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DVD Drive posted:Can toilet water end up getting sucked up into an earlier part of the pipes or is this probably rust or something? The latter - look at where your bowl supply is. It isn't possible for toilet water to get sucked up there, let alone the pressure differential.
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Nov 10, 2011 22:58
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Electric water heater elements: First, turn off power to the unit and use your meter to double check that it is off. then remove one of the wires going to the element. It doesn't matter which one. Then check your resistance between the two screw terminals. Resistance of a heating element = R=v^2/watts Say its a 240v system and it runs a 3800 watt element, you do 240x240 = 57,600 and then do 57,600/3800 = ~15 You should be reading 15 on your meter when you measure the resistance if the element is good... Hope this helps.
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Nov 10, 2011 23:44
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iForge posted:Electric water heater elements: Thanks for the info. I had found a helpful youtube video that explained something similar, stating that between 12-16 was normal. This particular element was in the ballpark of 50 I think.
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Nov 11, 2011 00:00
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DVD Drive posted:There was piss in a toilet bowl when the water was turned off for the entire house, and the next time I turned the faucet next to that toilet on the water came out yellow. Are you on city or well water? If its well I'd get your water tested. It can be iron.
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Nov 11, 2011 02:12
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This may not be the most appropriate place to ask, but I'm planning on putting a new bathroom into my house. I'm in Oregon, and have no idea how to go about getting the proper permits and stuff to make it legit. Can anyone point me to some resources on how to go about doing this?
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Nov 11, 2011 20:30
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coyo7e posted:This may not be the most appropriate place to ask, but I'm planning on putting a new bathroom into my house. I'm in Oregon, and have no idea how to go about getting the proper permits and stuff to make it legit. Can anyone point me to some resources on how to go about doing this? I'd call up labor and industries in Oregon and they may do the permits or could direct you to the right place. http://www.oregon.gov/BOLI/contact_us.shtml
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Nov 12, 2011 02:40
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I know precisely zero about plumbing, and need to know if this is something I could reasonably fix myself. Sink in the guest bathroom suddenly begins draining water to the cabinet beneath it. Take a look and:  The bottom pipe separated from the top. It looks as though it was only being held in by a small amount of some kind of adhesive or cement. As far as I can tell the bottom pipe does not fit up inside of the top pipe, but butts up against it flush and needs to be sealed around the joint. My questions are 1) Is this something anyone should be able to do, and if so 2) What material is used to join 2 pieces of metal pipe together, and what if anything do I need to do to prep the pipe in terms of cleaning? My closest experience to this sort of thing is joining ABS pipe together with the brush-on glue. Although I've done brazing soldering and welding in the past, I do not have the tools to do that kind of work and am not comfortable enough with my skills to attempt it here.
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Nov 12, 2011 18:04
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ixo posted:I know precisely zero about plumbing, and need to know if this is something I could reasonably fix myself. 1) Yeah, big time. You might be able to fix that without even having to go to the store. 2) It's easier than you think. Take a look at metal pipe on the bottom. Is it threaded at the top? If so, clean all that crap off the threads, loosen that big metal nut on the bottom, pull that pipe up a bit and screw it into the drain above. Once it's snug, tighten that metal nut back up. Don't hulk out when tightening anything, you could break them. Just make everything snug. At absolute WORST you might have to go to the store and buy a new drain assembly and some plumber's putty, $20-$25. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Nov 12, 2011 |
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Nov 12, 2011 19:19
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Well, it turned out to be a little bit worse than that actually. Threads from the bottom pipe were completely rusted away and gone. The inside threads in the metal pipe on top are also pretty much gone, which means I have to replace that top drain part as well. Problem is, the part that screws the plug assembly and drain pipe together seem to be fused with 30 years of toothpaste and poo poo, and I'm completely unable to remove it on my own. Frustrating, because I can totally see how it's put together now, and I can't do anything to separate the pieces.
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Nov 13, 2011 02:24
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ixo posted:Well, it turned out to be a little bit worse than that actually. Threads from the bottom pipe were completely rusted away and gone. The inside threads in the metal pipe on top are also pretty much gone, which means I have to replace that top drain part as well. Problem is, the part that screws the plug assembly and drain pipe together seem to be fused with 30 years of toothpaste and poo poo, and I'm completely unable to remove it on my own. Frustrating, because I can totally see how it's put together now, and I can't do anything to separate the pieces. Cut the bolt off then. Put a vertical slit through it. It doesn't matter if you ruin the drain they are easy to replace. Then pray the bolt open with a screw driver. Dont tweak the drain but once the bolt is cut and off the drain will come off through the top of the sink.
