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Another option is a bottled water pump, with 5 gallon bottle delivery. Doesn't make much sense just for clean frog water, but for drinking water, RO water doesn't necessarily taste good.
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Sep 16, 2015 18:03
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Leperflesh posted:Filters don't seem to cost that much. The systems I'm seeing on Amazon all have packs you can buy that give you like a years' worth of filters for maybe $20ish, which is cheap and convenient. I definitely want to avoid a system that just doesn't work, though, and I don't have any sense of what is a "good brand." If you can get a years worth of RO filters for $20 bucks they probably don't do much more than take out particulate. Leperflesh posted:I was hoping the plumbing thread would know, but I haven't gotten a response other than yours. Thanks though. I personally don't, nor have I known any plumber that really likes under sink RO's or had one they felt comfortable recommending.
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Sep 17, 2015 09:17
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I've got a persistent and very annoying knocking sound coming from my plumbing. It appears to be in the drain lines--if you fill up the kitchen sink or the tub there's no noise when the water is running, but once you empty it there's a loud thunk that repeats every 10 seconds or so. The interval gets farther apart after the drain is opened. It does seem to stop eventually, but even very late at night when no one's used the plumbing for quite a while there's still an occasional sound. Everything is draining well, but it possible this could be due to a partial clog that's not severe enough to block draining entirely? We've lived in the house for around 18 months or so, but it's only been the last couple weeks that this has been happening.
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Sep 17, 2015 23:34
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My parents have an under-sink RO unit for about 25 years now. The whole thing died about 6-7 years ago and had to be replaced, so I'd guess they got roughly 15-20 years out of their first unit. It requires annual maintenance, which is $30 for the prefilter and the resin thingy, and then time to drain the entire system and check/redo the precharge on the expansion tank. If that turns out bad, then the expansion tank needs attention. I think they're on their third or 4th expansion tank; there's a diaphragm inside which can rot or whatever. Once, they got some kind of mold/mildew/algae on the "pure" side that took about $200 in service calls to get cleaned up. Once all the chlorine is out of the water, it can get contaminated with life. The fittings are plastic, and a couple of times moving stuff under the sink cracked a fitting, leading to a leak. That's an annoying thing to wake up to, since you hardly notice the tiny drip when it happens. Now that that's out of the way: I love the things. Theirs had a 3gal tank on it, and I think we only drained it a couple of times. We used it daily for ice, water for the dog, coffee, and drinking in a household of 4. Even when the tank is 100% empty, the unit will still trickle out water, so it's not like you're totally without when the tank is dry.
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Sep 18, 2015 11:32
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stubblyhead posted:I've got a persistent and very annoying knocking sound coming from my plumbing. It appears to be in the drain lines--if you fill up the kitchen sink or the tub there's no noise when the water is running, but once you empty it there's a loud thunk that repeats every 10 seconds or so. The interval gets farther apart after the drain is opened. It does seem to stop eventually, but even very late at night when no one's used the plumbing for quite a while there's still an occasional sound. Everything is draining well, but it possible this could be due to a partial clog that's not severe enough to block draining entirely? We've lived in the house for around 18 months or so, but it's only been the last couple weeks that this has been happening.
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Sep 19, 2015 15:14
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Jadunk posted:If you can get a years worth of RO filters for $20 bucks they probably don't do much more than take out particulate. I assume it's because it's on Amazon, but I'm seeing some systems that have filter packs costing $50+. So I suppose quality varies. quote:I personally don't, nor have I known any plumber that really likes under sink RO's or had one they felt comfortable recommending. That's discouraging. Is it just because they're finicky and need a lot of maintenance? babyeatingpsychopath posted:My parents have an under-sink RO unit for about 25 years now. The whole thing died about 6-7 years ago and had to be replaced, so I'd guess they got roughly 15-20 years out of their first unit. I might be able to avoid some of that sort of headache, at least in as much as I'm quite capable of doing my own work on the system as needed. Also I wouldn't have a 25-year-old system of course. I'm pretty well determined to get one. I'm just not settled on a brand or price point. I'll do more research. Thanks for the advice, guys. e. Based on a lot of reviews, I'm leaning towards this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N2941T2 It has a pump which means it doesn't waste as much water, it adds magnesium and calcium back to the water to make it more palatable, and it has perfect reviews. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Sep 25, 2015 |
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Sep 25, 2015 18:09
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjxKJXvRLAk I just noticed this weird pulsing in my bathroom sink the other day and now I'm noticing it in the kitchen too. Should I be concerned? I'm on city water, no idea what the pressure is like from the city, but as far as I know we don't have super high pressure water or anything, the subdivision I live in was built in the late 80s/90s. PuTTY riot fucked around with this message at 04:39 on Sep 26, 2015 |
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Sep 26, 2015 04:35
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Leperflesh posted:That's discouraging. Is it just because they're finicky and need a lot of maintenance? Most of them aren't very well made, require a lot of maintenance, etc. (also wasting 4+ gallons of water per gallon produced is a pretty bad efficiency and that's average on new RO's.) I generally tell people to just get a softener / conditioner + carbon filter. For almost everyone it's the better option.
