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ZombieCrew posted:That red gasket is a replaceable part and should be able to be pulled off. Its actually one of the more common things to replace. Shut off the water, empty the tank, and investigate. It should be able to stretch and slip out of its groove pretty easily. Yeah, getting it out of the groove isn't a problem because it's not really seated in the groove at all. I will have to figure out how to get it out of there, I'm pretty sure the tube that's in the top of the thing will come out and I should be able to make the handle disconnect from that center tower as well. For some reason I was thinking I wouldn't be able to do that. I'll see if I can get one of those gaskets, thanks.
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Mar 20, 2020 21:05
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shortspecialbus posted:Yeah, getting it out of the groove isn't a problem because it's not really seated in the groove at all. I will have to figure out how to get it out of there, I'm pretty sure the tube that's in the top of the thing will come out and I should be able to make the handle disconnect from that center tower as well. For some reason I was thinking I wouldn't be able to do that. Take the tank bolts off and it will come apart easily. The tank bolts themselves may not though, depending on the rust situation.
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Mar 20, 2020 22:06
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Installing a water line for a new fridge. Have 1/4” copper line run to where the fridge is going to be installed. I figured fridge is going to have a plastic line, so I just need a compression fitting to couple together the copper line and the plastic line. Nope. Fridge has this 3/8th male threaded fitting on it. What do I need to mate this in a non-leaking fashion to the copper? 
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Mar 20, 2020 23:36
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shortspecialbus posted:One of my toilets has started sort of leaking from the tank into the bowl and refilling itself frequently. I've tracked it down, I think - the rubber gasket at the bottom of the flushing mechanism isn't really seated, and there's no way to seat it without glue or whatever, and it gets slightly jostled every time it flushes and eventually comes partly away somewhere and water leaks in. This is a bad description but I'm not sure how to describe it better. That appears to be a Mansfield valve, and you most certainly can remove the assembly to access the gasket without removing the tank. It should twist off in a quarter-turn. When replacing the gasket, consider using a stiff bristle brush or a scrub pad to clean all of the tiny bits of rubber out of the groove, and be sure the mating surface at the bottom of the tank is likewise clean before installing the new gasket.
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Mar 21, 2020 03:39
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Does angle matter for a P trap arm? I'm gonna have to swivel this thing into a weird position to get everything to line up. This is a really old house, so no vent stack. I'm putting in an AAV and using a Sani-tee for the P trap arm to empty into the drain but the sink pipe that you buy from the big box stores is 1 1/2" PVC but its way thinner than regular PVC so the OD is off and it doesn't fit with standard 1 1/2" fittings. I'm using a "Trap adapter" to thread the end of the P trap into the sanitary tee, should I do this a different way? 
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Mar 21, 2020 20:21
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I just installed a new bathroom sink+vanity, and I'm having trouble figuring out how to get the drain to connect. Here is what's under there now:   The blue drain from the new sink (technically it came with the faucet, a Delta Vesna) is 1 1/4" PVC. The horiztonal drain pipe from the wall is 1 1/4" metal...in theory. I bought just a metal 1 1/4" P trap kit and it wasn't even close to fitting anything. I tried to put the P portion onto the sink drain and it slides right off, no way would it be water tight. And similar with the wall drain. I put the horizontal piece that came with the kit into it, with the nut and plastic washer, and after it was tight I could slide it right out, though it was slightly tighter than the metal-on-PVC connection. In addition, the height for everything is really off...the wall drain is just so loving low, I think I can get it to work if I can manage to get a vertical extension on the sink drain but it will be practically hitting the floor of the vanity (the vanity has a drawer on the very bottom, so the wall drain wasn't as low "relatively" to the bottom of the old vanity. Here's a close up of where the wall drain goes in:  Looks like a big brass nut? Nut sure if I tried hard I could unscrew the pipe from it? DrBouvenstein fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Mar 21, 2020 |
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Mar 21, 2020 22:50
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Well I just went ahead and did it. Seems to work fine. On the advice of someone else in this thread like a year ago I used a sharpie to mark where the compression fittings are right now so I can check and see if they are sliding down (which is what happened last time and water went everywhere and finally made me get off my rear end and redo it so I could install the disposal)
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Mar 22, 2020 00:35
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My apartment toilet won’t flush all waste in a single flush. I don’t think it’s me because I’ve never had this issue before but with this toilet it happens every time. Is there something I can tweak or get the maintenance team to tweak? Or is it just a bad toilet?
