Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020

[sengsational]

Garbage Disposal Replacement

Today I not only replaced a garbage disposal, but also made a video of it.

It's a pretty boring video, so save yourself some time and don't watch it...that's 12 minutes of your life you'll never get back

The old disposal had a plastic housing, which cracked and began to leak. Of course over Thanksgiving when we had people over. Well, not really "people", they were our grown kids

The plumbers putty that I already had wasn't supposed to be used on plastic, and the sink flange on the Waste King was plastic , so even though it was delivered to my door from Amazon, I had to make a hardware store run. I could have used 'tub and tile' silicone, but I didn't want to wait for it to dry, so I got some putty that works for plastic.

And of course the drain out of the disposal was different in several ways...first, it was about 3/4 lower, which meant wrestling the under sink plumbing into a changed configuration (which I didn't show in the video because of all the expletives). Also, the old unit had the typical threaded ring compression connection, whereas the new unit had a gasket, steel plate, and two bolts. Anyway, finally got it to fit together and not drip anywhere.

https://youtu.be/HyawmdCgSOI

 

[Sunset]

The dishwasher I installed a few months ago started leaking at the right angle connection for the water.
I have tried:
- teflon tape. - still leaked.
- plumbers putty - still leaked but pretty slow
- joint compound true blue - still leaked.

One thing I have not done is put many wrapping of teflon tape around the threads, the time I did it it was 1 layer.

So I figured I'd ask for suggestions in case my many layers of teflon tape does not work.

 

[Hermit]

Unfortunately, I think you may need to replace the connection. It would help to know if it is metal or plastic and if the original connection was glued, screwed, or clamped together. Maybe a picture?

 

[Sunset]

I am unable to upload a photo from my phone at this time....

It is a metal angle connecting to a plastic male thread.
The metal one is exactly like this right down to the rubber washer inside :

 

[Hermit]

I am unable to upload a photo from my phone at this time....

It is a metal angle connecting to a plastic male thread.
The metal one is exactly like this right down to the rubber washer inside :

I don't think tape would do it. If tightening the connections doesn't do it, a new compression ring may if it is leaking at the small end. You should be able to get either the plastic or brass compression ring at a hardware store.

 

[Sunset]

Its leaking at the large end, where it attaches to the inlet selonoid. The small end of the pipe in the photo is not leaking.

 

[John Galt III]

Sengsational, Congratulations on being inventive and resourceful. Good job of adapting to new circumstances!

 

[Hermit]

Its leaking at the large end, where it attaches to the inlet selonoid. The small end of the pipe in the photo is not leaking.

That looks like a regular hose bib connection. Did you replace the washer and tighten it down snugly perhaps with a pair of pliers? Not too tight, especially if the threaded connection is plastic.

 

[samclem]

Its leaking at the large end, where it attaches to the inlet selonoid. The small end of the pipe in the photo is not leaking.

I would try taking it apart and putting 2-3 layers of Teflon tape around the male threads. Then, have a look at the rubber washer to make sure it didn't get put in crooked and damaged the last time. Then, make sure the washer is fully seated and reassemble, with some firm tightening (with channel locks, etc). The Teflon tape isn't being used in this case to seal up the threads, but mainly to provide a slippery surface for allow the metal female threads to more smoothly slip over the male threads on the dishwasher and allow you to get it tightened down well while using less torque (and less chance of snapping the plastic part of the DW).

But, a question before you try the above: Did the fitting you are using come with the dishwasher? If you bought it, is there any chance you got the wrong kind? 3/4" GHT ("Garden Hose Thread") fittings have 11.5 threads per inch and are non-tapered. 3/4" NPT ("National Pipe Thread") fittings have 14 threads per inch and are tapered (the fluid is blocked by the threads as they mesh together, and the sealant/tape. No washer is needed/used). The picture you posted looks like a GHT fitting. If you were supposed to use an NPT fitting (because the male fitting on the DW is NPT), the GHT won't work (though it might feel like it was tightened down). A mistake like this would match the symptoms you describe--it "kinda works", but you can't get it to stop leaking. If that's the problem, you won't want to "make it work" with a bunch of tape or sealant--since the threads aren't really made for each other and are just jammed together in one small spot, the parts could eventually pop apart and make one heck of an expensive mess.