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Sep 26, 2015 08:14
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Hi, I've got a problem with my boiler. Yesterday morning I noticed a lot of water was flowing through the pipes around my water tank after my shower for a lot longer than normal. Also water was flowing through what I assume is an overflow pipe. I also noticed the pressure gauge had dropped to zero. I found the tap for the pressure gauge and got it back up to 1 bar where it should be and turned the hot water back on to heat up for about 45 mins. The water seemed to be slightly warmer than the cold tap for a bit but you wouldn't even describe it as luke warm really. My central heating is running fine and my boiler unit which is in the kitchen away from the tank, pipes and pressure gauge has the lights that come on to show normal operation. I guess my questions are, would the drop in pressure cause the cold water? How long does it take to warm up a water tank, am i going to have to leave it on for about 5 hours or something to get the water back up to temperature? Would there be some other reason hot water isn't getting through somehow? Here's a picture of the equipment for reference. http://imgur.com/a/AunxG I've already booked an engineer to come out on Monday at the usual high rate. But I'm convinced this might be something very simple but I just don't know enough to just wait or fix, be great if someone new anything about this little problem. Thanks
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Sep 26, 2015 13:17
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Leperflesh posted:Is this a good thread to ask about under-sink reverse osmosis water systems? RO's aren't bad and require low maintenance for the ones I've dealt with. The filter changes replacement are usually around $50 or so. Shop around for quotes with a water treatment company. Stay away from Kinetico though. They are nice but over priced. You can get a nice one made by Pentek. Most RO's are pretty simple in design. You have a Pre filter to remove some particulate. A membrane which is a highly woven filter to remove the rest of the constituents. Then a post carbon filter to remove lead, chlorine, etc. The membrane should last between 7-10 years. If a company comes out to install one for you they can run between $1000-$2,000 (depends on where you live etc) That is a lot of 5 gallon bottles you could get for that cost. One test you can do on any water is a T.D.S. (total dissolved solids) test with a meter. http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-TDS-EZ-Measurement-Resolution/dp/B002C0A7ZY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443286605&sr=8-1&keywords=tds+meter There is a stand alone pitcher i've seen that does make Zero Tds water that you can store in your fridge. It will make almost pure RO water but i'm not sure how expensive the filters are. http://www.amazon.com/ZeroWater-ZP-010-10-Cup-Pitcher/dp/B0073PZ6O0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443286653&sr=8-1&keywords=zero+pitcher
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Sep 26, 2015 17:58
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we have a zero pitcher.. and I can't imagine trying to use it for gallons at a time, it's slow as poo poo.. MAYBE if you were filling up a big jug when you thought of it day to day for a few days it would be okay. But it's sure going to annoy you to fill up / replace the water in your tank when 1 gallon takes 10 min to filter. Seriously just buy a big rear end 5 gal or 10 gal jug of water and call it a day. edit: words tater_salad fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Sep 27, 2015 |
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Sep 27, 2015 02:36
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tater_salad posted:we have a zero pitcher.. and I can't imagine trying to use it for gallons at a time, it's slow as poo poo.. MAYBE if you were filling up a big jug when you thought of it day to day for a few days it would be okay. But it's sure going to annoy you to fill up / replace the water in your tank when 1 gallon takes 10 min to filter. I didn't realize how much water he was using at a time. And the problem with the RO is they don't usually have a huge storage tank unless you upgrade it.
