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Dragyn posted:I'm pretty sure I should be able to find this, but I haven't had any luck yet. Where can copies of these codes be found? I imagine they are charged. You can also check the library, code books are pretty pricy.
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Apr 22, 2010 20:52
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Snakes are pretty simple in their use, though they can be tricky to use. Basically, this is how to use a snake: 1. feed the snake straight down a drain until you hit resistance. Ideally, you've reached the clog. Unideally, you've hit an elbow. 2. Tighten off that screw on the handle and use it to screw the snake clockwise a few turns while feeding more snake down the drain. If you can keep feeding, then you've just navigated an elbow. 3. If you reach resistance that you can't screw and feed past, ideally you've hit the clog. Screw into it just a few turns and give it a tug. If you feel resistance, you'll know you've hit the clog. 4. Pull and push on the clog until it comes free. Another method is to keep turning the head all the way through the clog, then counterclockwise a few times. Pull the clog all the way out if possible.
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Apr 26, 2010 05:24
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1. Yes, snake it out. 2. You could try a wire brush with steel bristles, but that would do hardly better than the brass. Try a utility knife. 3. Yeah, clean out the threads. Teflon tape is for preventing trickle leaks, not for helping threads go together easier.
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Apr 26, 2010 15:50
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:One of the sillcocks on my house is missing the cap for the anti-siphon. What would be the best way to fix this problem? I'm hearing some recommendations that I just replace the whole thing, and others that suggest I find a sillcock repair kit. Another option would be to find an exact replacement sillcock and steal just its cap, but the kit would probably be cheaper. If its a frost free sillcock, then it might not have its own valve, or rather your mains valve would be the one to shut off. Regardless, the shutoffs would be in the basement.
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May 2, 2010 14:08
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Papercut posted:I had the exact same situation at my in-law's house last Christmas. That elbow with the sphere used to be common in old houses. Google around, there are some forum posts on how to remove it. You have to be careful not to shear the pipe off inside the wall. The one I did had about 50 years of mineral build-up on it, but with a LOT of messing with it I was eventually able to unscrew the elbow using some vice grips. Alternately, try the old trick to tighten shower head elbows, but with a twist. Cut off the tip with a hacksaw, then stick a long screwdriver down the pipe and use it as a lever to remove the pipe. Again be careful to not shear off anything inside the wall.
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May 5, 2010 17:28
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There is a washer there. Actually, drains use nylon washers. You'll need 1 or 2, depending on your type of trap. Some drain pipes and kits have a washer built into the wall pipe. There are 2 pipe sizes used for drains: 1 1/4", and 1 1/2". The smaller stuff can fit into the larger stuff with a bigger washer. My advice would be to measure the diameter of the basin drain pipe, then take the rest of your drain pieces all the way to the wall to the hardware store so you know everything fits together before you leave. Stuff a plastic bag in the drain hole in the meantime so it doesn't stink up your house too bad.
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May 8, 2010 00:05
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And now a plumbing question of a different type. What's the proper way to dispose of an empty propane tank for my torch? Also, is there an easy way to clean up flux?
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Dec 28, 2010 07:42
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The pressure relief valve on my water heater is trickling. It's not much; this morning there was a damp ring around the heater base and a foot long wet spot towards the drain that didn't reach. My heater's heat setting dial is barely nudged past the middle mark. Should I be worried?
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Dec 30, 2010 02:02
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My parents have a single handle shower/no tub at their house that doesn't have hot water and I can't figure out why. It's in their addition, so it's about 10-11 years old and it did have hot water in the past, just not now. In fact the hot and cold were backwards, so I was going to turn the cartridge 180 degrees to correct that. When I went to check it however, the water never got hot. I messed around with the valves to the addition to no avail. I even went so far as to turn off the cold water valve for the addition and left the hot open. Every sink in the addition then had only hot water and no cold water. Then, just for a test, I tried pulling the shower cartridge out slowly until I got a spray of water out. There was none. I pulled the cartridge all the way out with the hot water line still open and there was a very small trickle, if that. It wasn't even warm either. I checked and there are no shower-only valves anywhere. How do I fix a problem like that?