Edited to add: I don't know what thread spec (NPT or GT, etc) are usually used for DW connections.

 

[ERD50]

I am unable to upload a photo from my phone at this time....

It is a metal angle connecting to a plastic male thread.
The metal one is exactly like this right down to the rubber washer inside :

The large connector in the picture looks like a Female Garden Hose Thread. If the plastic pipe it is connecting to is a standard pipe thread (Male NPT), that's your problem.

Garden Hose thread is not tapered, it relies on the rubber gasket/washer to seal to the face of the male Garden Hose connector. The threads do not seal, even with lots of teflon tape. But pipe has a tapered thread, and a few turns of teflon tape will jam into the threads as it is tightened.

Garden hose into tapered thread will leak. Before I learned this, I once added a good amount of epoxy to the threads, and that worked. But those will never come apart - I do not recommend that.

Garden thread to Garden thread, Tapered thread to Tapered thread. Never mix the two.

edit - cross posted with samclem, I didn't refresh before I posted - and I can add, the pipe going to my dishwasher is standard NPT.

-ERD50

 

[Senator]

Does installing a furnace last week count? I saved ~$1,200 and spent 5-6 hours.

 

[Senator]

I am unable to upload a photo from my phone at this time....

It is a metal angle connecting to a plastic male thread.
The metal one is exactly like this right down to the rubber washer inside :

Most of the dishwasher I have installed used the garden hose adapter and a 3/8 flexible supply line. Never a leak. Skip any compression lines or copper lines.

 

[NW-Bound]

I am unable to upload a photo from my phone at this time....

It is a metal angle connecting to a plastic male thread.
The metal one is exactly like this right down to the rubber washer inside :

That looks like a regular hose bib connection. Did you replace the washer and tighten it down snugly perhaps with a pair of pliers? Not too tight, especially if the threaded connection is plastic.

A similar situation exists at the connection of the supply line to the toilet filler valve stem which is plastic. Overtightening causes stress in the plastic stem. Subsequent fracture causes a flooding disaster.

That was exactly what happened at my niece's house. They were away for a short trip, and came back to find the interior of their house all destroyed, along with much furnishing. And it was a single story. I can't imagine the damage with an upstairs flood.

A good washer is needed. There is no need to apply a lot of pressure to tighten the knurled knob. If the washer is good, hand tightening is sufficient.

 

[Tom52]

The three duplex electrical receptacles in my attached garage were well worn and a plug would often not make contact after 43 years in service. It was time to change them out. To keep up to code I changed out all three with tamper resistant receptacles. It was a bit of a pain because the electrician who originally wired the house/garage did not believe in wasting any wire. The leads were barely long enough to get them wired up. If we decide to stay in the house long term I will likely re-wire the entire garage but that would require removing all of the wall covering so it would be major work and expense.

 

[sengsational]

Garden Hose thread is not tapered, it relies on the rubber gasket/washer to seal to the face of the male Garden Hose connector. The threads do not seal, even with lots of teflon tape. But pipe has a tapered thread, and a few turns of teflon tape will jam into the threads as it is tightened.

Yep, there are two places where a connection is made...both non-metal, so no teflon tape required.

One is the gasket/washer. Sometimes yanking the hose around while tightening is required to compress the washer. That's why I sometimes use a pliers on the knurled connection (even though, as NW says, you shouldn't need to).

The second place where the connection is made is on the nylon compression fitting. Those are susceptible to "smoothness issues"; the less smooth, the harder they need to be tightened. The red arrow surfaces are what you check. Nicks are bad.

 

[jazz4cash]

To keep up to code I changed out all three with tamper resistant receptacles.

The things I learn here! I never heard that term before and had no clue of such a feature so I googled it. Do you think I should test my outlets? Our house was built in 1999.

 

[Walt34]

The things I learn here! I never heard that term before and had no clue of such a feature so I googled it. Do you think I should test my outlets? Our house was built in 1999.

