Older Folks and Vaping Back Porch - Part Five

[Janet H]

Yeeeehaaaaa!!!

My Wet Willie "Drippin Wet" album just got here!... all the way from England!

Found one in "Used - Good condition" on Amazon.

And after a furtive first-glance, it looks almost immaculate!... esp. compared to my old used-and-abused one I bought 1973, which now has an edge crack and scratches galore.

Obviously it wouldn't fit in the mailbox, so the post-lady pulled up in the yard, blew the horn, and was holding it out the car window when I went out - and immediately knew what it was!

I almost hugged her, but she didn't look like that would be such a good idea. Probably wouldn't have appreciated it one little bit.

We have a postman who walks down the driveway to the front door to deliver something too big for the mailbox. Or sometimes he'll leave the box inside the open garage door with our mail on top. Nice guy.

 

[garyoa1]

PVC water pipe is throwing me in the first place.

 

[DancingHeretik]

Hope nobody here really remembers this one. Shown at the movies to introduce the service…

Very cool video. Thanks!

I LOVE the alt-tab to jump from one screen to the next.
You can also press down the Ctrl key, and use the rollie thing on your mouse to increase/decrease screen size. Love that one too.

Alt-tab. I've accidentally done that a few times. Never knew how. Good to know.

We have a postman who walks down the driveway to the front door to deliver something too big for the mailbox. Or sometimes he'll leave the box inside the open garage door with our mail on top. Nice guy.

So lucky!

 

[bigbells]

Can you post up a picture of the two pipes you're trying to connect.

Here's a 5/8 to 3/4 coupler ... just no idea if it suits you need at all.

SharkBite U057 Reducing Coupling 3/4" x 5/8" SharkBitePlumbing.com

PVC water pipe is throwing me in the first place.

Not sure that I know my plastic pipe types. Delete "PVC" and replace with "some kind of plastic". Here's a picture. The main supply pipe is a fairly flexible black plastic, a piece of which is shown, that fits over the 3/4" dark gray connector on the right. The light gray piece of pipe on the left is the remainder of what used to fit over the copper elbow. Water flow is right to left. There's just enough left of that light gray pipe, visible in the picture, to put on the copper elbow. The end points of the red curved line are where I'm going to try to unscrew the connections, and then join them together with the blocked valve now gone. However, it would be so much easier if I could just get a connector to connect the black pipe on the right to the copper elbow. The copper elbow is not shown because it's underneath my house, still attached at one end to the pipe that goes into the house.

I LOVE the alt-tab to jump from one screen to the next.
You can also press down the Ctrl key, and use the rollie thing on your mouse to increase/decrease screen size. Love that one too.

Alt-tab. I've accidentally done that a few times. Never knew how. Good to know.

There's one I do accidentally that I always have a hard time undoing... it changes editing of text to "replace" instead of "insert". I hate it when that happens.

 

[DancingHeretik]

There's one I do accidentally that I always have a hard time undoing... it changes editing of text to "replace" instead of "insert". I hate it when that happens.

There should be an 'Insert' key up above the keypad, next to the 'Numlock' key. The 'Insert' key toggles Insert on and off, just like the Numlock key toggles Numlock on and off.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

ruh roh! ... If matt didn't chime in w/ some hints ... you've got a puzzle on your hands. Sorry plumbing and electricity are not in my DIY arsenal.

Copper, Pex and CPVC 1/2 inch pipe is actually 5/8 outer diameter. A push fitting/gator bite will work on it.

That looks like 3/4 pex on the left so use a 3/4 push fitting to 3/4 male pipe thread adapter there and reuse the barbed fitting on the right into a neew 3/4 inch shutoff valve. use a ball type valve. Much better. Also if you use a push fitting on the PEX tubing always use the provided plactic insert in the end of the PEX. The fitting squeezes really hard on the tubing and will eventuall cave it in a bit if you do not use the stiffener insert in the end.

I am a Plumbing Pro at Lowe's.

From the picture that is what I am seeing.
Also you will not be able to see thru that valve as the water path thru it is a dog leg of 2 right angles.
Can you blow thru it?