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Nov 13, 2011 03:08
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How easy/hard is it to replace a Mixet valve? We just bought a house and one of the upstairs bathrooms does not produce hot water, it goes from cold to off. Are we looking forward to drywall holes in our new house?
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Nov 13, 2011 03:13
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FCKGW posted:How easy/hard is it to replace a Mixet valve? We just bought a house and one of the upstairs bathrooms does not produce hot water, it goes from cold to off. What is a mixet valve? Are you talking about a mixing valve in a shower. Find out what brand it is. Most of them are fairly easy to replace the cartridge. You most likely don't have to replace the entire valve body itself.
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Nov 13, 2011 03:51
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:What is a mixet valve? It's referred to by mixet in the home inspection but it looks like that's the brand name of the company selling what is, in fact, a mixing valve. I'll give it a shot myself and see if it's the cartridge. If not, I have a contractor doing some other repairs around the house, I'll have him take care of it. Thanks.
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Nov 13, 2011 04:13
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FCKGW posted:It's referred to by mixet in the home inspection but it looks like that's the brand name of the company selling what is, in fact, a mixing valve. Take a picture of it, most likely one of us can figure out what it is.
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Nov 13, 2011 04:53
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Take a picture of it, most likely one of us can figure out what it is. Once I get into the house I'll be sure to do just that.
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Nov 15, 2011 06:35
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We got a double sink in our kitchen. From hereforth, Left Sink is Sink A. Right Sink is Sink B. Sink B has a garburator. All visible pipes are PVC. We put water into Sink B and noticed the water was standing on its own and not draining properly. It was a little weird until I noticed Sink A was taking in water through the drain. I looked under the sink to see if something was leaking or clogging. No visible leak at the moment. After I cleared the water out by sponging it into a bucket, I took the pipes and the trap apart and rinsed them out with hot water in the tub and put it back together. I ran the water again and it was doing the same thing. I was surprised and slightly annoyed however, the water seems like it was actually draining slowly so a light at the end of the tunnel. The next day I picked up a large jug of Draino and poured it down Sink A. Draino came out from Sink B. Not impressed but it was draining so that made me breath out a sigh of relief. After an hour, I was convinced that it should have worked it's magic and got some hot water from the bathroom sink to run it through Sink A. Same problem as before still. I left the sink alone for a couple of hours to see if the water would drain through. It looks like it drained a little bit but then came to a complete stop. I'm at loss for words. To put more details into this situation: I live in a condo on the top floor so I don't have the luxury of investigating any further and would like to avoid calling a plumber in because gently caress that noise. Any advices? Should I just bite the bullet and contact the plumber? Please help me get my sink back so I can do my dishes.  The only thing I haven't done yet is snaking and will be bringing a snake from work or RONA to get through this problem. e: Went to take the pipes apart again and drained out the draino into a big bucket (for possible later use, maybe...). I plugged Sink B up and then poured boiling hot water down Sink A to try to see if I can track where the water is going. I didn't put enough hot water apparently because it stops being hot around the trap area (wtf?). ee: Ok, so after putting more hot water into the pipes, I finally track the heat through the PVC (unless I'm overlooking the fact that heat is travelling on its own through the material, in which case I hope not) and it seems to be going a few feet down the line which indicates to me the water is travelling all the way...? eee: Should I get an end cap and cap off one of the pipes from the other sink so I can make a consistent pressure and use the plunger again? Because everytime I use the plunger, the water just goes back into the other sink.... quaint bucket fucked around with this message at 08:32 on Nov 15, 2011 |
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Nov 15, 2011 07:03
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My favorite for slow drains is lye. It's always sold as a bottle of white crystals. Cap Sink B. Pour a half-pound down Sink A, run hot water into buckets until it's scalding hot, and then dump a quart of near-boiling water down Sink A. Stand back. You will actually hear the drain roaring and hissing as the lye hits the clog. Rinse/repeat.
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Nov 15, 2011 15:40
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quaint bucket posted:We got a double sink in our kitchen. From hereforth, Left Sink is Sink A. Right Sink is Sink B. Sink B has a garburator. All visible pipes are PVC. Run a snake through it. And can I get a picture of this double sink? And I dont know if i'd use lye. If it eats through any piping in the wall, you may have an even bigger bill to deal with.