I'd never heard of them before either. According to this video on Leviton's site the code went into effect in 2008 so your house does not have them. Our house was built in 2002 so it doesn't either.

Tamper Resistant Receptacles

 

[meierlde]

I'd never heard of them before either. According to this video on Leviton's site the code went into effect in 2008 so your house does not have them. Our house was built in 2002 so it doesn't either.

Tamper Resistant Receptacles

Did you buy GCFI equipped outlets. Garages can get wet and in wet places GCFI plugs or GCFI circuit breakers also provide additional safety (as well in Bathrooms and Kitchens)

 

[Koogie]

Be aware that those tamper resistant receptacles can be as stiff as a new grooms wedding night tackle when first installed.

A friend of the DW asked me to replace her receptacles at her new house because she thought they were "broken" I knew the trick (slight sideways pressure on the ground side) to getting the plug in and did it first try. She was mad at me but glad they didn't need to be replaced.

 

[samclem]

The tamper-resistant receptacles are a PITA. I wouldn't consider them except for new construction or a special circumstance.

 

[Tom52]

Did you buy GCFI equipped outlets. Garages can get wet and in wet places GCFI plugs or GCFI circuit breakers also provide additional safety (as well in Bathrooms and Kitchens)

Local code only requires that the first duplex outlet on a circuit be GFCI protected or optionally you could have a GFCI protected breaker controlling a garage circuit.

As a side note some electrical codes don't make a lot of sense. Case in point, in a garage all 120 volt duplex outlets must be tamper resistant if they are 5 ft or lower from the floor. This part makes sense so that a small child would be better protected from sticking something into an outlet and potentially getting injured. HOWEVER, code does allow a 240 volt outlet that has no tamper protection to be located anywhere, even below 5 ft. The 240 volt receptacles are not manufactured with a tamper resistant version therefore they can't be specified in the electrical code. So my shop has 22 tamper resistant 120 volt duplex outlets and two 240 volt receptacles that are not tamper resistant. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

 

[Souschef]

I have 2 10 light strings on my porch.Did a great job of installing, and even got DW's approval for the installation. The pressure was that her late husband was an electrical contractor.
Anyhow, one of the strings went dark. I took it down and used a meter on each bulb. I found the bad one-can you guess which one? THE 10TH one!

 

[Hermit]

Did you buy GCFI equipped outlets. Garages can get wet and in wet places GCFI plugs or GCFI circuit breakers also provide additional safety (as well in Bathrooms and Kitchens)

DS tested one of those GFCI outlets when he was 5 or 6. He was old enough to know better and too old for the outlet covers to do any good... He put both ends of tweezers in a GFCI outlet. Melted both ends off the tweezers and welded the receptacles shut before it popped.

 

[Sunset]

Be aware that those tamper resistant receptacles can be as stiff as a new grooms wedding night tackle when first installed.

A friend of the DW asked me to replace her receptacles at her new house because she thought they were "broken" I knew the trick (slight sideways pressure on the ground side) to getting the plug in and did it first try. She was mad at me but glad they didn't need to be replaced.

Your wife didn't mind you doing that to her friends receptacles

 

[ERD50]

DS tested one of those GFCI outlets when he was 5 or 6. He was old enough to know better and too old for the outlet covers to do any good... He put both ends of tweezers in a GFCI outlet. Melted both ends off the tweezers and welded the receptacles shut before it popped.

A GFCI does not protect against that kind of fault. Likely, the standard breaker/fuse went.

A tweezer from hot to neutral is just like any other device you plug in, except it's a short so it draws too much current and will blow the breaker (but that can take a second depending on the load). The current goes from hot to neutral, so the GFCI says that's just fine and does nothing.

The GFCI acts when current flows from hot, but less current flows into the neutral (an imbalance). This means there is another path from hot to ground, stealing that current. That might be through a human body.

If he had been grounded, and touched only the hot, the GFCI would have detected the imbalance in current (none returning in neutral), and would open very quickly.

So you can still kill yourself with a GFCI - if you are the load between hot and neutral. It can't tell you from a blender. If a GFCI tripped on a load from hot-neutral, it would shut off on everything!

Be careful out there!

-ERD50