 

[DavidOck]

Not sure that I know my plastic pipe types. Delete "PVC" and replace with "some kind of plastic". Here's a picture. The main supply pipe is a fairly flexible black plastic, a piece of which is shown, that fits over the 3/4" dark gray connector on the right. The light gray piece of pipe on the left is the remainder of what used to fit over the copper elbow. Water flow is right to left. There's just enough left of that light gray pipe, visible in the picture, to put on the copper elbow. The end points of the red curved line are where I'm going to try to unscrew the connections, and then join them together with the blocked valve now gone. However, it would be so much easier if I could just get a connector to connect the black pipe on the right to the copper elbow. The copper elbow is not shown because it's underneath my house, still attached at one end to the pipe that goes into the house.
View attachment 527276



There's one I do accidentally that I always have a hard time undoing... it changes editing of text to "replace" instead of "insert". I hate it when that happens.

You're replacing the valve anyway, so get an equivalent size new adapter with the new valve. It's aged, brittle and cheap.

Get the new valve so it's other side matches up with what you need to connect to the copper ell.

There are all sorts of PVC adapters to go from pipe thread to the type of poly pipe your main line is. So you could put one of those into the brass elbow and go PVC from there, converting back at the valve, and with a union in the middle for assembly.

Shop Genova 3/4-in Dia Union CPVC Fittings at Lowes.com

 

[Robert Cromwell]

You're replacing the valve anyway, so get an equivalent size new adapter with the new valve. It's aged, brittle and cheap.

Get the new valve so it's other side matches up with what you need to connect to the copper ell.

There are all sorts of PVC adapters to go from pipe thread to the type of poly pipe your main line is. So you could put one of those into the brass elbow and go PVC from there, converting back at the valve, and with a union in the middle for assembly.

Shop Genova 3/4-in Dia Union CPVC Fittings at Lowes.com

Does the brass elbow have a little metal band on it holding the tube to it?
If so this takes a special tool to install those bands. Use a push fitting/gator byte to connect to the PEX tuping instead. And btw 3/4 copper/PEX and CPVC measure about 7/8 inch OD.
Lowes also has 5 ft pieces of the PEX tubing if things wind up too short and you can use the push fittings to splice in a piece.

The PEX is the best to use in cold climates as it is not prone to burst if it freezes unlike copper, plastic and steel.

 

[bigbells]

Copper, Pex and CPVC 1/2 inch pipe is actually 5/8 outer diameter. A push fitting/gator bite will work on it.

That looks like 3/4 pex on the left so use a 3/4 push fitting to 3/4 male pipe thread adapter there and reuse the barbed fitting on the right into a neew 3/4 inch shutoff valve. use a ball type valve. Much better. Also if you use a push fitting on the PEX tubing always use the provided plactic insert in the end of the PEX. The fitting squeezes really hard on the tubing and will eventuall cave it in a bit if you do not use the stiffener insert in the end.

I am a Plumbing Pro at Lowe's.

From the picture that is what I am seeing.
Also you will not be able to see thru that valve as the water path thru it is a dog leg of 2 right angles.
Can you blow thru it?

You're replacing the valve anyway, so get an equivalent size new adapter with the new valve. It's aged, brittle and cheap.

Get the new valve so it's other side matches up with what you need to connect to the copper ell.

There are all sorts of PVC adapters to go from pipe thread to the type of poly pipe your main line is. So you could put one of those into the brass elbow and go PVC from there, converting back at the valve, and with a union in the middle for assembly.

Shop Genova 3/4-in Dia Union CPVC Fittings at Lowes.com

Does the brass elbow have a little metal band on it holding the tube to it?
If so this takes a special tool to install those bands. Use a push fitting/gator byte to connect to the PEX tuping instead. And btw 3/4 copper/PEX and CPVC measure about 7/8 inch OD.
Lowes also has 5 ft pieces of the PEX tubing if things wind up too short and you can use the push fittings to splice in a piece.

The PEX is the best to use in cold climates as it is not prone to burst if it freezes unlike copper, plastic and steel.

Thanks, Robert and David.

I was intending not to replace the shutoff valve at all. I've never used it. I cut off the water by tripping the breakers, but maybe I should put a valve there anyway?

