My plumbing inspector is requiring me to raise two washing machine valves out of the laundry room sink. Back-siphon potential. This is a 1927′ house with iron pipe and fittings. Any tricks for loosening a chrome faucet from an iron elbow without breaking it and snowballing all the way back to the source?
BTW He won’t allow anti-siphon fittings in the sink.
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Replies
heat the joint/threaded area with a propane torch (do you want to keep the faucet????) If you want to keep the faucet, then direct the heat on the iron pipe, close to the chrome. It may help to put a wrench on the nut, then gently tap the wrench handle with a hammer, creating a kind of low-tech impact wrench...
I won't be keeping the faucets
torn's reply was perfect, heat and tap gently while turning. it might help to have a third hand in this process, and be careful with the fire, have squirt bottle and fire ex handy
it may not work, have plan "B: ready. now may be a good time to replace some old piping. it will happen sooner or later anyway and you may as well tackle it while you are at it, its just economic sense. i would certainly get a bid on repiping and if you are a competent do it yourselfer with a little expert advice/supervision (if you do the crawling under the house you can get a lower rate from your plumber friend who does side jobs) .....
Thanks for the advise.
I hope I don't have to do plan B. Both sides of this wall has old tile running up 5'. I would hate to disturb that. I have a few inches of exposed pipe behind the sink and two elbows, so if I break the first I have another chance at it. Although I would probably have to move this cast iron sink to get good access to it.
Since you're not keeping the faucet, put torch right on area where the female threads are, heating will cause expansion.
Crescent, pipe wrench, & channel locks work great might require a quick rap with hammer to "shock" the joint.
If that does not work, then it's the good ole hack saw, time consuming yet effective.
“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ‘tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.” —Benjamin Franklin
Try Kano's SiliKroil penetrating oil, by far the best one I've ever found. Squirt it thoroughly, tap all around the fitting with a hammer. Go to lunch or something, give it some time, then squirt and tap again, and try a wrench on it.
http://www.kanolabs.com/
-- J.S.
I have found P!Blast (or sumthin like that), available at hardware and auto parts stores, to be excellent for opening old plumbing joints. It is apparently designed for motor manifolds where the heat has really bonded things 2gether.
Spray the connection, tap with a hammer and leave it alone for a day. Maybe repeat for a 2nd day. It worked on 90 year old water pipes that I couldn't previously move with a 4' cheater pipe on the wrench.