything for the in wall. I think B is in my future, even with the condensate drain in the way. Thank you all for listening. I have hated / enjoyed my first timid steps into plumbing.
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May 22, 2022 21:38
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localized posted:Anyone have experiences with under sink water filters? I’m moving into a new house and I’d like to get away from the Pur faucet mounted water filter that I’ve been using. There seem to be a lot of options but they appear mostly similar. I had tried a Culligan faucet mounted filter in the past but I found that the water would take on an odd taste after sitting in a cup/pitcher, while the Pur filtered water would not. I put a Q363 Three Stage Reverse system from these guys in my parents house, and also used some parts from them to upgrade the lowes special system that was in my house. Customer service was great (I have a non-standard countertop depth), and they don't seem to try to push you to do a bunch of unneeded filter replacements all the time. (The system I bought from lowes has just a battery powered timer telling you when to replace systems, so the "lifetime" of your pre/post filters is tied to however long the battery in it lasts, not the actual filter health)
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May 23, 2022 01:38
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With my above plumbing adventures, I want to standardize on a version of PEX for everything I do in the future. Since I am going to be doing this sparingly as things come up, would PEX B with the crimper and stainless steel clamps (the ones you crimp on the tab and lock them in place) be appropriate here? Example:  The nerd in me likes PEX A and the cool little expansion tool, but this will be an infrequent thing and I also don't want to have to rent a tool every time I need to goof in my walls. And its not cold enough here to worry over.
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May 24, 2022 00:43
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Seey above question a bit ago. The consensus is the clamps are fine and work well and provide a good amount of flexibility for the average home user. Plus it sucks less to reach into tight spaces since you only need to hit the clamp not the edge. Especially if you end up having to use the deeper larger crimp ring 'hole' I ended up getting the Ryobi clamp tool because I'm in the ecosystem and while it will be infrequent I have a few plumbing redos coming up in various areas so I wanted to get a toy as well as have something tht made crimping easy and foolproof. (Hell the sides are built so that it's the clamp should be the right distance from the fitting to the 'safe zone' for clamping. ) Get the removal tool I need to pick one up because Canadian home repair Jesus said you could get one for a socket but my home Depot didn't have it. (Wheeler 89211) but it's nearly as much as the Apollo thing with a handle. I just want something less big for my plumbing toolbag. tater_salad fucked around with this message at 02:21 on May 24, 2022 |
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May 24, 2022 02:15
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Can I get away with not using plumber's tape on my shower head? It seems to be watertight just from the spout pressing against the rubber washer inside.
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May 25, 2022 02:28
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Yes - the rubber washer should be enough.
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May 25, 2022 03:44
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Is there any garburator that isn't a huge mistake to put in your sink? Like, if you wanted to spend $1k on a great one, etc.
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May 25, 2022 06:56
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VelociBacon posted:Is there any garburator that isn't a huge mistake to put in your sink? Like, if you wanted to spend $1k on a great one, etc. A disposal? If you're having consistent issues with a disposal that's even just a mid tier ($200-300) name brand it's likely to have been installed wrong, the plumbing was too poo poo to begin with, or the people using it are doing something wrong. What exact problems are you having/are you concerned with?
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May 25, 2022 14:04
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Motronic posted:A disposal? Might be a Canadian thing but I have never in my life heard of this being called a Disposal. I've just always heard that they don't do a great job and most of the time you'll eventually end up with clogging issues. This is the kind of thing that it seems everyone agrees on here so I'm surprised to hear that you wouldn't be concerned. It's literally something people tell their kids etc. I would absolutely prefer to use one versus currently having a filter thing that sits in the drain collecting detritus that I manually tap into my garbage to empty. I just bought a place and it doesn't have one - but it did prior to the renovation in 2015. There's a gang box for it under the sink, a switch for it on the wall, and a breaker specifically for it. I'd love to install one if it's not going to be a huge pain down the road.