I can blow a tiny bit of air through the valve... an extremely small amount. It's blocked.

Yes, there was a crimped copper band holding the.. PEX?.. tubing over the copper elbow. I melted the tubing with a torch in order to remove it from the copper elbow. I bought some stainless steel crimp rings but got tired of looking for the needed tool to crimp them, and will look for a push fitting/gator byte.

The PEX tubing is 7/8" outside diameter and 0.68" inside diameter to the best of my measuring ability with a good set of electronic calipers. The black pipe (CPVC?) is just barely over 1.0" outside diameter and 7/8" inside diameter.

 

[MattB101]

Yay!

Speaking of DIY projects, I have a current-day such project, not yet resolved. You may remember when I posted about 2 weeks ago that my water supply had frozen despite the fact that I left the tub faucet running that cold night.

When the temperature got above freezing 36 hours later, I still had no water. I figured it must be the electrical connection in the pump house. I had messed with it just a couple days prior and so it seemed logical that I had made it worse instead of better.

So, I dismantled the connection (which is just the 3 wires of a grounded 110V circuit) and did a halfway decent job of making it more secure, using waterproof twist connectors for each of the 3 junctures.

Flipped the breakers back on for the pump. Still no water into the house, but the line leading to the outside spigot was spurting like crazy, so I now knew that there was no problem with the pump or the electrical connections, and that there must be a blockage in the line that goes into the house. This turned out to be a correct diagnosis. The most likely culprit was the shut-off valve, so I removed that section of the supply line since it was impossible for me to simply remove the valve, which was inline with a curious combination of different diameter hardware in several types of metal and 2 different types of plastic.

I then fixed the leaking line to the outside spigot.

When I had it removed, sure enough, the shut-off valve for the house line was boogered and was completely blocking any flow even though the knob was turned counterclockwise all the way to the end stop. Couldn't see a speck of light trying to look through it.

Now, the problem is trying to connect a 3/4" inside diameter PVC supply line to a 5/8" outside diameter copper elbow that formerly had a different type of plastic pipe over the nipple. I am currently convinced that a piece of 5/8" PVC pipe would do the trick but there ain't no such thing as 5/8" plumbing fixtures of any kind at Lowe's. There are countless dozens of 1/2" and 3/4" connectors and pipes but no 3/4" to 5/8" reducers and no 5/8" pipe of any kind.

I connected the existing 3/4" PVC pipe to the copper elbow and got water into the house no problem, but there was so much leaking (as in torrential) at the PVC/copper joint outside the house that I turned it off again.

Meanwhile, I can only get water from my outside spigot. To do that, I block off the line that goes to the house.

To be continued. I'm having fun, and haven't yet reached the level of being ticked off, which is still well short of the level that I pay somebody to fix it.

The 5/8" diameter OD copper pipe is most likely 1/2" Copper. It's measured by the inside dimension. If you don't want to solder a connection and I wouldn't, sounds like you need a 1/2" compression fitting to 3/4" NPT Male adapter. Trust me they make them. You'll need a 3/4 PVC Glue on to 3/4" Female NPT Adapter. The PVC fitting glues onto the freshly trimmed end of the 3/4" PVC pipe. The 3/4" NPT Male end of the copper fitting screws into the just glued on plastic fitting and the 1/2" copper pipe is attached to the compression end of the copper fitting. Slide the nut on first, then the ferrel, then insert the pipe into the fitting and tighten securely. Make sure you use some pipe tape on the male end of the copper fitting where it screws into the plastic fitting. Tighten that joint carefully, you don't want to crack the plastic (PVC) fitting. This would also be a good time to stick in a ball valve so you can shut off water to the house should the need ever arise. Hope that helps. At least based on your description. If possible take a very small piece of the PVC pipe and a very small piece of the copper pipe with you to the store to ensure you get the right size fittings.

PRECIOUS!!!




Same here! Absolutely fab day today. Tomorrow to be even nicer (no heater tonight!)

OUrs was too. Hit 73 degrees. Not so much tomorrow. Supposed to be 20 degrees cooler. Not freezing but enough to make my bones ache.