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Jan 21, 2011 01:32
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Could be any number of things clogging the hot line. You can use compressed air to shoot in the hot side of the cartridge back to the water heater (disconnect the flex from the water heater so you don't shoot what ever poo poo back in to the water heater. And most likely when you pull a flex you will have to replace it or at least replace the rubbers in it.) My dad does have a portable air compressor... What fittings would attach it to the shower's cartridge housing? Better yet, what PSI setting should I use?
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Jan 21, 2011 17:44
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Matt Cruea posted:On city water. What's the best way to remove the handles? I suppose I could give instructions better than in the Fix It Fast thread... Here's the quick version. 1. cover the drain so you don't lose any parts 2. pop the caps off the ends of the handles with a knife 3. unscrew the screw underneath. Be gentle, it's brass and can break easily 4. pull the handle off the stem 5. unscrew the escutcheon from the wall 6. unscrew the packing nut 7. use pliers and pull the cartridge out. For the hot/cold cartridges, you may have to put the handles back on the stem and unscrew them out
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Aug 12, 2011 14:56
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Jadus posted:I'm renovating my kitchen, and in that process am putting in a new sink and a new dishwasher (there was no dishwasher before). For your hot water supply problem, I would cut off that line below the existing valve, then put one of these on. the big end goes over the pipe, you've got a 1/2" compression for your Ikea faucet and a 3/8" compression for your dishwasher. That would be the simplest one-piece solution. Just cut off the existing valve, remove any burrs, slide the biggest nut and ferrule on, then tighten them against the valve inlet. As for the drain solution and your proposed replacement, it's hard to say exactly what parts you would need. We would have to know where your tubs are in relation to the drain hole on the wall. The picture you gave has a vertical "baffle tee", and judging from the drain hole right in the middle of your cabinet, you may have to use a horizontal baffle tee instead. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Aug 27, 2011 |
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Aug 27, 2011 21:28
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Here's an odd plumbing question. Hot or cold, the first burst of water out of my kitchen faucet is always frothy and it smells and tastes like rear end. It only lasts about 2 seconds, and it's only my kitchen faucet that does this. I was wondering what's going on here?
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Sep 9, 2011 19:33
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Yeah, it's city water. I have a small place, only the kitchen and 1 bathroom faucet. I never noticed that from my bathroom faucet either.
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Sep 11, 2011 03:13
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What's the best way to remove a 55 year old brass cleanout plug that looked like it's never been used from a cast iron drain pipe? I've already broken off the raised square plug. I'm thinking a cold chisel and hammer.
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Nov 1, 2011 21:30
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Thats a tough call. You could heat the cast iron up with a torch to make the metal expand and easier for you to remove. But since you broke the plug off you may have to cut it out. Do you mean "tap and die"? edit: I tried the torch idea, while completely forgetting that sewer gas is flammable and the cover was now leaking... That nice little 4" fireball gave me a startle! And it didn't work! kid sinister fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Nov 1, 2011 |
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Nov 1, 2011 21:48
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I got it out! I had about 2 threads exposed on the sides of the plug, but I still couldn't budge it with channellocks or a monkey wrench. So it took a hammer and cold chisel like I thought. I put a the chisel on the threads perpendicular to the hole and used the hammer to drive the plug threads directly away from the pipe threads. After a big enough gap was made, I fit the cold chisel in and pried the plug out. I also found out why the cap wouldn't budge in the first place. Stupid installer crossthreaded the plug threads. Luckily all the damage was in the brass plug threads and not the ones in the iron pipe. Now to snake my drain! 
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Nov 1, 2011 22:17
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Run water down a house while you snake it. A rooter guy showed me that trick and it really did help unclog it. I hate snaking drains. You were right about that running water thing. My snake wouldn't turn this one corner until I did that.
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Nov 2, 2011 02:22
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By the by, I couldn't find a new 2" brass cleanout plug to replace the old one, so I went with a PVC one. That shouldn't cause any problems in a cast iron pipe, should it? Yes, I doped the threads.