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May 25, 2022 19:19
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VelociBacon posted:Might be a Canadian thing but I have never in my life heard of this being called a Disposal. Probably. Most of the US would recognize "garbage disposal" as the thing in a sink. VelociBacon posted:I've just always heard that they don't do a great job and most of the time you'll eventually end up with clogging issues. This is the kind of thing that it seems everyone agrees on here so I'm surprised to hear that you wouldn't be concerned. It's literally something people tell their kids etc. Do Canadians think that you can put literally anything into a garbage disposal? Because that would be a very good reason people think they they don't work and/or clog. They work great as dishwasher drains (I believe those are called "robo-dish-wash-em-ups" in Canada) to ground up the remainder of the scraps that come out rather than sending them straight into your waste plumbing. They also do a great job on vegetable scraps and similar. But like any plumbing, if you're trying to jam strings, paper, meat, fat or grease down it you're gonna have a bad time regardless of whether it got ground up first or not.
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May 25, 2022 20:11
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Banana peels and other long, stringy fibers are also bad for disposals. I pretty much view them as useful for rinsing food off of plates and cookware, not much more than that. If you're generating large amounts of food scraps (e.g. from peeling veggies), they should go into a separate bin instead of into the disposal. Edit: vvv also valid! TooMuchAbstraction fucked around with this message at 20:30 on May 25, 2022 |
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May 25, 2022 20:18
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:If you're generating large amounts of food scraps (e.g. from peeling veggies), they should go into a separate bin instead of into the disposal. Not-the-right-thread-content: I've been throwing all of my peels into a ziplock bag that I keep in the freezer. When it gets full I make vegetable stock out of it.
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May 25, 2022 20:21
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Motronic posted:Not-the-right-thread-content: I've been throwing all of my peels into a ziplock bag that I keep in the freezer. When it gets full I make vegetable stock out of it. Plumbing: When it gets full I make vegetable stock out of it
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May 25, 2022 21:45
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Motronic posted:(I believe those are called "robo-dish-wash-em-ups" in Canada) Boschy-Washy
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May 25, 2022 22:15
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VelociBacon posted:Might be a Canadian thing but I have never in my life heard of this being called a Disposal. Dispos-all is the Kleenex of sink grinders. I've never, ever, in years of running one had a clog. The only time I've ever had to service one was when a 30 year old one seized up, and another 30 year old one in another house started leaking through the motor housing.
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May 25, 2022 22:50
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Sweet, okay what's the best brand?
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May 25, 2022 23:05
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Insinkerator is very solid but I think more than anything it comes down to Motronic posted:($200-300) If you go buy an $80 disposal, it's gonna be loud as all hell and more prone to jamming and such. I tried one once for kicks and returned it the same evening it was so bad. Ended up spending multiple hundreds on a 3/4HP (or maybe it's a full pony?) insinkerator and the drat thing is almost perfectly silent and will eat an entire adult human cadaver in like 5 minutes. Consumer Reports rated it very highly. Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 23:45 on May 25, 2022 |
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May 25, 2022 23:42
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Bad Munki posted:Insinkerator is very solid but I think more than anything it comes down to Great, thank you. Noise is definitely a consideration. e: some other poster mentioned fruit peels and stuff don't do well in these, should I be scalping my human corpses before they go in or?
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May 25, 2022 23:47
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VelociBacon posted:e: some other poster mentioned fruit peels and stuff don't do well in these, should I be scalping my human corpses before they go in or? Not fruit peels in general: banana peels. Because they are stringy. Sorry to ruin your joke but yes shave your corpses first.
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May 25, 2022 23:49
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The consumer reports tests literally involved stuffing an entire bone-in chicken down the thing to see how long it took. Dream big. e: I guess it was probably parted up a bit first just to fit in the hole. ee: Well, either I mis-remembered or they altered their tests a bit: Psycho Consumer Reporters posted:Speed: This model performed best in our speed test which was based on the amount of bone that was ground in one minute of operation. I don't know if it counts as vaguely  , hopefully not: CR currently has the Frigidaire FF13DISPC1 as their top pick, scoring 5/5 on speed (bone ground in a minute), 4/5 on noise (based on decibel level when grinding bone & table scraps), and 4/5 on fineness (how well-ground the poo poo from the test is), and it runs <$200. Godspeed. There are others that rate similarly in that range.
Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 23:59 on May 25, 2022 |
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May 25, 2022 23:49
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Bad Munki posted:The consumer reports tests literally involved stuffing an entire bone-in chicken down the thing to see how long it took. Dream big. Thank you so much!
