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So I replaced the backflow preventer on my steam boiler feed line, but I just can't get it to stop leaking between the nut and the fitting: Maybe I just need to crank it down tighter? Is there trick to it? I figure if I let it sit it will seal itself up when it corrodes, but I figure I should at least try to make it seal better.
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Sep 20, 2022 14:17
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Tossing this out into the void just in case someone might know: Alfi shower valves - what cartridge do they take? Specifically the stop valve for this one: https://alfibrand.com/alfi-brand-ab2701-square-2-way-thermostatic-shower-mixer.html This thing is crusty enough that I don't want to pull it apart to look for numbers/etc on the cartridge without a likely replacement on hand because.....well, we all know how that goes. Not my house, not even sure if there is an individual shutoff to that shower/bathroom or if I'd have to turn off the whole house. There were no useful markings visible after pulling trim plates. There's no way some cheap chinese garbage company is actually making their own cartridges and valve bodies, so this has to cross to something. It looks like their faucets use Kerox cartridges but I'm not sure about the shower ones.
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Sep 20, 2022 14:52
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eddiewalker posted:I’d just replace it all. The semi-universal kits are cheap and easy. Yeah I figured that would be the answer, I was just hoping I'd be able to get away with a new washer. New flush valve unit thingy it is.
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Sep 21, 2022 01:53
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Motronic posted:Tossing this out into the void just in case someone might know: Alfi shower valves - what cartridge do they take?
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Sep 21, 2022 07:24
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His point was that Alfi brand is, as a company is practically vaporware, with no parts lists for their product & likely poo poo for availability if any. These companies are a scourge. It's usually less trouble to just replace the entire fixture. Motronic posted:Tossing this out into the void just in case someone might know: Alfi shower valves - what cartridge do they take?... I have searched high & low. The closest I came was a Q&A in Amazon where a buyer asked if the cartridges could be had, and basically the (now non-existent) seller said simply, "Yes." Short of The other alternative: They're $500 on Wayfair.
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Sep 21, 2022 13:49
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PainterofCrap posted:I have searched high & low. The closest I came was a Q&A in Amazon where a buyer asked if the cartridges could be had, and basically the (now non-existent) seller said simply, "Yes." I called yesterday afternoon - they were basically no help. They claimed that the picture I sent them wasn't one of their fixtures (it absolutely was) but their cartridges would "probably" fit. What he has/the picture was an older model of the same thing where the stop valve was in the middle instead of the bottom like the new revisions. They literally didn't know any of this but I tracked the info down online later. But not if the old and new cartridges are the same. I also found out the bathroom/shower has no individual shutoff. I told my buddy he's on his own and should call a plumber and should probably up his timeline on renoing that bathroom. Or buy another fixture and use it for parts if he's feeling lucky. But his wife will freak the gently caress out if anything stays broken for more than 10 minutes so it's really not worth it for him. Thank you for looking - I know you're good at tracking this kind of stuff down. Looks like this is solidly a "not worth it". I don't understand why people buy fixtures like this. Everything I install for my house or anyone else's is a known brand that one can find repair parts for. Even if it's not fancy, the home depot special Kohler is still a Kohler. In digging more about this company, their entire line of faucets are out of someone else's white label catalog, the shower fixtures may or may not be the same, and they may actually have designed the toilets which of course use guts that only they/their chinese factory under contract produces. Those they actually have in stock and are easy to order. I mean, as long as they're still in business. Motronic fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Sep 21, 2022 |
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Sep 21, 2022 14:35
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Motronic goes through the stages of grief at having to pick a new shower valve fixture. It's OK, we're here for you.
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Sep 21, 2022 15:23
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Ugh such bullshit. No support after the sale. Fixture was priced at $1500 in 2019, too. I went through a similar tribulation with our Kingston Brass kitchen sink valves; one went after a couple years. When I finally emerged, beaten and bloody but unbowed, I ordered three sets of cartridges, because my wife wanted this particular type of sink (gooseneck, cross handles) and I’m sure I’ll never reach those ding-dongs ever again. My future move will be to immediately order cartridges with any faucet. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 15:51 on Sep 21, 2022 |
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Sep 21, 2022 15:48
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My friends poke fun at me for going with vintage fixtures and hardware sometimes but I'm the one laughing when I can buy replacement valves, o-rings, etc. every day of the week online or in most big box stores. Old stuff was made to be serviced and repaired.
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Sep 21, 2022 15:59
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PainterofCrap posted:Ugh such bullshit. No support after the sale. Fixture was priced at $1500 in 2019, too.  I assumed this was builder grade garbage pricing. That's full on "it's high price it must be real" scamming going on. I hadn't clicked the link until now.Amazing.
