Weird #plumbing issue. In warm weather, our toilet and drains sound hollow, gurgles, etc, when flushing or draining, like when the tub is drained. In the cold months, it is fine. Last year we had the system snaked 100%. No clogs–been an issue since we bought house in 2019.
I am thinking the warm weather, wind, etc is causing negative air pressure through the main roof plumbing vent
A late season freeze warning for #LongIsland overnight tonight. Protect your tender #seedlings by bringing them inside or covering them overnight. Outdoor #plumbing is subject to #freezing.
I want to stress: the brochure is materially wrong on page 1, in an electrically meaningful way.
Page 2 contradicts page 1 and they did not give me page 2, and more importantly, page 2 wouldn't fix what's wrong on page 1, it would just muddle the matter further.
Until the company confirms for you that page 2 is correct, and page 1 is just wrong but corporate still won't fix it.
(this helps no one including very specifically them and why they won't fix it i can't tell you - page 1 says the unit is wired for 277V single-phase and that's the only allowed voltage, when it's it's actually flex voltage all the way down to 208V as per page 2 - but there we are.)
Drat. Kitchen sink has a leak now. I wonder if it's because they loosed everything up but did not remove it. Think I'll fix this one myself, because:
A. doesn't leak unless you fill the non-disposal side of the sink
B. It's just one seal (tightened the P-trap and no issues there now)
C. The plumber charges more per hour than my own hourly rate writing software (!).
D. I will learn plumbing just to avoid the annoyance of dealing with caustic/flakey/expensive plumbers, in this case (easy to avoid this leak - not use that sink until it's fixed). Non-pressurized side of the plumbing system.
@ai6yr sometimes if you alter one thing all the other things are now under a bit of tension and don't seal right, so what sometimes helps is to undo all the connectors, give the whole thing a wiggle about and then tighten each connector a bit at a time so that they're all kind of even as they tighten up.
@ai6yr
Surgeon has a sink that leaks and calls the plumber, the plumber crawls under the cabinet and fixes it in 15 minutes and charges him $500. The surgeon says, "Gee, I'm a surgeon and even I don't make $2000/hr." and the plumber responds, "Yeah, I didn't make $2000/hr as a surgeon either."
Dishwasher detour! My rather unconventional attempt.to fix dishwasher drainage issues. Air gap is on right, but entry to disposal is on left. The prior install was too tight, so the tube would kink. Put in a longer line which takes a long non-kink detour around the bottom of the sink. I am sure a plumber is crying somewhere. #plumbing#diy
I just (month ago) fixed a drainage issue with our disposal; water coming out the air vent when the dishwasher drained.
The issue was the excess length of the drop from the air gap to the disposal drain; it looped down then back up. I tend to want to leave slack for usually good reasons.
Here, the loop, drop them back up, causes enough back flow resistance to create a small head, up at the gap.
See if having the line from air gap to drain be a single, simple drop fixes it.
@tomjennings Yeah, hoping the excess length here won't be a different issue. I think the correct fix is to have the disposal entry on the right, not left, or the air gap on the left, not right... but that is not an option with the sink nor disposal currently installed (as far as I know).
Orangeburg Sewer Piping is a HUGE problem nationwide, as it fails catastrophically. Plus it is made with asbestos (doh).
"The generic name for this type of pipe is “bituminous fiber pipe.” The pipe is made of a combination of cellulose and asbestos fibers impregnated with a bituminous (coal tar) compound. Bituminous fiber pipe was manufactured with either a homogenous wall or a multiple-ply laminated wall. The ends of the pipe were tapered and fitted together using a butt joint."
@ai6yr We would have had to do it anyway eventually, but it was a total blowout in one of the Orangeburg inputs to the septic that led to a (very costly) total septic replacement and subsequent re-landscaping ...
And the county says half our groundwater pollution is from failing septic systems. It was definitely time for ours to be replaced. Although I would have preferred to pick the timing rather than discovering sewage in the yard.
IDK the proper forum to ask this, but I'm replacing the underground water line to my house, with local-code-compliant 1" PEX, and I'm thinking of running it in 2" sch 40 PVC, like conduit, so whenever it fails, there's less digging and gnashing of teeth required.
Do people do this, or will it make the #plumbing inspector go WTF?
Pipe is about 18" deep or less. It does feeeze here, but not often and usually not for long.
No comments on the PEX please, just the conduit idea.
This hex nut shaped thing was on the end of this quarter inch propane adapter. Inside of it was the strange double cone thing.
I didn’t know there was anything inside of it when I picked it up so the little brass double cone thing fell out. The sides are not the same size and I have no idea which way it’s supposed to point but it feels like it’s probably important to not get it wrong.
[edit: a friend told me what it was. details in 🧵]
Update: it appears to be 0.098 of an inch on one side and 0.0955 of an inch on the other side. So I think it is supposed to be considered the same size.
Sorry two people reading this who use sane measurement systems. The only gauge at hand was imperial.
on the plus side, after watching a dozen YouTube videos, I can do this. I did the original install before YouTube was a thing, and no handy instructional videos. Also, SCREW DOWN YOUR TOILET RING, past me!!! #plumbing
Something this old and everything else attached of similar era makes plumbers grumpy! Lesson so far on this disaster is to plan on refreshing plumbing more frequently. That was not in the "becoming a homeowner" brochures, LOL. #plumbing#plumbingdisaster#homeownership
@ai6yr The first surprising lesson of homeownership is that water, something you've previously thought of as an essential fuel for life itself, is an asshole.