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May 26, 2022 01:42
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bi crimes posted:I had a plumber come out and hydrojet a partial blockage in my kitchen drain pipe from the main clean out. My house is from the 1960s and they kept hemming and hawing about the cast iron pipes and how I’ll need to replace them. I watched them run the camera line, and from my view the pipes were a bit scaled and rusted inside, but they seem fine? Didn’t see roots or have any obvious problems pointed out to me aside from “old bad. Cast iron bad”. They said it’s likely that the line in the kitchen may clog again, which wouldn’t surprise me, but I’ve been here for a year without an issue until now. The clog was in a place that’s hard to reach with a snake, since it was past a tee where the drains from two sinks meet. I don’t pour oils down the drain or anything like that, and who knows how long the clog was accumulating. I’m going to be more careful, stop using the garbage disposal and start using from Zeps enzymes. If the cast iron was zinc-galvanized (gray-ish coating) then, it can clog quicker. And zinc galvanized steel (or iron) pipe has fallen out of favor primarily due to accelerated corrosion from dissimilar metals. Light scale and rust is normal in any carbon steel pipe. (or iron) pipe. If their camera was able to clearly show a crack or hole, or... significant corrosion (chunks, grooves, pinholes, stalagmite growth) that is a bit different. A lot of these contractors are more than happy to drum things up abit thinking everyone has insurance and they can just charge the insurance company. Personally I am getting the point I am debating about buying my own camera to do my own boroscoping. To elaborate furthe as well... too thin of a boroscope put into pipe can lead into issues as well. The... field or degree of view or whatever it is called. One of those thin spaghetti like boroscopes might not be the best choice for a 4" or larger drain. While it might be perfectly fine for your sink.... Just something to think about.
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May 26, 2022 02:58
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You can rent a sewer camera. I've dealt with tons of cast-iron drain lines over the years. If the sections weren't stored out in a building-supply yard for a decade or two, and are straight-up iron, they should last a century. I seem to recall that Insinkerator used to recommend sending chicken bones through their units to clean & sharpen the blades. I generally don't run bird (or human) carcasses in mine, but I have run a few good-sized thigh bones through it once in a while. I do avoid stringy poo poo like celery & asparagus. Never occurred to me to run a banana peel down one. The line between my disposal & the main is 2" PVC. No clogs in 30-years.
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May 26, 2022 03:10
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PainterofCrap posted:I seem to recall that Insinkerator used to recommend sending chicken bones through their units to clean & sharpen the blades. I generally don't run bird (or human) carcasses in mine, but I have run a few good-sized thigh bones through it once in a while. I read once that you can clean 'em out with ice, and so every time mine gets a touch loud, like it's getting gunked up maybe, I pack it full of ice cubes while it's off, then turn the water on and let 'er rip. It's loud as hell for a second as it crushes the ice, and then it's absolutely silky quiet like it's brand new. Ice is generally soft enough I think this is probably relatively safe and not harmful, and it sure does work.
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May 26, 2022 03:25
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Neither of those are going to sharpen your disposal. That brand (I don't know if others are different) uses a grinder, not blades.
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May 26, 2022 18:13
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Yeah I didn’t say anything about sharpening, I’m pretty sure that’s not even really a thing in most brands, they’re just grinders, it ain’t a cuisinart.
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May 26, 2022 18:15
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I could see the ice being forced into spaces and kinda scraping poo poo away that had built up. Are they burr grinders normally? I thought they'd have blades or something. e: nevermind! 
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May 26, 2022 18:19
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Motronic posted:Not-the-right-thread-content: I've been throwing all of my peels into a ziplock bag that I keep in the freezer. When it gets full I make vegetable stock out of it.
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May 26, 2022 20:36
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Is there a plumbing house with a search engine for shower valves, based on side clearance dimensions? I have changed out the cartridge in my shower twice, and the leak came back, so it's time to change out the actual valve. However, I have hit a snag: the cold water input to the valve goes right through a stud, roughly 7/8" from the stud face to the vertical centerline of the valve. So I have nearly no room, and these modern valves are all huge.
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May 30, 2022 04:22
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