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Sep 21, 2022 16:13
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PainterofCrap posted:My future move will be to immediately order cartridges with any faucet. Yeah, this just made me add those to my house spares list.
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Sep 21, 2022 16:19
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H110Hawk posted:The water fills above the basin line? You should always be able to open your dishwasher and not have water leak out. That sounds like whatever is metering the water in is not working right. I don't know how that's handled (time? flow? limit switch? MAGIC???) If it's just a solenoid + time then is the pressure in your house astronomically high? Can you check? Does it all drain out when the system "stops"? Can you try doing a start -> drain/reset immediately before it starts pumping in water and see if that helps? Water level is controlled by a combination of time + a float switch, but I'm not sure that's the issue. When it completes a cycle, the basin is empty... then randomly several hours later it will have enough water in it the next time the door is open it spills out. Once that happens I'll just hit the drain button and it'll empty all the water out. Sometimes one extra drain is enough, sometimes it takes a few tries. It just completed a cycle and is dry, so I turned the supply off and I guess I'll see what happens. If it backs up then it has to be coming back in the drain...
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Sep 21, 2022 23:18
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devicenull posted:Water level is controlled by a combination of time + a float switch, but I'm not sure that's the issue. You would know if this was coming from the drain because the water should be nasty/dishwasher would smell. I know you changed the fill valve but either the new one is bad or you have a much dumber/expensive problem (like the electronics).
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Sep 21, 2022 23:24
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Super-NintendoUser posted:So I replaced the backflow preventer on my steam boiler feed line, but I just can't get it to stop leaking between the nut and the fitting: It is better to tighten it. But when you do, ensure your boiler is off and it cools. Scalding water is not fun to deal with. That looks like it has a threaded union built into the backflow preventer... Threaded unions can be a bit finicky some times. If there is some slight mis-alignment (weigh or offset) that could cause it to leak too. If it still leaks, would shut everything off and remove it and make sure the mating surface of the threaded union is clean. Then retry. Arishtat posted:Hey friends, Would try just writing down what you can see stamped on the valve, and the tag (if its there). If that does not work, would just use a pressure gauge and make quarter turns. Senor P. fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Sep 22, 2022 |
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Sep 22, 2022 01:41
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Senor P. posted:It is better to tighten it. Thanks for the advice, my concern is that the feed lines are not super well supported and I'm worried about really cranking it down. I don't have exactly the right wrench to get the union and have a counter turn wrench to support it. I ended up calling a plumber to come and make sure it's all tight, it should be less than an hour and if the feed line is broken he'll fix it.
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Sep 22, 2022 02:53
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Hey y'all, I've got a break in my sewer pipe, and while there's no question about whether or not to fix that, I'm curious if I should consider getting the pipes lined too. One outfit is pretty adamant they wouldn't want to do it after the repair is done due to our house's layout, but I question that a bit of course. For what it's worth, the break is about six feet from the house, and the house is just over 100, not sure about the plumbing's age though.
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Sep 22, 2022 17:36
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nitsuga posted:Hey y'all, I've got a break in my sewer pipe, and while there's no question about whether or not to fix that, I'm curious if I should consider getting the pipes lined too. One outfit is pretty adamant they wouldn't want to do it after the repair is done due to our house's layout, but I question that a bit of course. For what it's worth, the break is about six feet from the house, and the house is just over 100, not sure about the plumbing's age though. Think about what information your plumber needed to give you that recommendation and then provide it here, because we don't know any of those things. Not even what your pipes are made of. Or why the recommendation was given. And on what basis you "question" that bit.
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Sep 22, 2022 17:53
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Ah, my apologies there. The break they found is such that they couldn't line it to repair it, but suggested it as a preventative measure for future issues (and they offer a 60-year warranty on the lining). The run they'd be lining is 6" clay tile pipe. Last, I guess my bit of skepticism was that they wouldn't be able to do it any other time than when the hole is dug. Basement access is tight admittedly, with several steep stairs to get down there and three feet or so to turn around at those stair's landing.
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Sep 22, 2022 18:47
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nitsuga posted:Basement access is tight admittedly, with several steep stairs to get down there and three feet or so to turn around at those stair's landing. They can only do it from the outside. There is no way they are fitting 10' sections of lining into your basement or all of the other required equipment. Its up to you if you want to pay for excavation now to fix a break and again later when you need to fix another one and finally line the rest, or just pay for one excavation. This is the choice they are offering you. I suggest you pay for only one excavation.
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Sep 22, 2022 19:16
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Ok, thank you! I was not aware you could only do this from the outside (in my specific scenario). That definitely clears it up. Edit: Humbled once again. nitsuga fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Sep 22, 2022 |
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Sep 22, 2022 20:02
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nitsuga posted:Ok, thank you! I was not aware you could only do this from the outside. That definitely clears it up. It can be done from inside, just not inside of YOUR home's basement due to lack of space.