HELP! Outdoor electric, internet, & water... to a cabin 20 metres from house.
For the log cabin in my friend's garden, she needs to do cabling (internet, electric, water).
We just aren't sure what cables to get, or considerations like how deep the trench needs to be, & if the cables are going to need a sturdy tube to run through, etc.
Can anyone give us advice on any or all of this? :ablobthinkingeyes:
@KatyElphinstone there is outdoor rated ethernet cable. that mostly has an outer jacket that can handle UV exposure. i bought that as i also installed several secuity cameras. another kind of ethernet is rated for direct burial. It has a silicone grease under the jacket to keep water out. btw, these all will have solid strands of wire. they’re not meant to use where they’ll be moved around much.
@KatyElphinstone anyway, i already had lots of muti-standed cable for indoor use and didnt want to buy two other types so ran my line in pvc. also that’s better protected if i dig in the same spot in the future.
Aha, FLIR says the drywallers likely hit a pipe behind this wall. Reading cold on this stud. On the other side of the wall is a shower stall and supply. #plumbing#leak#flir
Dodged a plumbing bullet this morning. Hot water to the kitchen frozen (it's -7f here this morning) - which is weird on so many levels - did I mention it was the HOT water side that froze. (I know, I know, physics!)
Anyway, a gentle warmup with a hair dryer and we're back in business, without the "pleasure" of a burst pipe. Now to find the air leak that permitted this to happen. #plumbing#homeowner
@DWTSquawk7600 When it gets really cold here (-25°F), we keep the taps furthest from the softener open so there’s a constant flow. It doesn’t take much.
Found the flooring was wet in the kitchen yesterday. After pulling out stuff from cupboards and taking off kickboards, I discovered a fast-drip leak near our sink area, that was beyond my mediocre skills to fix.
Had a real kerfuffle calling out an emergency plumber, but a lovely bloke came out and sorted it for us after a few hours.
The wife and I were so relieved after a few hours of stress that we downed a bottle of red wine and polished off some Xmas port.
it always happens around Christmas.... 🪠 It started last night, 11PM, when the dishwasher was going and then it started to back up into the bathtub. 🤮 An hour of plunging and snaking didn't help last night and we're not doing much better this morning. This is what happens when your plumbing was designed in 1940. please God don't make me call the plumber. 💰 #today#plumbing
@kevinctofel Plumbing might be the most consequential skill to having when owning a house. It is the thing I have to fix the most!
I just replaced the stem of an old half-turn cold water valve in the bathtub. It had been leaking for a while and the plumber I had look at it said it was old a rare and we would probably have to replace it.
I went to the plumber supply store and they gave me the right (updated) unit in a few minutes and it took me an hour to swap.
Putting this out to the Fediverse in case someone knows what this pipe is. #Plumbing#Help
Our water tank has died 😭 (and the replacement has to be energy efficient 😭 so it is $3400 😭!) but there is also now a pipe that seems to come out of the furnace and drain into the water main. Does anyone know what it’s for? Is it for A/C? We haven’t had the A/C on for months, of course. It has started to drip, and wondering so I can tell the plumbers we have another problem when they come Thursday..
@cazabon Thank you so much for this invaluable advice ❤️. I always wondered what this pipe was but couldn’t figure it out! My goodness. I’m glad it’s just the part on the floor damaged and not the part connected to the furnace…
You're most welcome. It's kind of a half-assed solution, running that pipe right across the floor where people walk - whoever did it that way clearly had a Not A F*ck Was Given kind of day.
If it bothers you enough, there are other solutions - my furnaces both drain into a little box with a pump in it, and it pumps the condensate out through a flexible plastic pipe that goes up to the basement roof joists, over top of where I walk past to get to the furnace etc, and down to a drain.
#VillageLife mirroring #CruisingLife tonight. Was in the shower when the water stopped, so dried off, got dressed (it's -7°C) and went outside to kick the frozen lid off the manhole that contains the deep well. Climbed down to check the pump that supplies the house with water.
@vaviurka assisted with flashlight and tools. The pressure switch had succumbed to condensation. Got it working again for tonight and will have to swap it for a spare tomorrow.
Safety tip: after hearing a story from one of my students in my first aid class (about her little brother's leg being nearly amputated after he was severely scalded by hot water -- peeling off his skin, and layers of muscle and tendon) -- have set the hot water temperature in the house I'm staying in to a much lower temperature. Recommended is 120F per CPSC. #safety#hotwater#plumbing#prevention
Per that page: store above 140°F (60°C) and ensure hot water in circulation does not fall below 120°F (49°C). Recirculate hot water continuously, if possible.
@ai6yr I remember my parents moving into a place when I was young where you could make instant noodles with the tap water. (At least for the first couple of days before it was fixed.)
@ai6yr If I recall correctly, the CF-5x series is "semi-rugged"… it can tolerate a certain amount of liquid being poured on the keyboard, but there's a limit.
Given two of the laptops here are from that series (this CF-53, my father's CF-54) I'll definitely have to keep this in mind.