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Sep 27, 2015 03:54
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PuTTY riot posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjxKJXvRLAk What weird pulsing thing? Seems like a normal sink to me. You can always remove, clean, and re-seat/replace the aerators though.
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Sep 27, 2015 05:08
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Right now, I use about a gallon every week or two. I mist the geckos and frogs with it, and pour some into the toad's tank. In addition to being safe for the frogs, the mister won't gradually scale or lime up when I use distilled water. If I had an R/O system, I'd also use it for my own drinking water, for making ice, cooking, and for my cats. Right now we use tap water and I don't like it much. I would not pay someone to install a system. I've already done plenty of piping in my house, including soldering copper; I can handle unscrewing things under the sink. This is the system I'm probably going to get. It's $500 but it has perfect reviews (including on sites not on Amazon), specifically removes chloramines, and the pump means it wastes a lot less water. My only concern is whether having it add calcium and magnesium back to the water (while nice for drinking) might gradually clog my mister. I'm also wondering. I know typically the undersink systems just dump the waste water down the drain. How hard would it be for me to run a drain line down through the floor and out to the back yard? At least it'd be watering my plants.
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Sep 27, 2015 05:33
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The added calcium and magnesium will definitely scale up your mister.
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Sep 27, 2015 05:40
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Hmm. OK well I guess I'll go for a normal 5-stage rather than 6-stage. Although they (Home Master) claim softening the water makes the seals and stuff in the system last longer vs. the "slightly acidic" water that comes out of the R/O filter. (I thought pure water was perfectly neutral, but I'm not a chemist.)
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Sep 27, 2015 05:57
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Leperflesh posted:Hmm. The john guest fittings on the RO are really easy to replace. You can reuse the fitting and the pipe in most cases when you do it.
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Sep 27, 2015 06:21
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Demineralized water can be much more corrosive than ordinary tap water. It doesn't have a bunch of calcium and magnesium ions in it, so when it comes into contact with anything that can exchange ions, it will be much further from equilibrium, and so it will take those ions much faster. Also, calcium carbonate "scale", while generally quite annoying, protects whatever is under it from corrosion.
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Sep 27, 2015 16:55
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My Pro Mist system uses a pump to spray a fine mist through a couple of misting heads. Those heads will gradually clog if the water has dissolved minerals, I assume. I can stick them in de-liming solution occasionally, or, just replace them when they clog (they cost around $10 each, and I use two right now, so that's not a huge expense). If I have to pick between an expensive RO system needing parts replaced more frequently, vs. a cheaper misting system needing parts replaced more frequently, I suppose I should err on the side of getting the mineralizing RO system.
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Sep 28, 2015 20:31
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Leperflesh posted:My Pro Mist system uses a pump to spray a fine mist through a couple of misting heads. Those heads will gradually clog if the water has dissolved minerals, I assume. I can stick them in de-liming solution occasionally, or, just replace them when they clog (they cost around $10 each, and I use two right now, so that's not a huge expense). If I have to pick between an expensive RO system needing parts replaced more frequently, vs. a cheaper misting system needing parts replaced more frequently, I suppose I should err on the side of getting the mineralizing RO system. SideNote: If you want a cheap solution to soak the mister heads in. White vinegar will eat all the calcium in 20 minutes. Just let the head be submerged in it and it will make quick of any water build up.
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Sep 29, 2015 00:31
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Debated between posting here and fix it fast, but here goes. I was cutting out some previously water damaged drywall today with an oscillating tool and nicked a dwv drain pipe. I can get the tip of my nail in there, maybe a 1/16th inch deep gouge? Should I be concerned since it isn't pressurized? Would it be prudent to coat it with some epoxy or do I need to go balls out and piece in a flexible coupling? Only concern with that is that the pipe is so close to the drywall as it is, it might bow out the patched drywall.
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Oct 3, 2015 06:21
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It should be fine. I would slap on some JB Weld and be done with it.
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Oct 3, 2015 07:52
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SuicidalSmurf posted:Debated between posting here and fix it fast, but here goes. I was cutting out some previously water damaged drywall today with an oscillating tool and nicked a dwv drain pipe. I can get the tip of my nail in there, maybe a 1/16th inch deep gouge? Should I be concerned since it isn't pressurized? Would it be prudent to coat it with some epoxy or do I need to go balls out and piece in a flexible coupling? Only concern with that is that the pipe is so close to the drywall as it is, it might bow out the patched drywall. What type of pipe is it? ( ABS, PVC, Cast iron, Copper) If its ABS or PVC (i'm assuming it is , since you easily cut it.) Use the glue that bonds the pipe to its fittings to fill the cut. Another way to fix a leak in a pinch is put a flat rubber mat around the pipe and use 3 hose clamps on it to clamp it on. I've seen that hold on a line with 50psi on it.