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Mar 22, 2020 06:45
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How is your fiber intake
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Mar 22, 2020 18:18
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angryrobots posted:How is your fiber intake Powerful, and consistent with what it has been for years. So again, it’s not like I’m suddenly pooping like the triceratops from Jurassic Park.
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Mar 23, 2020 05:22
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TURGID TOMFOOLERY posted:Powerful, and consistent with what it has been for years. So again, it’s not like I’m suddenly pooping like the triceratops from Jurassic Park. My wife's at a lovely rental unit to finish a medical residency and the toilet there you have to hold for like 5 seconds to flush anything solid. Is it anything like that? In her case it's just a really poor implementation of a water saving toilet and the apartment complex said it's behaving as expected.
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Mar 23, 2020 13:06
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I'm mulling over getting a tankless water heater. I live in the Portland, OR area where water temp coming out of the tap is supposedly and average of 52 degrees. I want to run 1-2 showers, a dishwasher, and a high efficiency washing machine with enough left over for washing hands and large dishes in a sink or two. I think this means I need one rated for around 11GPM max because it will only produce around 6-8 GPM at 60 degrees temp rise. Does that sound correct? Follow up question: I have a 3/4 inch gas pipe into the mechanical closet where I would be installing this, but in the same closet I have a 1/2 inch coming off of that for my furnace. Do I need to run a new 3/4 supply line from the 1" main (about 40' of pipe away)?
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Mar 23, 2020 23:55
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therobit posted:I'm mulling over getting a tankless water heater. I live in the Portland, OR area where water temp coming out of the tap is supposedly and average of 52 degrees. I want to run 1-2 showers, a dishwasher, and a high efficiency washing machine with enough left over for washing hands and large dishes in a sink or two. I think this means I need one rated for around 11GPM max because it will only produce around 6-8 GPM at 60 degrees temp rise. Does that sound correct? I am just wondering... how many people live in your house. That is an absurd amount of simultaneous water consumption.
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Mar 24, 2020 00:30
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therobit posted:I'm mulling over getting a tankless water heater. I live in the Portland, OR area where water temp coming out of the tap is supposedly and average of 52 degrees. I want to run 1-2 showers, a dishwasher, and a high efficiency washing machine with enough left over for washing hands and large dishes in a sink or two. I think this means I need one rated for around 11GPM max because it will only produce around 6-8 GPM at 60 degrees temp rise. Does that sound correct? The worst case here is the washing machine filling + 2 showers simultaneously. (Your dishwasher pulls in 1-2 gallons of water at a time, sinks are rounding errors.) You should be washing your clothes in cold water anyways, or nearly cold if 52F is too cold to get things clean. That brings you down to 2 showers. What's the GPM on those? Can you post the model you're looking at, or a link to their temperature chart?
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Mar 24, 2020 00:38
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I wash towels and bedding on hot, clothes on cold. Our washing machine is constantly in use because we have young kids, one of whom is still having accidents, etc. I was looking at this one: https://www.rinnai.us/product/tankless-water-heater/rur199in It says 3-6 fixtures. We are going to get a new dishwasher later this year, but we use a 1980s rollaway currently. Is this major overkill for my climate? My thought was that I would not be getting close to the top of the range on a 60-65 degree temp rise. I don't have a great understanding of the GPM figures, but I thought the rule of thumb was 2.5 GPM for each shower, 1.5 for the dishwasher, and 2 for the washing machine. Is that wrong? I would rather be a little oversized than a little undersized unless there is a good reason not to oversize besides cost.
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Mar 24, 2020 02:34
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therobit posted:I'm mulling over getting a tankless water heater. I live in the Portland, OR area where water temp coming out of the tap is supposedly and average of 52 degrees. I want to run 1-2 showers, a dishwasher, and a high efficiency washing machine with enough left over for washing hands and large dishes in a sink or two. I think this means I need one rated for around 11GPM max because it will only produce around 6-8 GPM at 60 degrees temp rise. Does that sound correct? GWBBQ fucked around with this message at 18:29 on Mar 25, 2020 |
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Mar 25, 2020 07:18
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Not only is that way high, a hot water maker that size will struggle to modulate low enough to run a single sink.