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Sep 22, 2022 20:09
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I replaced two compression angle stops on toilets in my house (built early 90s). On both of the copper stubs, I had to hack off the ferrule because the copper pipe was bulging around both sides of the ring. It looked like a wedding band on a fat guy’s finger. Because of the bulge, I couldn’t get a new compression fit to seal. I ended up using shark bite on both and they seem to hold. What would cause that kind of deformity in a copper supply line? And on two toilets in two different parts of the house? Internet suggests a freeze, which I guess is possible but I am in the south so it’s not like it’s all that cold for very long here unless there was an extended power outage. Even then, one of the toilets was part of the interior plumbing stack in the center of the house. Lord Wexia fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Sep 22, 2022 |
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Sep 22, 2022 22:02
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Lord Wexia posted:I replaced two compression angle stops on toilets in my house (built early 90s). On both of the copper stubs, I had to hack off the ferrule because the copper pipe was bulging around both sides of the ring. It looked like a wedding band on a fat guy’s finger. My guess would be a massively overtightened compression nut but I'm not sure how that would bulge out the pipe on the outside of the compression ring, but copper is pretty soft.
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Sep 22, 2022 23:12
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Motronic posted:It can be done from inside, just not inside of YOUR home's basement due to lack of space. Oh, c’mon; cut the PVC into three-foot sections and connect them with couplers as you go! Bing bong!
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Sep 23, 2022 02:27
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Motronic posted:You would know if this was coming from the drain because the water should be nasty/dishwasher would smell. Well.. it just backed up even with the supply to the dishwasher turned off, so it must be coming from the drain.
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Sep 23, 2022 14:52
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devicenull posted:Well.. it just backed up even with the supply to the dishwasher turned off, so it must be coming from the drain. You must have some clean drain water  But hey, that sounds like some sort of diagnosis. I'm not sure how a high loop is not keeping that from happening. Do you have slow drains at those sink(s) or anywhere else in the house? What you are talking about is a LOT of water. Like, even without a high loop and plugged into a garbage disposal I wouldn't expect that much water backing into the dishwasher.
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Sep 23, 2022 15:10
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devicenull posted:Well.. it just backed up even with the supply to the dishwasher turned off, so it must be coming from the drain. Did you verify function of the valve here? Trying to run a load and no water came out? Is it a quarter turn or other style? To Motronic's point... How is there not also black or grey water all over everything else? H110Hawk fucked around with this message at 15:23 on Sep 23, 2022 |
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Sep 23, 2022 15:21
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Hopefully I made the right call... Finally got plumbing company out to handle my backup/non draining issues. Was down to one of the two toilets half working. They ran the machine and pulled roots from sewer line. Back up and everything working. They recommended replacing that 62 year old cast iron sewer line as they said it is most certainly broken, but will have to install a 6" trap by street when they do as required now. But they didn't have to do anything, I could have paid $250 and been on my way. But we know the pipe under house for kitchen sink is cracked, the add on half bath needs to be redone under house the right way (no vent tube, used rubber fittings down there, but I could get by with it for now) Recently made some good money so I asked for quote on doing everything...repiping house (galvanized pipes 62 years old), new sewer line, new trap front house and by street, complete repipe under house, new and additional outside faucets, basically replumb everything top to bottom. $12k total, and they are going to do it over the kids fall break when we are out of town. Hopefully this was a wise decision to do while I have the funds....because this morning the thought of forking out 12 grand for something you don't even see is making me feel ill... Thought is this is the right thing to do, as I plan on staying in house indefinitely.
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Sep 23, 2022 15:37
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Get 2 more bids. Without a camera down the sewer you have no idea what state it's in, only that some roots got in and now you have an annual maintenance to blast out the roots. Without 2 more bids and someone sending a camera down we don't know if it's the right call. Otherwise if you have 62 year old galvenized in the house you are 12 yrs past its useful life and are on borrowed time. Probably more like 25yrs past.  doing the house problems are a great quality of life improvement. Doing the sewer is a probably needs and should be done after verification.
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Sep 23, 2022 15:57
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H110Hawk posted:Did you verify function of the valve here? Trying to run a load and no water came out? Is it a quarter turn or other style? It's a quarter turn. I just used it a week or so ago when I replaced the inlet valve, so I'm confident it's working. (do quarter turns even fail in a way where they turn but don't work?) I'm wondering if it's discharge from the RO system... I've got one of these installed to provide the drain for it. If that were somehow backing up into the dishwasher, it would be essentially clean water.