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Oct 4, 2015 03:22
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Actually as I mentioned above here is where I learned about this trick to with a rubber flat mat. A new maintenance worker was trying to hang something on a wall that he was told there were metal studs. He used a self tapping drill bit. Instead of a metal stud he hit a 3" Black Iron Hydronic heating line. It was towards the end of winter, we couldn't drain down the entire line to fix it so someone showed me this trick. It held for months with no issue till the heating line was drained down and welded to fix it. If anyone was wondering how long a Black Iron pipe takes to drill, I took the a similar screw and drilled into a black iron pipe. It took over 20 seconds of straight drilling to drill into the pipe. Before  After [i] 
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Oct 4, 2015 03:45
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Actually as I mentioned above here is where I learned about this trick to with a rubber flat mat. That heating line is sure close to the drywall, I'm sure it showed up on a stud finder. Still doesn't excuse 20 seconds of drilling to get through a "metal stud" though. They actually make a commercial version of the pipe clamp & gasket trick. Back when I worked at a much more ghetto building I had one hold 12 psi of steam for two years. Might still be holding. 
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Oct 4, 2015 04:14
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How long should I let the silicone cure before running water after re-installing a bathroom sink drain?
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Oct 4, 2015 15:53
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therobit posted:How long should I let the silicone cure before running water after re-installing a bathroom sink drain? However long it says on the pack? It will depend on the silicone I would think.
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Oct 4, 2015 16:50
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Unfortunately the package does not say. I just bought some 100% silicone in a tube. I guess I will just wait 24 hours or something.
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Oct 4, 2015 17:13
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Actually as I mentioned above here is where I learned about this trick to with a rubber flat mat. I'm surprised the screw didn't hold pressure. I've seen small bathroom cabinets hung off screws into copper not cause a problem for years. (it only started leaking because the screw had rusted away) therobit posted:How long should I let the silicone cure before running water after re-installing a bathroom sink drain? Assuming you used actual silicone caulking not latex caulking you should be able to run water pretty much immediately.
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Oct 4, 2015 20:21
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Jadunk posted:I'm surprised the screw didn't hold pressure. I've seen small bathroom cabinets hung off screws into copper not cause a problem for years. (it only started leaking because the screw had rusted away) Thanks. I can allow my family to use the bathroom sink again.
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Oct 4, 2015 23:11
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Why are you using sillicone on a lav drain?
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Oct 5, 2015 03:49
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Why are you using sillicone on a lav drain? Some manufacturers instructions call for silicone rather than putty around/under where the popup sits inside the bowl. It varies manufacturer to manufacturer, and generally for DIY types I recommend they use whatever it says to in the instructions rather than trying to just always use putty. (or silicone)
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Oct 5, 2015 05:01
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What is a good brand of kitchen faucet to buy nowadays? (me=USA location...) I had one go bad a few months back, so I bought a cheap ($70) one and figured that would work for a while. Well,,,,,,, "a while" turned out to be only three months. So I am looking at Lowe's and Home Depot, and they sell pretty much the same things. And MOST of the more-expensive kitchen faucets (from $200-$300) are single-handle designs, and a typical complaint is that you can't adjust the water temperatures very well. ??? Many have built-in sprayers but that eliminates the problem of thumping when the water is turned on, as the flow regulator to the sprayer kicks in (I want a sprayer but not having a 'separate' sprayer might be better)... With a lot of these it seems as if they compromised the durability to produce odd-looking designs. I'd kinda prefer a utilitarian-style setup that I knew was maintainable with commonly available parts. I've also seen that there are a lot of complaints about needing to get replacement parts sent from the manufacturers.
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Oct 5, 2015 08:11
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edmund745 posted:What is a good brand of kitchen faucet to buy nowadays? (me=USA location...) Do you live anywhere close to furgeson plumbing?