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Mar 25, 2020 12:59
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sharkytm posted:Not only is that way high, a hot water maker that size will struggle to modulate low enough to run a single sink. Ours is that size from a different brand (15k-199kbtu) and it's fine. But our kitchen sink is 60 seconds away from it (or higher) so maybe that is the issue.
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Mar 25, 2020 14:20
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I mean, I think 11 GPM is based on only 35 degrees temp rise. I need 60ish degrees, and would be looking at an output of around 6.5 GPM. At least, according to the flow rate info in the manual. But it sounds like that's overdoing it, or else there is something I'm missing?
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Mar 25, 2020 15:41
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therobit posted:I mean, I think 11 GPM is based on only 35 degrees temp rise. I need 60ish degrees, and would be looking at an output of around 6.5 GPM. At least, according to the flow rate info in the manual. But it sounds like that's overdoing it, or else there is something I'm missing? You're reading that chart correctly, and that assumes you have short and well insulated connections from the output of the heater to the spigots. I have to go "up a setting" (I think to 130F) to actually get 120F water at my faucet. 120F - 50F = 70F delta T. That Rinnai 199K BTU unit is going to deliver 5.5GPM on your coldest days. If you don't have a compelling reason to go tankless, I would put a tanked heater in. If you actually use a shitload of hot water simultaneously (how often is your washer filling for your hot loads  at the same time you're taking two showers? (or whatever makes sense.)Page 73: https://media.rinnai.us/salsify_ass...on%20Manual.pdf
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Mar 25, 2020 15:52
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shortspecialbus posted:My wife's at a lovely rental unit to finish a medical residency and the toilet there you have to hold for like 5 seconds to flush anything solid. Is it anything like that? In her case it's just a really poor implementation of a water saving toilet and the apartment complex said it's behaving as expected. I also have to hold the handle for like 5 seconds for it to actually flush but: 1. It’s an old toilet 2. There’s an enormous amount of water used per flush So it’s not like it’s a designed water-efficient toilet.
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Mar 25, 2020 16:00
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H110Hawk posted:You're reading that chart correctly, and that assumes you have short and well insulated connections from the output of the heater to the spigots. I have to go "up a setting" (I think to 130F) to actually get 120F water at my faucet. 120F - 50F = 70F delta T. That Rinnai 199K BTU unit is going to deliver 5.5GPM on your coldest days. If you don't have a compelling reason to go tankless, I would put a tanked heater in. If you actually use a shitload of hot water simultaneously (how often is your washer filling for your hot loads Yeah, short doesn't apply to my washing machine, dishwasher, or kitchen sink. Well-insulated doesn't apply to any of it. I would like to be able to throw in a load of laundry and a load of dishes before hopping into the shower. It's kind of the weekend routine around here. A tankless would allow me to relocate the hot water back where it is supposed to be in this house (long story) which would solve the problem of pressure drop in the hot line any time someone turns on water elsewhere in the house. Also, my daughter is fond of taking long showers, after taking a bath.
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Mar 25, 2020 22:49
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therobit posted:Yeah, short doesn't apply to my washing machine, dishwasher, or kitchen sink. Well-insulated doesn't apply to any of it. I would like to be able to throw in a load of laundry and a load of dishes before hopping into the shower. It's kind of the weekend routine around here. In theory the pressure drop is a supply issue? (This quickly exceeds my understanding of residential plumbing.) But if you're not getting the GPM you're needing from the charts, then you might be looking at 2 of those units chained together and a massive gas line + exhaust flue. You can put a recirc pump on to keep things more "on demand." You're almost the worst case for tankless - comically peak high demand with low input temperature. The only thing which would make it worse is if you didn't have natural gas available. Are you sure you need to wash your linens with hot water? I'm not trying to be difficult here, ours seem to come out clean with regular tap cold water, albeit our tap is a bit warmer than yours. The only time we generally run ours on full steam ahead hot is when we're oxyclean'ing baby poop out of clothing, or if we happen to let some towels get super funky in a hamper on accident.