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Sep 26, 2022 00:36
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I love my previous-owner for exclusively installing Delta fixtures that share a cartridge that I can buy in bulk packs at Lowes. I don't love that I have to replace a different one every month.
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Sep 26, 2022 01:08
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eddiewalker posted:I love my previous-owner for exclusively installing Delta fixtures that share a cartridge that I can buy in bulk packs at Lowes. How on earth do we have plumbing with wear parts?
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Sep 26, 2022 01:13
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tactlessbastard posted:How on earth do we have plumbing with wear parts? Anything that moves has wear parts???
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Sep 26, 2022 01:20
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everdave posted:Hopefully I made the right call... If it makes you feel any better I spent about $16k on *just* digging up a couple sections of sewer pipe, and epoxy lining the rest of it (about 120ft total). I'd suggest getting them to install a backwater valve as part of it. Trivial extra cost at the point you're talking about, and will prevent sewage from backing up into your house in the event of an issue with the city sewer. They should also be providing you with the camera footage, either via a usb drive or email.
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Sep 26, 2022 02:00
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I’m getting quotes from different contractors on water softener replacements. They’re all relatively close to each other but none of them seem to agree on what to do with the drain line from it. Guy #1 wants to drain it straight into my normal drains (with an air gap) and let gravity take it into my septic. Guy #2 wants to wait until my basement is finished and a utility sink will be placed near the softener and drain into that, which will drain into an ejector pump which will then drain into my septic. Guy#3 says draining into a septic system is bad for the septic and says that it should be drained to the outside. His recommendation is to just drain into the sump pump (which already has my AC and tankless water heater condensation pumps draining into it) and let that drain it to daylight outside the house. From looking online it seems like nobody can agree on what the right thing to do here is? I’ve found: - Some studies from years ago the says it’s fine and might even help the septic - Refutations of those studies saying they used one type of bacteria but septic systems use another - Claims that this can eat away the concrete of the septic system - Claims that the salt water will settle lower than the solids and push them up and into the sand mound. - Claims that draining the brine to daylight will kill all the vegetable around the drain - Claims that using the sump pit for this will overload the sump and/or the salt water will destroy it and chase backups. I can’t seem to find any definite answer here, I’m hoping someone here can clear this up for me!
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Sep 26, 2022 06:06
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devicenull posted:I'm wondering if it's discharge from the RO system... I've got one of these installed to provide the drain for it. If that were somehow backing up into the dishwasher, it would be essentially clean water. Um,. yeah. It's that. And "I have a pressurized water source on my drain line near the dishwasher" is the kind of thing you probably should have mentioned to start with. Where is it plumbed in? Perhaps this can be done elsewhere and not cause issues.
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Sep 26, 2022 14:56
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Motronic posted:Um,. yeah. It's that. And "I have a pressurized water source on my drain line near the dishwasher" is the kind of thing you probably should have mentioned to start with.  RO is the black line on top, dishwasher is the grey one. I can't quite figure out how the RO could be causing the dishwasher to back up any more then the sink would. The only way I can figure to get the RO to drain elsewhere would be to add a wye and another trap. I may also be able to run it over to the washing machine drain, which is on the other side of the wall maybe 3 feet away.
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Sep 26, 2022 23:33
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devicenull posted:I can't quite figure out how the RO could be causing the dishwasher to back up any more then the sink would. The sink is gravity draining. The RO output is 20+ PSI. You sure your drains aren't slow? Like, plug up the sink fill it with water and pull the plug. Do you get a good sucking vortex?
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Sep 27, 2022 14:07
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Motronic posted:The sink is gravity draining. The RO output is 20+ PSI. I get good drainage from the sink, no real concerns there... I just stuck a garden hose at full blast in there and the sink was keeping up with like 95% of the water. I just removed the RO from the drain and rigged it up to drain into the sink... the water coming out of there is nowhere near 20psi, it's maybe 1/3 the flow of one of the 5 gal office water dispensers
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Sep 27, 2022 23:27
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I recently moved into a new build and the master shower has the really weird odor to it. Supposedly the walls, and shelves in the shower are marble but they don't look marble. The underside of the corner shelves are very rough, and porous, reminds me of a pumas stone. Anyway--when I put my nose to the walls and the underside of those shelves that is definitely the source of this weird, strong, odor. Any ideas on why it stinks up my whole bathroom real bad for the last 2 weeks? When we closed on the house the shower glass wasn't installed yet so I couldn't use the shower but I was in the bathroom daily and I don't remember it smelling until the glass got installed. But when I push my nose against the glass its not the source of the smell. This smell consumes the whole bathroom not just enclosed in the shower. It's not the drain either.
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Sep 28, 2022 05:05
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