Plumbers and Do-It-Yourselfers...got a question

[iGas]

I rrplaced the whole drain assembly. Took about 40 mins...much easier than I expected. As I suspected, I was able to look inside the old drain once I removed it, and that bottom polished piece was threaded on the inside, but I can't get it to budge a single millimeter. I think the original installer used something (unnecessarily) that hardens on the pipe threads to seal it, and over the years it dried and racked enough to leak but not enough to let me unscrew it and see what was going on.

At any rate, the new piece is in and is leak-free.

Congrats!

 

[FallenHero]

I rrplaced the whole drain assembly. Took about 40 mins...much easier than I expected. As I suspected, I was able to look inside the old drain once I removed it, and that bottom polished piece was threaded on the inside, but I can't get it to budge a single millimeter. I think the original installer used something (unnecessarily) that hardens on the pipe threads to seal it, and over the years it dried and racked enough to leak but not enough to let me unscrew it and see what was going on.

At any rate, the new piece is in and is leak-free.

40 minutes + how many trips to Home Depot while swearing? Usually how my home repairs go...

 

[SphinxnihpS]

I rrplaced the whole drain assembly. Took about 40 mins...much easier than I expected. As I suspected, I was able to look inside the old drain once I removed it, and that bottom polished piece was threaded on the inside, but I can't get it to budge a single millimeter. I think the original installer used something (unnecessarily) that hardens on the pipe threads to seal it, and over the years it dried and racked enough to leak but not enough to let me unscrew it and see what was going on.

At any rate, the new piece is in and is leak-free.

That piece comes with the faucet, and the threaded pipe is sealed together at the factory. It was probably defective or the installer put too much force on it with a pipe wrench. They are very thin.

You could have separated it with the aid of a blow torch and two channel locks, and fixed it with teflon tape or putty.

 

[seepy83]

40 minutes + how many trips to Home Depot while swearing? Usually how my home repairs go...

Just once trip the the hardware store this time. But I agree, I probably average 2.5 trips per day when I'm doing something I haven't done before.

That piece comes with the faucet, and the threaded pipe is sealed together at the factory.

That may be true for some manufacturers, but none of the ones that I saw at the hardware store yesterday were sealed in any way. For all of the ones I saw, the lower threaded pipe comes with it, but is loose and needs to be tightened when it's installed.

 

[seepy83]

The leak wouldn't be at the popup arm nut threads (and Teflon tape is not needed because it is not design to be use with tape or dope), because the ball is seated against the pivot seat & gasket

Now I'm just curious - is there a general rule to follow as to what connections need tape or dope and what connections do not?

In this scenario, I think what you're saying is that the seal there is made by the ball and gasket, and water should not be able to get as far as the threads on the nut. In general, when a connection has a gasket/washer is tape/dope unnecessary?

 

[Zee]

Just once trip the the hardware store this time. But I agree, I probably average 2.5 trips per day when I'm doing something I haven't done before.


That may be true for some manufacturers, but none of the ones that I saw at the hardware store yesterday were sealed in any way. For all of the ones I saw, the lower threaded pipe comes with it, but is loose and needs to be tightened when it's installed.

right. it would have to be loose because sometimes it doesnt fit all at once with everything attached and you have to angle in one piece at a time to get it all connected in its place.