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Nov 4, 2011 22:18
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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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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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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Any one wanna write up some basic plumbing guides . I will quote you and put it in the OP. 1. Don't bite your fingernails. 2. Before working on any plumbing, your pants must expose sufficient butt crack. In fact, this should probably be #1. 3. Cover the drain before you take your faucet apart so you don't lose anything. 4. Sewer gas coming out of a rarely used drain? Pour a gallon of water down it, followed by a shot of bleach. 5. Toilets are easy to fix! The flushing toilet is over 4,500 years old. That should give you an idea of how simple the technology is. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 07:33 on Dec 23, 2011 |
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Dec 23, 2011 07:29
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Chachi posted:We got a water test when we were in the purchasing process and everything came back fine, according to the people who did the testing. Have you done the basic "make sure all your traps are full" step yet? A lot of people forget basement floor drains when doing this.
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Dec 30, 2011 18:22
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tater_salad posted:Question Time : Washers can make funny sounds when draining. It can be just the way the flowing water echoes in the pipe. Mine does it, always has and I've got no drainage issues. Does your toilet run at all? Is the tank filling the bowl?
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Dec 30, 2011 18:26
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Chachi posted:Well, I flushed a good bit of water down every drain in the house I could think of and flushed the toilets - all twice - but I'm not really sure what else I could be missing. We're just on a crawlspace here, and it's a tiny, tight little thing at that so I'm not sure where any other drain traps could be. I'm only a first-timer with the whole home owership thing so I'm not really very knowledgeable about this sort of thing Look by your furnace and water heater, there's a drain there.
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Dec 30, 2011 18:55
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I suppose this is a plumbing question and not an HVAC one. The humidifier on my furnace is old, made by a company that has been bought and sold 5 times in the past 15 years. I had to replace the leaking solenoid valve on it last year, which was a bitch because I couldn't find a drop-in replacement. My old solenoid had 1/4" FIP holes on either side, and all of the new solenoids have 1/4" male compression on either side. So I had to improvise. The reason the old valve had female holes was because of the the brass parts on either side of the valve. The most important part of the supply-side fittings was something strange that I've never seen before. It was a brass 1/4" MIP coupler with a tiny nylon pinhole emitter on one end, and a mesh filter inserted inside the coupler. At first when I tried to swap out the valves, I noticed that a 1/4" line full on wastes too much water down the humidifier drain and the flow was WAY more than the old solenoid with its mystery part. I'm guessing it was some type of pressure reducer? A year ago when I swapped valves, I managed to piece together enough fittings to reuse that mystery part and all was good. Well, I forgot to put that mesh filter back in. That part clogged yesterday and I made the pinhole too big cleaning it out. Right now I just have the valve for that branch turned down to a trickle. So I got 2 questions: 1. What the hell is that part called? 2. Where can I get a replacement? kid sinister fucked around with this message at 22:22 on Jan 15, 2012 |
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Jan 15, 2012 22:18
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:1- Can I get a picture of the valve it may give me a better idea Here you go. The first picture is the entire pour spout that goes from the solenoid to the top tray of the humidifier. I didn't include anything for scale, but the mystery part is 1 inch long. Again, on the original solenoid valve, those fittings screwed into the supply side of the solenoid. I added a coupling on the end so I could attach the pour spout. edit: Nevermind, I solved my own problem. I had to work backwards from the evaporator pad, but I figured out that my humidifier isn't really a ComfortMaker. It's a re-badged General model 709, which I can get parts for still! The mystery part along with its entrance fitting called an "orifice assembly". kid sinister fucked around with this message at 03:49 on Jan 17, 2012 |
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Jan 16, 2012 19:15
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Never used one of those but I am with others when saying the cadet 3 is the best. ...but do they come in solid gold?
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Jan 18, 2012 07:12
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:No, do you have a toilet that does? No, mine's in silver.
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Jan 18, 2012 17:10
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resistentialism posted:What kind of drain pipe am I looking at here in this 1970s basement half-bath? Not plastic, doesn't seem to attach to a magnet. Is that clay pipe?