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Mar 25, 2020 23:10
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The reason for the drop in pressure is that the water heater was moved to somewhere where it is coming through a long run of 1/2" copper to get anywhere instead of starting on 3/4" and then necking down to 1/2" closer to the fixtures. Going tankless will let me put it back into it's original location and hook it up to the 3/4".
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Mar 26, 2020 00:57
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therobit posted:The reason for the drop in pressure is that the water heater was moved to somewhere where it is coming through a long run of 1/2" copper to get anywhere instead of starting on 3/4" and then necking down to 1/2" closer to the fixtures. Going tankless will let me put it back into it's original location and hook it up to the 3/4". That makes sense. Thanks.
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Mar 26, 2020 02:46
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I envy your water pressure that you can have the dishwashers, laundry machine, and a shower going at the same time without seeing much of a difference.
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Mar 26, 2020 12:57
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That Rinnai RUR199iN is a baller tankless and does a great job. I've installed several of the units recently. The size of the house is probably something to consider. If you are putting the 199 in a 1,200 to 1,500sqft house, yeah it is going to be overkill. Otherwise--have at it. I know the internal questions your asking yourself--yeah the 165 is probably enough, but the 199 is only a couple of hundred bucks more. If you get the smaller unit, and you need more hot water--it is no longer is $200 more, it is more like $1,000 for the 165 and $1,200 for the replacement unit and paying the plumber twice. sharkytm posted:Not only is that way high, a hot water maker that size will struggle to modulate low enough to run a single sink. (Not 100% on the flow rates and costs--PFAing the numbers.)
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Mar 26, 2020 14:45
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It's one of those dumb fantasy scenarios that never happen. Nobody he's going to have all three at the same time, not by choice. It's like, nearly every bathroom remodel that I do, people start shopping for a bathtub and realize their bathtub can double as a Jacuzzi. For only $400 more! Wow, a Jacuzzi! I'm surely going to use it often enough to justify all the extra expense and consecutive problems that will arise from simply having the stupid thing! Then, few years later I'm ripping it out in favor of a regular tub.
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Mar 26, 2020 14:50
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So I managed to order a bidet before they were sold out everywhere. I've never done any plumbing but I'm otherwise handy enough and the installation looks dead simple. My only concern is that I've heard that toilet shutoff valves are prone to breaking because they only get used once a decade. This wouldn't be a huge deal except I'm in a four family apartment instead of a single family home, and I don't think there's another shutoff valve upstream of the toilet besides the main shutoff valve. Is the valve breaking something I should be concerned about or just an unlikely worst case scenario? Is it likely there's another intermediate shutoff before it affects my neighbors? I know the units aren't individually metered for water. I wouldn't worry so much except for how difficult it would be to get an actual plumber right now if I do gently caress up
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Mar 26, 2020 15:04
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TURGID TOMFOOLERY posted:I also have to hold the handle for like 5 seconds for it to actually flush but: So no solution then? I am trapped in a double flush life?
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Mar 26, 2020 15:19
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Asleep Style posted:... If you have access to the main, consider doing a test - at worst a valve replacement - in the middle of the night. You need two people, as well as to be loaded for bear to replace the toilet valve. Have a towel handy. Station your helper at the house main and have your cellphones ready. That way if it starts leaking at the packing nut, you can tell then to close the valve immediately. TURGID TOMFOOLERY posted:So no solution then? I am trapped in a double flush life? So: if you hit the handle once & let go: - does it immediately stop flushing or - it's just slow to send water through the bowl/trap? PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 15:23 on Mar 26, 2020 |
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Mar 26, 2020 15:21
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Asleep Style posted:So I managed to order a bidet before they were sold out everywhere. I've never done any plumbing but I'm otherwise handy enough and the installation looks dead simple. My only concern is that I've heard that toilet shutoff valves are prone to breaking because they only get used once a decade. This wouldn't be a huge deal except I'm in a four family apartment instead of a single family home, and I don't think there's another shutoff valve upstream of the toilet besides the main shutoff valve.
