What are you doing today?

[Alice B]

have you northern folk ever used pex plumbing? my garage faces north and that is where hot water heater is

 

[MaloK]

Yes, PEX can prevent bursting if water freeze inside.

Widely used in Canada because of it's resistance to expansion and contraction due to sudden temperature changes.

 

[GaryE]

have you northern folk ever used pex plumbing? my garage faces north and that is where hot water heater is

Sure. That's what my current house has. But we generally only have running water in heated spaces.

I had a less than sharp landlord who set the house on fire twice in one winter trying to thaw uninsulated copper pipes. He liked to move the wall insulation aside with his hands to get to the basement pipes, which touched the cement foundation. Then, with a blowtorch, he'd manage to set the insulation in the walls on fire.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Sure. That's what my current house has. But we generally only have running water in heated spaces.

I had a less than sharp landlord who set the house on fire twice in one winter trying to thaw uninsulated copper pipes. He liked to move the wall insulation aside with his hands to get to the basement pipes, which touched the cement foundation. Then, with a blowtorch, he'd manage to set the insulation in the walls on fire.

I'm guessing he didn't have a wife helping him...

 

[GaryE]

That landlord was a "character". He would show up in an expensive suit on TV, as a corporate leader. Then he'd set the house on fire again, being clueless.

His wife actually apologized and said he wouldn't listen to her when she suggested they should get a permanent repair. And the firemen liked our canary, who would sing to them while they walked around trying to sense heat in the walls to see how far it had gone. No canaries were harmed in those adventures - Harry survived both small localized fires. There was a lot of damage downstairs though, as they had to go through the wall both times.

People, eh? Sometimes they make my fish look smart.

 

[Oldspartan]

I promise my fish when I have hot water again I will do water changes. Asked my helper if he could install a hot water heater. We're getting there but tonight I have no running water at all. Unless I can figure a way to install a prewater heater valve. I do have a pipe cutter, I could probably do the soldering myself, I have the tools but the old pipe is just not accepting new solder under new fitting, doesn't want to heat, and I've been without hot water since friday morning. still a plumber I'd be spending at least $1200 on labor, and i already spent 600 buying the water heater..... Plus a plumber is going to tell me things about code that I already know and probably invent a few to try to run the bill up and if that doesn't work they usually manage to break something. Waiting til helper gets off day job tomorrow. I have a bid, an algae removing service call and my dog needs her eye looked at, that will keep me occupied. I spent the last hour of daylight putting in 2 short rows of sweet corn seed, 5 swiss chard seeds, some broccoli and squash seedlings, then scattered wildflower seed all over the bed, along with some basil seed, to hide the squash smell from the squash vine borers.

I have very old copper in much of the house. I usually purchase a compression fitting and use it as a coupling from old to new or old to old. To often when playing with old piping something breaks someplace unexpectedly. The compression fitting alleviates the hard to solder issue and the breaking elsewhere issue.

Likely not code but I only care about what works.

 

[MaloK]

I have very old copper in much of the house. I usually purchase a compression fitting and use it as a coupling from old to new or old to old. To often when playing with old piping something breaks someplace unexpectedly. The compression fitting alleviates the hard to solder issue and the breaking elsewhere issue.

Likely not code but I only care about what works.

I don't know how you could break the "Code" for that kind of things. If you're sleeping on your two ears, in your home, with your own repairs. I would too. loll...

A good junction is a lot better than leaving a rotting pipe go along. And I've been doing like you for the last 50 years. And even the pipes are not sweating at night.

 

[Oldspartan]

Spring is around the corner. We have seen huge flocks of geese overhead and during a ride today there was multitudes in the remnants of a corn field.

It was cold until today. Today it was so nice I drove the dogs to the Lake George dog park. They reunited with their friends, and I wore my arm out throwing a ball. Linda, sadly, is still housebound.

Two water changes at the beginning of the day. Forty gallon in the 90 and a dozen in one of the 29. The 90 always takes some time because I keep the flow low to help the heater keep up.

Tonight, Linda is dusting herself off for dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. I am putting pillows in the car and will bring one into the place. The chairs are hard and I worry about her pain. She says throw caution to the wing because she is feeling housebound.

 

[jaylach]

I have very old copper in much of the house. I usually purchase a compression fitting and use it as a coupling from old to new or old to old. To often when playing with old piping something breaks someplace unexpectedly. The compression fitting alleviates the hard to solder issue and the breaking elsewhere issue.

Likely not code but I only care about what works.

A LOT of people have problems with copper and soldier. There is a trick to this as you don't actually soldier the junctions. With copper the term is sweating and there are a few of tricks.

1) Never try to do with the copper pipe being wet inside. Odd as it may sound stuffing toast in the pipe does wonders as the toast absorbs any water. No, this will not clog the pipe with the bread as it just disintegrates as soon as pressure is restored. Just make sure to have the outlet end of the pipe open or the burning toast will cause internal pressure possibly messing up the sweating of the pipes.

2) You don't soldier copper pipes like you would an electrical wire. With wire you are using the soldier like glue but it is different with copper pipes as it is also being used as a sealant. With pipes you use a Propane Torch as the flame wraps around the pipe giving the most even heating. A soldiering iron just will no do the job.

3) After the pipe is really hot you just run fine soldier around the joint. The heated pipe will melt the soldier and it will flow everywhere the pipe is hot enough to melt the soldier. Trust in that this works and is the proper way to soldier copper joints. Either pure soldier or resin core seem to work but I would suggest pure soldier without resin for appearance if nothing else.

 

[gwand]

A great day. I bought my ticket to a J.S. Bach marathon being put on by the Bach in Baltimore Society. The concert will be held this Sunday from 1 pm to 6 pm. This is Baroque heaven.

 

[Rocky998]

@WhistlingBadger
Got done cleaning the turtle skeleton! Tomorrow it sun dries!

 

[fishorama]

Your turtle remains turned out very clean & nice. What's next?

I remember a DE natural history museum had those "death beetles" that eat everything except bones & feathers for making displays. Thank goodness I never saw them working up close, eww! They were very careful about them. The museum guy was very good at birdwatching & at my wild bird hospital we'd often ask if he knew where a particular species was to be found. He was great for that except he had no sense of distance. It could be 1/4 mile or 2 miles off the track...Hard to find a flock for birds that needed to be in 1 but it was a start.

I did a couple water changes & a major weed & hair algae removal. I'm out of shape & sore now. Hopefully more tomorrow.

 

[Rocky998]

Your turtle remains turned out very clean & nice. What's next?

Thanks!!
I'm gonna sun dry them tomorrow!

 

[Oldspartan]

Today I will try to identify a black spot on Bozo. The spot may be a natural color but I am thinking it is a parasite, black spot?

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I taught my fourth graders "My Darling Clementine" today, including the "just barely appropriate" verses. Pioneer humor was so sick and wrong. I love it.