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Nov 15, 2011 16:00
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Run a snake through it. And can I get a picture of this double sink? And I dont know if i'd use lye. If it eats through any piping in the wall, you may have an even bigger bill to deal with.  The double sink. Sink B is plugged with a disposal cap for the time being. The sink does have a slightly slow drain at the moment rather than just standing so progress, I guess? I filled the sink just before I took the picture.  The pipings underneath the sink. Ignore the white patch, that's from the previous owner living here. I haven't got around to putting silicone tape around it yet.  The end of the pipe in the next cupboard over. I've thought about lye but thought, "I don't want to destroy anything I can't reach." Plus, I need to get a 1 1/2" end cap so I can close off from sink B and try plunging away at sink A. And at least make sure the lye doesn't make the garbaruator turn into poo poo. e: I'm currently @ work so I can't do anything to it until I get home. quaint bucket fucked around with this message at 17:19 on Nov 15, 2011 |
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Nov 15, 2011 17:16
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Update: kitchen sink is no longer clogged as far as I can tell. I came home and noticed the drain was not as slow (but still pretty drat slow). I took the pipes off (trap and all) and jammed a 25 feet snake approximately 1/2 inches wide into the pipe after the P trap. it took a little bit of effort but pulled out some thin stringy stuff (wtf?). Put it all back together then ran hot water through it to see if it was still backing up before I try the plunger. Water was running smoothly so I put it to the test by dumping a big bucket of water into it. The sink took it like a champ. I'm pretty happy but not fully satisified. I took the pipe cleaning draino and poured the whole thing down. Just waiting for an hour before I flush it out with hot water. I'm glad my total cost came to under 30 bucks. I got the snake from my work since I need it for one time only. I bought an end cap in case if I had to use the plunger. Thanks guys, I feel a lot better and I'm gonna catch up on dishwashing (uuugh). Oh, crazy question. One of my contractors mentioned using bread crumbs with draino with the purpose of making draino work better. Is he just off his rockers or....
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Nov 16, 2011 02:54
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quaint bucket posted:Is he just off his rockers or.... I have no clue on this one. I dont use draino. I use a snake and drain bladder. Wear safety glasses with draino. I heard the poo poo can really gently caress up your eyes.
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Nov 16, 2011 05:04
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I really hate Draino (or any other caustic product) because if it doesn't work you have a loving sink full of Draino (or any other caustic product). I've better luck with baking soda and vinegar than that poo poo anyway.
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Nov 16, 2011 18:54
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I don't mind draino too much. If I end up in that situation, I have like hundreds of disposable latex gloves that I can use. A new problem arise. I think I got too aggressive with the P-trap and caused it to crack a little near the threaded part. Will have to replace the pipe under the sink but it can definitely wait until the weekend since it's so minimal. Anything I should keep in mind? Like measurements or sealant? Also, is there a filter that I can install in the p trap or something to catch any big chunks that might try to make its way through? Just want to prevent the clogging and make it easier to fix by simply cleaning out the trap. quaint bucket fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Nov 16, 2011 |
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Nov 16, 2011 21:56
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quaint bucket posted:I don't mind draino too much. If I end up in that situation, I have like hundreds of disposable latex gloves that I can use. Either you will replace it with a 1 1/2 or 1 1/4 pvc p trap. Depends what you have. And I dont know of any filter you can get for a p trap. With out costing a ton of money. Only think I can think of is a wye strainer but those arent cheap at all and not worth it.
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Nov 17, 2011 04:00
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FCKGW posted:How easy/hard is it to replace a Mixet valve? We just bought a house and one of the upstairs bathrooms does not produce hot water, it goes from cold to off. Mixet is actually a brand of single handle shower mixing valves, the company I work for sells the replacement cartridges for like 15.99. They are as easy to replace as any other single handle cartridge. (Moen/Delta/PricePfister) The trim usually looks something like this. 
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Nov 19, 2011 18:53
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Weird commercial plumbing question for ya guys. I thought of this in high school. My idea was to flush ALL the toilets at my school at the exact same time. I would have needed a bunch of people to do it, and it never happened. But what if it did happen? What would happen, if anything? Do plumbing codes account for anything like this? I would have gotten it timed by having everyone flush on the first ring of the homeroom bell (The bell sound was 3 quick dings over the PA system) or something like that. The building was built in 1966 or so. There were 3 floors, 2 sets of boy/girl bath on each floor, 2 toilets in guys and 3(?) in the girls. Plus whatever faculty toilets there were. So figure around 30-35 toilets. These numbers could be off though, high school was over 12 years ago. In my high school mind it would have caused the sewer lid by the road, downhill from the school, to pop off with a geyser of water under it.