Yes I do remember that phone! I loved that phone, except it was a party line that was a pain. When Mom finally had Ma Bell install a modern phone she was furious that they took the old black one. She didn't know that she was just renting it all that time!

I think most of us had one of the phones, it was the conversion from operator calls to dial calls I think most of us missed.

 

[MattB101]

Thanks, Robert and David.

I was intending not to replace the shutoff valve at all. I've never used it. I cut off the water by tripping the breakers, but maybe I should put a valve there anyway?

Yes, there was a crimped copper band holding the.. PEX?.. tubing over the copper elbow. I bought some stainless steel crimp rings but got tired of looking for the needed tool to crimp them, and will look for a push fitting/gator byte.

The PEX tubing is 7/8" outside diameter and 0.68" inside diameter to the best of my measuring ability with a good set of electronic calipers. The black pipe (CPVC?) is just over 1.0" outside diameter and 7/8" inside diameter.

Forget what I said. They make a fitting that you can just push onto the PEX. Can't remember what it's called (I think shark is correct) but, I could show you right where it is in my local Lowes. Forget the tool, I have one and it was over $100 and is only good for one size fitting. Sorry about the long complicated explanation that probably was wrong. Still recommend you take a small sample of the two pipes with you. They'll help you get the right thing.

 

[MattB101]

PVC water pipe is throwing me in the first place.

Used in a lot of well systems.

 

[MattB101]

Not sure that I know my plastic pipe types. Delete "PVC" and replace with "some kind of plastic". Here's a picture. The main supply pipe is a fairly flexible black plastic, a piece of which is shown, that fits over the 3/4" dark gray connector on the right. The light gray piece of pipe on the left is the remainder of what used to fit over the copper elbow. Water flow is right to left. There's just enough left of that light gray pipe, visible in the picture, to put on the copper elbow. The end points of the red curved line are where I'm going to try to unscrew the connections, and then join them together with the blocked valve now gone. However, it would be so much easier if I could just get a connector to connect the black pipe on the right to the copper elbow. The copper elbow is not shown because it's underneath my house, still attached at one end to the pipe that goes into the house.
View attachment 527276



There's one I do accidentally that I always have a hard time undoing... it changes editing of text to "replace" instead of "insert". I hate it when that happens.

Yep, Shark fitting is what you need and you can probably reuse the barb fitting or get another easy. Might want to replace the valve just to avoid having to take all those damn fittings apart.

 

[bigbells]

If possible take a very small piece of the PVC pipe and a very small piece of the copper pipe with you to the store to ensure you get the right size fittings.

I took the entire thing shown in the picture to Lowe's. Wasn't anybody around who knew their stuff so I spent a very small amount of money on incorrect guesses. Bought a short length of 1/2" CPVC pipe and it was too small to fit over the copper elbow.

 

[MattB101]

Does the brass elbow have a little metal band on it holding the tube to it?
If so this takes a special tool to install those bands. Use a push fitting/gator byte to connect to the PEX tuping instead. And btw 3/4 copper/PEX and CPVC measure about 7/8 inch OD.
Lowes also has 5 ft pieces of the PEX tubing if things wind up too short and you can use the push fittings to splice in a piece.

The PEX is the best to use in cold climates as it is not prone to burst if it freezes unlike copper, plastic and steel.

What he said!

 

[MattB101]

I took the entire thing shown in the picture to Lowe's. Wasn't anybody around who knew their stuff so I spent a very small amount of money on incorrect guesses. Bought a short length of 1/2" CPVC pipe and it was too small to fit over the copper elbow.

If you really want help with something weird, go to ACE. I like them and most are locally owned franchises.

 

[MattB101]

Bells, Hope all that helped and I think between Bob and I we got you on the right path. Anything else you need please don't hesitate to ask. Hell, you can call me if you need to.

 

[MattB101]

As you all might have noticed, it's after midnight and I'm still up. That's what getting 12 hours last night will do to you!

 

[therussellv]

I took a walk today, cause I knew I won't get to tomorrow. I WILL maintain a positive attitude.

You tellem

Last stinkie 10/15/2013

 

[therussellv]

We are back to running low heat at night & high ac during the day. It's not coming on much either way.

We just leave ours off

Last stinkie 10/15/2013