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Jan 26, 2012 22:02
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:You can get a new stem and seat for it and it will do the trick. Replace the seat can be a pain in my experience. Maybe others have done it more and can tell you a couple tricks. I dunno about needing a whole cartridge, he might be able to get away with just an O-ring.
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Jan 28, 2012 04:05
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chrix posted:After just buying a house last month, I'm finding all kinds of plumbing issues (surprise!) Hopefully some of you might be able to help me. 1) You have partially clogged pipes. Determining where those clogs are is the tricky part. What about the sinks in those bathrooms? Do they drain slowly too? 2) You don't need access to the pipes. With both handles closed and the drain covered, take out the diverter cartridge and examine it. Does it need a new rubber washer or O-ring? Is it cracked anywhere? You may just need to replace that whole cartridge.
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Feb 8, 2012 22:16
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chrix posted:2) This is something I can probably check tonight when I get home from work. Once I get the diverter cartridge out and find it needs to be replaced, how do I determine what part I need? Are these universal? If not, how do I find the correct one for my fixture? Crap, I never did answer this one for you... Determining which part you need depends on the condition the cartridge is in. Some parts are proprietary, some are universal. The first and most basic fix is the rubber seals. Almost all rubber washers and O-rings are universal. The ones that are tricky to replace are the ones the seal between the 2 pieces of the diverter cartridge. Often you will have to replace the whole cartridge. Even if all the rubber is okay, there could be a crack in the nylon on the cartridge somewhere and you will need to replace the cartridge. If that's the case, you will need to look up your local plumbing supplier and take your cartridge to them. They should be able to help you identify the manufacturer and order you a replacement part if they don't have any in stock.
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Feb 11, 2012 01:47
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Canuckistan posted:I want to install a water softener but I don't have a drain in my basement. I'd like to use the laundry drain is on the first floor so I'd be looking at a 8-10 foot vertical lift and about a 30 foot horizontal run. How old is your house? Where is your water heater and HVAC? Those both use drains. Well, ACs and humidifiers can use condensate pumps... Do you have a sump in your basement? kid sinister fucked around with this message at 23:24 on Mar 15, 2012 |
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Mar 15, 2012 23:17
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My water pipes rattle whenever I shut off the faucets. What's the fix for that? Strap them down tighter? Hammer arresters?
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Apr 3, 2012 18:59
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:What type of pipes are you dealing with, how far between supports? All my water pipes are copper. Running across the floor joists: they're supported every 6 to 7 feet. Running with the floor joists, a joist spanner every 7 to 9 feet. I noticed that some of my joist spanners were... odd. The pipes are just ran through a full-height joist spanner, and the pipes are not really fastened, with holes so large they leave lots of wiggle room. 
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Apr 4, 2012 18:07
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:You need a hammer arrester.3/4 copper is 6 feet between spans that it needs to be supported. You can get some pound in inserts to support it more but its most likely water hammer that is your problem. OK, I can install hammer arresters and put some more straps on my 3/4" pipe. I just noticed one strap was missing on my 3/4" over my water heater anyway. It looks like a past owner removed that strap to take up the slack from cutting the vertical pipe a fraction of an inch too short... I was thinking J hooks and maybe some suspension clamps for those thru-spanner holes in my picture. Where do I install my hammer arresters, and how do I figure out the size I need?
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Apr 5, 2012 13:04
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:You know I know they usually install them near dishwashers and washing machines because they have have the electronic solenoid valve. Now is this water hammer on the hot and cold side or just one? On both. My bathroom faucet has 1/4 turn handles on it if that matters. It might happen near the washing machine, but the pipes for that are bolted to the concrete basement wall.
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Apr 5, 2012 23:28
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:let it chill in the heat "Chill in the heat"? I think Rd Rash means "let it sit out in the sunshine"...
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Apr 25, 2012 20:19
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Cut out the T, use couplers on the other 2 branches. Use some new 1" to make up for any lost length on the other branches.
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Apr 29, 2012 04:08
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