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Oct 5, 2015 19:47
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I need a wee bit of plumbing advice. I am the proud renter of this magnificent tub faucet:  Unfortunately, the diverter valve in the spigot has worn out, and now showers suck and we're sending un-enjoyed hot water down the drain. There is no screw head on the spigot, so I assume it's the type you twist off, but googling diverter valves shows no examples like the model I have. I'm scared I'll break it trying to twist it off. Question 1: What would you do? Question 2: Is there a way to just repair the diverter mechanism? I've tried to get it out of the spigot to inspect the washer, but I can't see any way to remove it.  Thank you, handy-friends!
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Oct 6, 2015 19:25
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XmasGiftFromWife posted:Do you live anywhere close to furgeson plumbing? I already bought a faucet now, I've moved on to further comedies... That being, I can't get the thing installed because of oddball mobile home plumbing fittings. Basically, I have to cut the current fittings off the CPVC pipe and put new ones on, because the existing ones are weird poo poo that nobody in the western hemisphere can obtain anymore--and no local hardware stores have any combination of parts that can be assembled usefully. ,,,When I was shopping I saw that one faucet I was considering said that the warranty was void if you ran a dish washing machine supply line off the same line that the sink used. (I got a dishwasher) I would assume this would be damage from the abrupt water starting/stopping (or hammering) but the info didn't specify. I know what a water hammer arrestor is, but the pipe in my house is cpvc,,,, is this issue of water hammering mainly a copper thing? All of the water hammer arrestors I've found are copper-sweat, except for the one that screws onto your washing machine lines.
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Oct 6, 2015 21:15
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edmund745 posted:Nope, IL side. How old is the place? Are you sure it's CPVC not PB(Quest)? Got any pictures of what you need to replace?
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Oct 7, 2015 03:58
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Jadunk posted:How old is the place? Are you sure it's CPVC not PB(Quest)? Got any pictures of what you need to replace? There were a few problems here. 1--the new faucet had integral 3/8" supply lines. 2--the old valves were 1/2" male inlets and outlets, and used an odd kind of seal that didn't look like it would work with new shutoff valves.... Or supply hoses.... Or 1/2" to 3/8" adapter fittings.... 3--the old (globe) valves were weeping green corrosion out of the stems, so they needed to be replaced anyway. And I wanted 1/4-turn ball valves, not globe valves again. Cutting the pipe off and gluing a new end fitting on there isn't that difficult. The main bummer with this was that I wasted two days trying to match an obsolete part. I shoulda just cut the old valves off (on the FIRST day) after the second store said it was an unusual fitting and they could not replace it. ~~~~~~~~ I had a similar problem a few years back when I had to put a new flush valve in one of the toilets. The new flush valve had a 3/8" inlet and the old cutoff valve had the odd 1/2" outlet. I began wanting to replace both the cutoff valve and the supply hose, but couldn't do that as nobody sold the cutoff valves that would just drop-in. Back then I found *ONE* local store that still had the hoses to hook the old valve up to a 3/8" outlet, so that was all I did. Eventually Imma cut both the toilet cutoff valves+hoses off and replace them too.
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Oct 8, 2015 18:21
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edmund745 posted:The mobile home is only 15 years old. The pipe is Nibco Flowguard Gold, and it is labelled continuously along the straight sections. ohhh. I completely misread your post, I thought you were saying that you could not find fittings that would work on the piping itself, not that you could not find supplies that would work. I'm guessing they were 1/2" compression rather than being either 3/8" or 1/2" IPS. I've run across those kind of angle stops (both compression and IPS inlet with 1/2" compression outlet) a few times. Usually not worth going to get the supplies that would work on those so I just swap the valve. Alternately they could have been something really weird like 1/2" flare? I've never seen an angle stop with one of those but someone probably makes 'em.
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Oct 9, 2015 03:30
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The water hammer surge pressures are significantly influenced by the rigidity of the pipe. CPVC is less rigid than copper, so it does have lower surge pressure, but it is still fairly rigid. From one test, copper had a peak surge of 240psi and CPVC hit 170psi in the same conditions. So it's less of a problem, but still potentially a concern. Fun bonus fact: PEX of the same nominal size doesn't perform better than CPVC with cold water (because the ID is smaller, water velocity is higher, offsetting the greater flexibility of PEX). But it performs much better with hot water, because the heat further increases the flexibility.
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Oct 9, 2015 22:37
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