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Old 12-28-2011, 09:10 AM   #21
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Must be some sort of correlation between holidays and plumbing problems; my cousin's water heater sprung a leak on Christmas eve. With the monday holiday there was no hot water there until yesterday afternoon.
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Old 12-28-2011, 01:35 PM   #22
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Must be some sort of correlation between holidays and plumbing problems; my cousin's water heater sprung a leak on Christmas eve. With the monday holiday there was no hot water there until yesterday afternoon.
+1 here - same thing - no hot water and it also provides our heating (water radiators here in Germany) - has happened two times before - once I had not hot water for 5 days! Of course hubby wasn't here then, so I gutted it out. This time he got to have the wonderful experience....over Christmas, no less.

They finally brought in the engineer - they don't speak very good English and my German isn't good enough for the technical terms they use (except for the blue collar four letter words ;-)) Plastic parts in water heaters aren't a good idea as they tend to heat up and cool down - thermally cycle and loosen up and then crack....don't know why they do this, but they've now replaced several parts several times. But the top of the water heater has a real nice digital panel and programmer....just can't heat water some times - huh!

We are moving in a couple of weeks, so goodbye oil heated water heaters and radiators - yahooo!
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Old 01-02-2012, 12:24 PM   #23
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OK, today is "be a plumber" day.

Here's that platform I mentioned, the basin wrench is on it:

SinkWorkPrep.jpg

And in action:

UnderSink.jpg

Here's the exact source of the leak around the garbage disposal. It only happens when you dump a lot of water into the sink at once. From the rust, you can see that it's been there a while.

DisposalLeak.jpg

So, I'll take that out, install the new sink then put the disposal back in, tightening or replace parts as necessary.
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Old 01-02-2012, 01:02 PM   #24
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OK, today is "be a plumber" day.
...
Maybe this should be designated "talk like a plumber Day". I've heard of talk-like-a-pirate day.

We should all go around saying things (in a deep voice) like
"Argh, hand me that monkey wrench DW" or
"where is that F*in washer?".
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Old 01-02-2012, 01:39 PM   #25
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I think I found the problem with the old faucet (broken gasket), but since I have a nice new one, I thought I'd go ahead and install it.

The big problem at this point is getting these things off:

nut.jpg

These hand-tightened nuts are pretty frozen, I've gotten one halfway off, but I've had to fight for every quarter turn. I use my channel locks, there's no way this could be turned by hand.

Is there some tool that will help with this?

Also, I realized too late that Moen and plumbing stores are closed today.
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Old 01-02-2012, 01:55 PM   #26
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I think I found the problem with the old faucet (broken gasket), but since I have a nice new one, I thought I'd go ahead and install it.

The big problem at this point is getting these things off:

Attachment 13340

These hand-tightened nuts are pretty frozen, I've gotten one halfway off, but I've had to fight for every quarter turn. I use my channel locks, there's no way this could be turned by hand.

Is there some tool that will help with this?

Also, I realized too late that Moen and plumbing stores are closed today.
I don't like these plastic threading nuts, they tend to break or strip. The only things that will help you here are lubrication (WD40 or some other lube) on the threads. Then the blunt end of a socket wrench extension and a plastic/rubber dead blow mallet to tap along the threading nut. Also, big vise grips would work here too.

If you're referring to the old one and don't care, use a Dremel cut off wheel on it to cut it off in a tight space.

I've been installing stop and waste gate valves, broke 2 brass compression nuts in 2 days. Not happy with Nibco brand (sold at Home Depot and Menards). Switched over to Watts brand.
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Old 01-02-2012, 02:30 PM   #27
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I don't like these plastic threading nuts, they tend to break or strip. The only things that will help you here are lubrication (WD40 or some other lube) on the threads. Then the blunt end of a socket wrench extension and a plastic/rubber dead blow mallet to tap along the threading nut. Also, big vise grips would work here too.

If you're referring to the old one and don't care, use a Dremel cut off wheel on it to cut it off in a tight space.

I've been installing stop and waste gate valves, broke 2 brass compression nuts in 2 days. Not happy with Nibco brand (sold at Home Depot and Menards). Switched over to Watts brand.
Nibco. Once on a work project I needed to quantify the dimensions on Nibco fittings. Many of their fittings did not meet their tolerances ie they took great liberties with dimensions in their manufacturing.
Bottom line is that they are low quality. Don't know about the other brands.

T-Al,

Nice pics. That backboad idea is really going to help me in my upcoming plumbing project under the kitchen sink.
I don't know the right tool but I bet there is one. Might as well grind it out with small pliers or a small adjustable wrench.

Good luck.
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Old 01-02-2012, 03:20 PM   #28
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Originally Posted by TromboneAl View Post
I think I found the problem with the old faucet (broken gasket), but since I have a nice new one, I thought I'd go ahead and install it.

