I have a T on the cold side of my bathroom faucet that goes to two valves. The valves are pretty old so replacing them was my game plan for tonight. I figured why have 2 valves if I only need one so I tried to remove the soldered on T. 2.5 minutes of torch later and it's not budging. Is there a secret to this that I should know about?
Hotter torch. MAPP gas is good.
Hmmm really? How hot does it need to get? The water in the pipe was boiling.
The key is getting all the water out. Even a small amount of water will be a problem until it boils off.
Until the water is gone you won't get it hot enough to melt the solder.
Can I just get the different tank to use with the same torch?
jstand wrote: The key is getting all the water out. Even a small amount of water will be a problem until it boils off. Until the water is gone you won't get it hot enough to melt the solder.
Ah. That's a problem then. The shut off switch at the street doesnt appear to completely turn off the water in my house. There is a constant dribble that's always coming through.
Yup, MAPP and propane use the same torch.
You should also have a main valve inside the house
Open all the other faucets in the house, especially the downstairs ones. I even flush toilets just cause ... Then stick a wet-vac on the pipe to suck as much as you can out of the work area. If working with a propane torch, then shove a piece of bread into the pipe so that if blocks the water. The bread wont last long after the water is turned back on, but it will let you get the work done.
oldtin wrote: You should also have a main valve inside the house
I suspect that is the broken one by my front door. That's also on the replacement list.
NOHOME wrote: Open all the other faucets in the house, especially the downstairs ones. I even flush toilets just cause ... Then stick a wet-vac on the pipe to suck as much as you can out of the work area. If working with a propane torch, then shove a piece of bread into the pipe so that if blocks the water. The bread wont last long after the water is turned back on, but it will let you get the work done.
That makes a lot of sense...I didn't quite think this through. My thoughts were to open all the top faucets to provide air so this bathroom faucet would drain/let the water siphon but I should have opened the lower ones too. I'll try that tomorrow.
Water is a fantastic heat sink. Highest naturally occurring specific heat. Gotta figure out how to get it out of there.
As for how hot? HOT.
And you'll want to use a pair of channel locks when things get really rolling to gently twist the fitting/valve off the pipe.
Enyar wrote:NOHOME wrote: Open all the other faucets in the house, especially the downstairs ones. I even flush toilets just cause ... Then stick a wet-vac on the pipe to suck as much as you can out of the work area. If working with a propane torch, then shove a piece of bread into the pipe so that if blocks the water. The bread wont last long after the water is turned back on, but it will let you get the work done.That makes a lot of sense...I didn't quite think this through. My thoughts were to open all the top faucets to provide air so this bathroom faucet would drain/let the water siphon but I should have opened the lower ones too. I'll try that tomorrow.
Yep follow this guys advise and it'll be a peice of cake. If you have welding gloves I suggest using them to pull the hot pipes appart. Just twist and pull and they should slip right out.
Since you're in Florida if I remember correctly, the pipes are running above your ceiling not in the slab so opening the lowest tap (often the toilet) will draw all the water down and out of the section your trying to heat.
Oh and remember to always heat from the bottom of the pipe, hot air rises.
MAPP gas. I recently used those shark bite fittings. Impressive.
aircooled wrote: Yup, MAPP and propane use the same torch.
Sort of. MAPP torches will burn propane, but not all propane torches are rated for MAPP.
Followed by
This just seems to be how most of my plumbing projects wind up.
Another vote for the shark bite fittings. I used them when install in a new hot water heater a year or so ago. I can't sweat vertical pipes to save my life (especially if any water in them).
with the shark bites? water heater was plumped in under 5 minutes. Never a leak.
I will re-iterate the need to remove the water from the pipe. In turning from a liquid to a gas it will steal all of your heat and the pipe will not get substantially above 100 degrees C.
Flashbacks to the boiling water lab in highschool chemistry. It's boiling, it'll be 212 until the water is gone. Watch it.
The little cap on the side of a valve is to drain the water from the downstream side of the valve. Amazing how often they are installed incorrectly and how often people struggle to get water from their lines without knowing these are there. Not all valves have them, but they can really help if you have them.
I ended up using my oxy acetylene setup to get one of the external spigots replaced that the idiots who installed it put at the wrong angle. The lowest point in the system was the bend right at the soldered fitting. Shop vac first, then oxy until it boiled off.
Edit: Oh yeah, and heat shields for the rafters!
oldtin wrote: You should also have a main valve inside the house
That's a Northern thing. Very few Southern houses have them.
In reply to Enyar:
If your main shutoff leaks, you need to drain faster than it fills.
Don't forget to open the outside hose bibbs. They are pretty low.
Another vote for shark bites.
An amateur solder joint in a wet pipe is a leak waiting to happen, especially on the inverted side. You'll be reall proud of yourself when you finish, but it's very likely it will only be a matter of time.
If it fails later, it could be a blowout instead of a drip. A pressurized water pipe failure could cause an awful lot of water damage.
Do yourself a big favor. Shark bite.
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