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Nov 19, 2011 19:50
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KingOMtDew posted:Weird commercial plumbing question for ya guys. I thought of this in high school. My idea was to flush ALL the toilets at my school at the exact same time. I would have needed a bunch of people to do it, and it never happened. But what if it did happen? What would happen, if anything? Do plumbing codes account for anything like this? When myth busters talked similar about flushing a ton of toilets during the super bowl. They proved that the water district can handle it. But when he was on a job in 95 or so. (the spokane Arena) he said they did something similar and I forgot the exact results but it hosed up a lot of the piping in the building over it. Now this is hear say and I cant prove his story but I imagine putting an entire system under load like that could gently caress up the water supply piping.
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Nov 20, 2011 01:00
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:When myth busters talked similar about flushing a ton of toilets during the super bowl. They proved that the water district can handle it. But when he was on a job in 95 or so. (the spokane Arena) he said they did something similar and I forgot the exact results but it hosed up a lot of the piping in the building over it. Now this is hear say and I cant prove his story but I imagine putting an entire system under load like that could gently caress up the water supply piping. When the job I was on did a coordinated test (over radios and all) of the plumbing, we flushed every device in the building, and turned all the sinks on. Something like 90 toilets/urinals and 40 sinks. None of the toilets would reset because the pressure was too low, then the backflow preventer kicked in and turned off the water supply, then turned it back on. The resulting water hammer made a lot of noise, but reset the plumbing just fine.
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Nov 20, 2011 03:25
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:When the job I was on did a coordinated test (over radios and all) of the plumbing, we flushed every device in the building, and turned all the sinks on. Something like 90 toilets/urinals and 40 sinks. Ya i wish I could remember the story exactly what he said. It could have been the resulting water hammer ripped out pipe support.
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Nov 20, 2011 11:50
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:When myth busters talked similar about flushing a ton of toilets during the super bowl. They proved that the water district can handle it. But when he was on a job in 95 or so. (the spokane Arena) he said they did something similar and I forgot the exact results but it hosed up a lot of the piping in the building over it. Now this is hear say and I cant prove his story but I imagine putting an entire system under load like that could gently caress up the water supply piping. Supposedly that also happened in New York after the finale of MASH on TV. With record US ratings and the show's finale, everyone "held it" until the show was over.
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Nov 20, 2011 17:19
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This last week I started to notice that our toilets were having issues flushing. Any time someone was running water, they bubbled... Last year we had a similar issue and found out that instead of a nice swooping set of 45 leaving the house, we have a oldschool 4" hard 90 in to our septic system. Due to having a 4yr old, who enjoys flushing who knows what down the toilet, it likes to clog about once a year (mainly flush-able wipes that not designed for septic systems- we fixed this problem). Our house was not plumbed till the 40's and for some reason they never installed a clean out. We re-did our irrigation lines this summer and left a open trench where we found the sewer line along the house. We got the replacement parts and decided to replace it this weekend. Turns out it ended up being the coldest weekend yet... I for some reason took pictures, but really do not want to post them. I never, ever, ever want to do that again. Taking a sawsall to a backed up 4" sewer line did not seem like such a terrible idea at the start, but now I need to bleach my sawsall. You can guess what came out and immediately filled the trench we were working in. It sadly did not fix the problem. About an hour before dark and after several attempts with a snake/water hose, we ended up digging up the septic tank lid. It was full... However it looked to be mostly water. So we dug up the distribution box which feeds the drainage field. It was clean and dry. We fed the snake back to the tank and immediately the main tank emptied and drained to the correct level. I might still have it pumped, just because I have no idea if our fix will last. We think the 1" or so bacteria growth on top of the water level is clogging the exit when the water rises. Fun times. I took 3 showers after doing this and still have an upset stomach. I would be fine installing a new tank/lines- but dealing with sewage is not my idea of a fun weekend project. I think we went through few dozen pairs of rubber gloves. If it is not fixed, I am calling a friend who is a plumber and I will happily pay him to deal with it. the spyder fucked around with this message at 21:39 on Nov 20, 2011 |
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Nov 20, 2011 21:34
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Now I could be wrong I have only just recently got into the water treatment side of things. But they usually use chlorine to attack the ferric iron. In simple terms you turn snow flakes into snow balls. The flock system injects ratio of a solution depending on water conditions . It then flows into a reactor tank where it has time to group the iron together. From there it will hit a filter with macrolite media to filter out the larger iron . Now this is only one application. They also use caschem in an similar injection type system but at this time I can' remember what its for. Very late response here. At work, that's similar to how we treat well water going into the green sand filters. It's a combination of the potassium permanganate and sodium hypochlorite that oxide the iron. A lot like what you said, so that it clumps and stays in the filter until it's time to backwash.
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Nov 20, 2011 22:57
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It's burgin' time! 
