What did YOU do today?

[Shran]

I came home to 1/2" of water in one corner of my basement last night. It was dripping out of a Sharkbite fitting that I put in years ago for a water heater retrofit. I'm starting to not trust those. Since I was already in for fixing that, I figured it would be a good time to delete a couple of old valves that serve no purpose. I'm sure they were seeping a bit - should have done that years ago - I just replaced the mess with an elbow and a new piece of pipe. Went from 10 soldered joints to 3 in that spot - one pipe went through the exterior wall into the crawl space for an old spigot, you can see where I cut that off. Glad that's gone too. Really was not the thing I wanted to do last night but it did need to be done.

 

[sgtsandman]

I have a whole pile of tools, like that pressure tester, that I bought and only used one time. I think I’m speaking for everybody, but I’d rather buy a tool and learn how to do it, then pay a fortune to a shop that probably won’t do as good a job.

The one I'm eyeballing will also apply a vacuum and service the system. It is supposed to make it so air pockets are not possible. If it works as it is reputed, I'll be using it every 3 years, minimum when doing coolant changes. With the way the vehicles are spread out year wise, it will probably be more like every other year, if I'm doing the mental math right.

 

[sgtsandman]

I came home to 1/2" of water in one corner of my basement last night. It was dripping out of a Sharkbite fitting that I put in years ago for a water heater retrofit. I'm starting to not trust those. Since I was already in for fixing that, I figured it would be a good time to delete a couple of old valves that serve no purpose. I'm sure they were seeping a bit - should have done that years ago - I just replaced the mess with an elbow and a new piece of pipe. Went from 10 soldered joints to 3 in that spot - one pipe went through the exterior wall into the crawl space for an old spigot, you can see where I cut that off. Glad that's gone too. Really was not the thing I wanted to do last night but it did need to be done.

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I'm eventually going to have to bite the bullet and change out a bunch of shut off valves in my basement. They are all crusty and need replaced. I probably should evaluate the layout and see where else a valve is needed. There has been more than one time that I had to shut off water to the whole house in order to do some repair work

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I'm eventually going to have to bite the bullet and change out a bunch of shut off valves in my basement. They are all crusty and need replaced. I probably should evaluate the layout and see where else a valve is needed. There has been more than one time that I had to shut off water to the whole house in order to do some repair work

Probably not a bad idea to consider replacing as much old copper with PEX as possible. At some point that’s going to have to happen at my buddies place, we just haven’t got that far along with the project yet. PEX and quarter-turn valves is the way to go.

 

[sgtsandman]

Probably not a bad idea to consider replacing as much old copper with PEX as possible. At some point that’s going to have to happen at my buddies place, we just haven’t got that far along with the project yet. PEX and quarter-turn valves is the way to go.

I don't trust PEX for a couple reasons but quarter turn valves are the plan.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I don't trust PEX for a couple reasons but quarter turn valves are the plan.

So, there’s cheap PEX and not cheap PEX. Done right, the cheap stuff is ok. Rahau PEX and the proper fittings is the expensive stuff and it’s good. You have to expand it to get the fittings in and then you use a tool to pull a sleeve over to lock it in place. That’s what all of the radiant heat plumbing is in my parents house. Big box stores don’t sell that stuff.

 

[Shran]

That valve that still has the handle on it was the original supply shutoff to the water heater and it was froze up solid - I had another valve after that anyway. The other valve in the pic with no handle on it was for shutting off the outside water but it was clearly broken. Just time to eliminate all the mess and unnecessary pieces. I hate doing plumbing in the basement because I have to drain a ton of water out of everything above. It never all comes out so it's constantly dripping while I'm trying to work.

I have done a lot of PEX and a lot of copper - nothing wrong with either as long as you do the install right. Usually for PEX I do the crimped ring style clamps - I do not trust the hose clamp style and I don't have an expander tool for the third style (but those are really good.) PEX is a lot more tolerant to freezing, copper will burst everywhere.

It's when you get into mixing and matching is when you have problems. These damn Sharkbite fittings are the devil's temptation and there is a very clear reason why they say NOT to use them inside a wall or anywhere with no access... they can and will leak eventually since it's just two O rings that seal it. This is the 3rd one that has leaked but man are they easy for repairs! I think they may be OK for PEX to PEX but PEX to copper or copper to copper is where I really don't trust them.

Copper is still my favorite, I enjoy sweating joints together and it's so nice & shiny when you're done but I'm a weirdo like that.

 

[sgtsandman]

I really dislike plumbing work. Rarely is a job a simple and easy one. Especially drain lines. And they are usually nasty inside to boot.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I really dislike plumbing work. Rarely is a job a simple and easy one. Especially drain lines. And they are usually nasty inside to boot.

Yup

If I can get a project done with fewer than three trips to town I am doing really good.

 

[Shran]

I had to make a trip to Menards but only because I had a bunch of 1/2" street elbows and no normal ones. Also I needed a 22-1/4" piece of pipe and my spare piece was only 21" long. Sure, I could have EASILY scabbed it back together with what I had on hand, but I think that's how this problem started in the first place. Sometimes I learn my lesson.

 

[scotts90ranger]

The one I'm eyeballing will also apply a vacuum and service the system. It is supposed to make it so air pockets are not possible. If it works as it is reputed, I'll be using it every 3 years, minimum when doing coolant changes. With the way the vehicles are spread out year wise, it will probably be more like every other year, if I'm doing the mental math right.

I have the cheap Harbor Freight vacuum fill system for coolant, vacuum filling is the way to go... on the '97 Ranger at least I have to remember to crimp off the overflow bottle hose but that's easy enough... I'd prefer to seal to the actual gasket surfaces but expanding rubber outwards works fine as long as you eliminate the overflow bottle... modern systems with the pressurized tank is easier with this kit...