The big problem at this point is getting these things off:

Attachment 13340

These hand-tightened nuts are pretty frozen, I've gotten one halfway off, but I've had to fight for every quarter turn. I use my channel locks, there's no way this could be turned by hand.

Is there some tool that will help with this?

Also, I realized too late that Moen and plumbing stores are closed today.
T-Al,

Do you have hard water in your area? If so, the long-term leak might have caused a calcium scale buildup. If that is the case, soak the area with a vinegar solution (a paper towel soaked in vinegar will help keep the area moist) for 20 -30 minutes and see if that loosens things up.

omni
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Old 01-02-2012, 04:38 PM   #29
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T-Al,

Do you have hard water in your area? If so, the long-term leak might have caused a calcium scale buildup. If that is the case, soak the area with a vinegar solution (a paper towel soaked in vinegar will help keep the area moist) for 20 -30 minutes and see if that loosens things up.

omni
Also try some wire brushing of the threads, then more WD40. I suspect there is 'crud' in the threads.

On a recent plumbing project, the drain nut kept cross-threading, no matter how hard I tried. I put some of the pipe dope I had on it, it was pretty thin, and provided some lube. I was amazed that it went on w/o cross-threading after that - the difference was stunning.

So maybe try some pipe dope as lube in there, and even tighten it and then loosen it to clear the threads?

Good luck.

-ERD50
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Old 01-02-2012, 06:10 PM   #30
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OK, done. 5.5 hours.

Yes, it was major crud that made it so hard to get those nuts off:

Crud.jpg

WD-40 and liquid-wrench stuff did not help. There was a lot of swearing.

I was about to drill the plastic nuts off, but I discovered at the very end that it is indeed possible to unscrew those with the basin wrench if you position it just right. That would have saved me a few hours work if I'd discovered it earlier.

I made a trip to the hardware store and got some real brass nuts to replace the plastic ones. The guy said I wouldn't need a washer, but he was wrong. Instead of a 50 mile RT back to the store, I used my Dremel to change the old nuts into washers (sanded down the threads), and that worked great.

The new nuts were $5 each, so I now see why Moen uses the plastic things. But if they designed them differently, they could be more easily removed with a basin wrench.

A new gasket was all I needed for the garbage disposal, and I got all the rust cleaned up. It was tricky holding it in place and getting it screwed back on, but the car jack did the trick.

DisposalJack.jpg

No leaks yet! And here's the payoff -- a nice shiny new faucet:

NewFaucet.jpg
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Old 01-02-2012, 06:21 PM   #31
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Looks great!

Plus, at a plumber's rate, for 5.5 hours. That's plenty of $$ saved.
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Old 01-02-2012, 06:24 PM   #32
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Looks great!

Plus, at a plumber's rate, for 5.5 hours. That's plenty of $$ saved.
Yeah, but the plumber could have done it in 20 minutes.
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Old 01-02-2012, 07:08 PM   #33
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Yeah, but the plumber could have done it in 20 minutes.
With $500 of custom speed-work tools...
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Old 01-02-2012, 07:34 PM   #34
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There was a lot of swearing.

My So replaced our Kitchen sink and facet . The facet never worked properly so he had to replace it again two weeks later when American Standard sent us a replacement . He could have won a swearing contest !
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Old 01-03-2012, 10:26 PM   #35
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One of the early posters said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
Our appliances, etc, tend to break around the holidays, or at least it seems that way. This year is no exception.

This is due to some universal but less documented law. I have had several people comment on appliance failures before or during the holidays. Our stove died the day before Thanksgiving 2 years ago with my DW hosting the meal. Last year the dishwasher broke (filled with water) during Thanksgiving dinner. There, proof positive.

Actually:, it is well documented. Murphy's Law (Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong at the worst possible moment) is well documented and taught to all engineers. As an engineer who spent time working on heavy equipment, I my experience has been that Murphy was an optimist.

I really like the back support tool. Wish I'd had it when I visited my father in law's house over Thanksgiving (who also had plumbing problems with 8 guests living in the house).

Lorne
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Old 01-04-2012, 09:29 AM   #36
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One final note: I was surprised to find that the high-rise faucet is much nicer and more convenient than the standard faucet. Just washing your hands or filling a cup works better.
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Old 01-04-2012, 03:52 PM   #37
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Our appliances, etc, tend to break around the holidays, or at least it seems that way. This year is no exception.
I'm living proof. I was away over the holiday, getting home on New Year's Day. As I was showering yesterday, I noticed the hot water was quickly turning cold. A trip to the basement confirmed my fear. The hot water heater was leaking a substantial amount of VERY rusty water.

A mere $1000 later, I now have a new water heater (replacing the one from 1994) with a functioning shut-off valve and the related gas shutoff and exhaust line brought up to city code.

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