Shoddy plumbing work... - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

t walgamuth · #16 01-19-2017, 10:56 PM

good idea but to work it requires a pretty heavy blast of amperage does it not?

kerry · #17 01-19-2017, 11:21 PM

Gas fired tankless. My nephew had a tank water heater in his attic and replaced it with a gas fired tankless. We once had a tanked water heater in a crawl space fail in a condo. They had installed the heater before putting in the floor. The access hole to the crawlspace was smaller than the heater. We installed a gas fired tankless with a powered vent thru the wall in the laundry closet.

barry12345 · #18 01-20-2017, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry

Are you referring to shark fittings? I like them and use them myself. I've wondered about the life span of the o-rings but I haven't had any fail yet and some are about 6 years old. I've had soldered joints fail in the past so they're not guaranteed. I also use Pex now instead of copper. Where I attach Pex to copper I use a shark fitting.
I put in a water heater a few weeks ago. $540 for a 50 gallon gas heater from Home Depot and a couple of hours work. Didn't use shark fittings or pex because the old heater had flexible copper connectors. Worst part was getting the old heater up the stairs from the basement, god, those things get heavy after being in use for 10 yrs.

Yes shark fittings are having good acceptance it seems.

If Tom had to replace that failed drain pipe in his building with large copper by code today. He would have had no concern about the price as the stroke would have done him in.

Forty to fifty feet of four inch or larger new copper pipe today might be like buying chrome for the 39 Studebaker. . I have doubts the pipe failed from flow erosion over the years. More likely from chemical reaction.

Although I cannot think of what was the most probable active component. So perhaps just a poor grade of copper pipe or straight corrosion of the copper over time. The plastic replacements are really cheap anyways by comparison.

Actually another consideration came to mind. Perhaps the original drains where cast iron. At sometime a section was replaced with copper. That could have created the anode for the remaining cast iron in the drain system.

Who gets the salvage or scrap value of the old copper? Was about three dollars a pound the last time I sold some I think.

kerry · #19 01-20-2017, 01:56 PM

By the way, I recently discovered clear PVC drain pipe. I plumbing in a short section to my ABS kitchen drain pipe. A quick and simple way of seeing what is happening inside drain pipes. I'll be adding the 'sight glass' portion whenever I renew drain pips. Bought the clear pipe from US Plastics. Not cheap though.

t walgamuth · #20 01-20-2017, 02:09 PM

No room for a flue to use gas tank-less in my building.

The copper apparently was installed with some belly. The belly filled up with sediment until it blocked flow. The plumber said the stuff lying in the pipe corroded it. As for salvage the pipe was half full of suspicious looking gunk.

I left it on the curb for somebody who wanted the copper enough to take it along with its cargo.

t walgamuth · #21 01-20-2017, 02:12 PM

$1800...yikes! (about what I expected.)

kerry · #22 01-20-2017, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

No room for a flue to use gas tank-less in my building.

.

Straight out the side of the building with a power vent?

t walgamuth · #23 01-20-2017, 02:51 PM

Well, there is that possibility but the outside wall is 25' from the kitchen and bathroom and the building is five stories. I suspect fumes might feed back into nearby apartments.

Then there is the cost of running gas to each apartment. I'll probably keep repairing and replacing the conventional electric tank wh. Costs me about $800 for a new 20 gallon short installed.

Replacing the elements, their controls, the elements and the pop off valve is about $300 I suspect.

I am on a program of replacing all those parts. I had to replace the tank on one or two though as there were factors indicating that the tank was too damaged to repair.

Whatever I do its multiplied by 23 more or less as that is how many units I have in the building.

If gas is practical I will always use that as cost of operating is superior to all known alternatives.

strelnik · #24 01-20-2017, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spdrun

Sweating the joints would have taken maybe a minute more per joint -- a metal-metal bond is more reliable than rubber-to-copper. Leaving gaps in the cement around the vent pipe is just bad work and a CO hazard. Same with not supporting the expansion tank -- it's bad work, a leak hazard since it stresses the pipe joints, and takes a few minutes to do right.

The install would have flunked inspection as it was, and rightly so. Unfortunately, you have to wait a few weeks for an inspection appointment in that town.

Oh, and the kicker? They didn't re-open the water valve to the house fully. When I took a shower after I finished cleaning after them, there was next to no water pressure, and the pipes were making a screaming sound.

I will disagree with you on the sweating of the pipes.
I have no water on the second floor of my house because the pipes are sweated. I also have to replace the plaster ceiling in my bathroom downstairs where water accumulated and destroyed the ceiling.

I will probably replace the stuff myself using compression fittings which do not suffer the issues which the shark or sweated types of connecters face.

Dubyagee · #25 01-20-2017, 04:57 PM

A friend converted to pex due to copper pipes splitting twice in a few years. Flooded the house each time. My house is pex and has never failed.

spdrun · #26 01-20-2017, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strelnik

I will probably replace the stuff myself using compression fittings which do not suffer the issues which the shark or sweated types of connecters face.

What issues? The house was built in 1950. The soldered connections have lasted 67 years without trouble.

Also, those aren't in-wall connections, but exposed in the basement.