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Mar 26, 2020 19:32
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Thanks for the advice. It's a multi turn valve, at the moment I can turn it about 1/8th of a rotation before encountering resistance. I was hoping to avoid a home depot trip but it sounds like it's a good idea to make sure I have all the parts and tools on hand to replace the valve in case I can't loosen it without busting it
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Mar 26, 2020 21:31
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HycoCam posted:That Rinnai RUR199iN is a baller tankless and does a great job. I've installed several of the units recently. The size of the house is probably something to consider. If you are putting the 199 in a 1,200 to 1,500sqft house, yeah it is going to be overkill. Otherwise--have at it. I know the internal questions your asking yourself--yeah the 165 is probably enough, but the 199 is only a couple of hundred bucks more. I put a 199 in my 1250 sqft 2ba home. I don't think it ever gets up to full throttle but the odds of us doing a hot load of laundry while the dishwasher is filling and filling the bathtub are basically non-existent. (We also only have 1 working bathroom right now don't judge me. )
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Mar 27, 2020 00:27
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Asleep Style posted:Thanks for the advice. It's a multi turn valve, at the moment I can turn it about 1/8th of a rotation before encountering resistance. I was hoping to avoid a home depot trip but it sounds like it's a good idea to make sure I have all the parts and tools on hand to replace the valve in case I can't loosen it without busting it More than likely, that multi turn just needs a new rubber stem washer. The resistance you're feeling is most likely the old washer breaking off and getting stuck in the way of the stem turning. The pieces can also break off and get stuck further down the line in the faucet, toilet, ice maker etc. But yeah, the issue with multi turns is that stop valves are shut off so infrequently that the rubber washers wear out and crack/break off in the years before that stop valve actually needs to be used. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Mar 27, 2020 |
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Mar 27, 2020 19:51
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kid sinister posted:More than likely, that multi turn just needs a new rubber stem washer. The resistance you're feeling is most likely the old washer breaking off and getting stuck in the way of the stem turning. The pieces can also break off and get stuck further down the line in the faucet, toilet, ice maker etc. That's good to know. I saw someone attributing it to mineral deposits. They recommended dipping a rag in boiling water and draping it around the valve, letting it sit for five minutes, followed by spraying wd40 where the packing nut and handle meet, and letting that sit for another few minutes before trying to work it loose. Is that likely to help in the case that the problem is with the washer? I'm generally suspicious when people recommend wd40, because I know there's usually an actual lubricant that's more appropriate for the application
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Mar 27, 2020 22:55
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kid sinister posted:More than likely, that multi turn just needs a new rubber stem washer. The resistance you're feeling is most likely the old washer breaking off and getting stuck in the way of the stem turning. The pieces can also break off and get stuck further down the line in the faucet, toilet, ice maker etc. A lot of stops do not have a removable packing nut anymore in order to rebuild them this way, at least in my neck of the woods.
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Mar 27, 2020 23:17
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PainterofCrap posted:So: if you hit the handle once & let go: Immediately stop flushing! If I hold the handle ~4 seconds it flushes completely, but remnants of the poop load still pop come back. Thank you for your help friend.
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Mar 28, 2020 04:45
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OK your flapper valve is dropping closed too quickly. The first thing to try is to adjust the throw on the handle. Pull the lid. There should be a chain connecting the lever to the flapper valve assembly. Try shortening it by either moving the lever end towards the far end of the lever (there should be a series of holes) or by shortening the chain by popping it loose & pulling it in a couple of links. Experiment with adjustments until the flapper stays open for a full flush, then falls shut on its own. If that doesn't work you may have to post photos of your flapper valve assembly & we'll go from there. If the mail is still being returned after an uninterrupted flush, your tank water level may be low.
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Mar 28, 2020 15:27
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I could use some advice on some sewer gas issues. Once in awhile we get a terrible sewer gas smell originating from underneath our kitchen sink. Usually we pour a bunch of water/bleach down it and it goes away for awhile. In addition to the occasional smell, we have a dishwasher that we rarely use but when we do we also get a bad sewer smell. Recently it has been happening almost every other day. Here is a picture of the pipes underneath the sink:  The flex hose indicated is the drain for the dishwasher which feeds into that tall black pipe in the far back corner. It is too tall for me to be able to pour water down it as it almost brushes the counter top. is the J trap on the black pipe drying out and letting sewer gas back in? Would running the dishwasher more frequently fix this? Or might it be a bad connection behind on the traps letting gas leak through? Thanks!
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Mar 28, 2020 16:21
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