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Hey all, I have no idea about plumbing at all, just a heads up. I live in Montana with my girlfriend and her brother(her parents own the house), and we noticed our shower was starting to clog. It got to the point where it would already be clogged by the time the water was hot enough to take a shower. My girlfriends brother has tried snaking it multiple times, but for whatever reason has been unsucessful. He also went messing around with the pipes in some fashion. Anyways, at this point we are taking showers downstairs because black water has started backflowing from the tub drain. It seemed to get higher in the past couple days as well. We have a plumber coming tomorrow, but just want to know if you guys can give me any information on the problem, and if I should even attempt to mess with scooping out the water as a courtesy to the plumber, or if they will have the means to do so. Also, where/how to dispose of that water. Our house is a weird house also, the guy built it himself and was really short apparently. The kitchen counters are all too short for almost everyone, and ones back hurts after a few minutes of cutting. He has all sorts of weird built in storage shelves and closets in the walls. The stairs to the house are all narrow(length of your foot-wise) and steep. I think the guy did most of the plumbing stuff himself. Just saying could be a tough job. Anyways, any light people could shed on the situation would be wonderful, its pretty disgusting looking.
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Nov 29, 2011 03:18
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Lately my laundry room has a slight odor of lingering farts when I do laundry. It's not overpowering but I can always smell it. It is only when doing laundry, no other time The laundry room is an addition that drains across to the other side of the house. (probably a 30 foot run). There is a vent stack coming out of the he roof in 2 spots, in the corner of the room and where all the drains run to. I can't get directly under the room as I have no basement and those that built it hate Jesus and America and baseball. Are my clothes that dirty? machine have crappy smelling water coming from it? Any good way to see if the vent is clogged? If it was a vent problem wouldn't it smell all the time?
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Nov 29, 2011 05:14
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cereal eater posted:
If your brother didn't run a powered snake that could be his problem. Sometimes you need a big snake for big clogs. Though to warn you most snake company's have a denial of work. If they break through a pipe because of the clog its on your bill not there. Its just part of the business. If you really feel the urge rent a powered snake with a cutting head and try to power through it. It can take a couple hours at times. I've fought a clog in a toilet line. Could get through it and i pulled the snake back and something yellow floated up with it. I picked it up to only realize it was a wad of condoms. I told the apartment renter what I found. He told me his gf and him dont use condoms but it could be the person upstairs. And if thats the case she should be using condoms. After that I washed my hands. See you can't wear gloves unless leather with a snake or they bind up. tater_salad posted:Lately my laundry room has a slight odor of lingering farts when I do laundry. It's not overpowering but I can always smell it. It is only when doing laundry, no other time Does the water itself stink? Are you on well water? Does hot or cold water just smell?
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Nov 29, 2011 06:30
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Does the water itself stink? Are you on well water? Does hot or cold water just smell? As far as I can tell none of the other drains are like this.. Is it possible that there's "something awful" stuck in the trap, that smells like farty farts when wet? (Now that I think of it this may be an answer.... I had this place rented for about a year because I wasn't going to be around.. when I came back the utility tub was full of mud that I had to clean out)
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Nov 29, 2011 13:18
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tater_salad posted:I'm on city water. My clothes don't smell like farts when they come out, and I don't smell farts when I come out of the shower... at least I don't think so. So the washing machine drain line is running into a utility sink? Well how does the sink smell when you just run water in it. If it doesn't smell then its something wish your washing machine.
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Nov 29, 2011 15:35
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It does run into the sink, but the faucet on the sink is shot, it's on my list to replace. I should be able to run some water by turning opening the shutoffs for the faucet. I thought of that last night but was in bed, didn't want to crawl downstairs and fuvk around at midnight. OK a quick google says that it's probably the front loader, guess it's time to do a beach only wash. Apparently they don't drain 100% and can mildew up on the inside then fart up the room tater_salad fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Nov 29, 2011 |
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Nov 29, 2011 16:02
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tater_salad posted:It does run into the sink, but the faucet on the sink is shot, it's on my list to replace. I should be able to run some water by turning opening the shutoffs for the faucet. They recommend to leave the front loader door open after wash loads to let it dry out.
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Nov 29, 2011 18:30
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Open the door to your front loader and pull back on the rubber door gasket. At the bottom there should be some weep holes, but that doesnt mean all the water drains out. Look to see of you have a mildew spot inside the door gasket. Mine pools water there, even with the weep holes, and after 3 yrs developed a spot that wont go away. Replacement is possible. But the HOW-To's have all said its a huge pain in the rear end. And the part is like $120-140. At least for my washer. I've taken to just sopping up all the water after i run a load, then just throw the towel in the dryer with the rest of the clothes.
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Nov 29, 2011 21:02
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