How to find a 3" pipe, threaded on both ends and 3" long?

just get a kick out of calling someone a "troll', just because it be in th eir eyes against the norm...Not everything is perfect in this world. Perhap s I am to be blamed for the wording of my OP..so I will try to straighten i t out here the best I can. I did call this guy a plumber mainly cause he do es plumbing work for a company that just does drain cleaning.

That's right, a drain cleaner isn't a plumber. Saying someone is plumber implies that they have skills way beyond cleaning out a drain a line. If you said a drain cleaner told you to call someone else to fix it, that would make sense.

If the 'troll' caller actually read my OP thoroughly, he would of read that he made me sign a paper wavering any liability in breaking a pipe, his com pany does not do that.

I read where you said he had you sign a waiver of liability. No way from that for us to figure out that this "plumber" is actually a drain cleaner, who works for a drain cleaning company that doesn't do more than clean drains. A full service plumbing company might also have you sign a waiver..... "Customer acknowledges that we need to remove plugs, open access points, etc and with any plumbing system, especially old ones, there is a risk of parts failing. If that happens, it is not our responsibility" , etc.

Right now, so I could use the sink, its working just fine, so picture takin g would not show anything, mainly cause the threaded pipe area that he scre wed in was covered with 'plumber's tape', which I had from previous problem s.

Plumbers tape or dope is routinely used on threaded fittings, including brand new ones. Has nothing to do with seeing what the plumbing in question looks like. And picture taking would show a lot, in particular th is mysterious 3" nipple.

He gave me the measurements. I wanted this info here so I could be prepar ed the next time if and when it would clog, I will have it available to hav e the 'plumber' or 'handy guy' insert it. Guys like you make it a pleasur e in this forum not to rush to judgement.

You could do that. But I would be careful about getting some "handy guy" to screw around with the described 3" pipe. There may be better, safer, easier solutions to the problem. For example, if that nipple really exists and is screwed into a T inside the wall, and some "handy man" type tries to take it out, because you hand him a piece of pipe and tell him to put it in, you could wind up with more expensive and bigger problems. Someone with experience might figure out a better, easier solution that doesn't even require the 3" nipple. They also might tell you that other stuff under there needs to be replaced too, and it changes things so the parts required are different, don't require that 3" nipple, etc.

If you really want to go buy it, based on the limited info you've given, what you want is a 3" long, 3" galvanized nipple. Which brings us to the next problem. Very short nipples are called "close nipples". I just did a quick search and it appears that a 3" close nipple is 2 5/8" long. The next size up is likely going to be a lot longer than 3". If this pipe really is 3" diameter, it's highly likely what's there is just a 3" close nipple. That's why it's probably not a good idea to be going buying stuff based on a drain cleaner's recommendations and to let whoever is going to fix it determine what it needs, the best solution, etc.

Reply to
trader_4
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I'm not sure that's 3", it might be, but it looks like it could be smaller. But whatever the diameter, it's what I described in my previous post, ie a close nipple. It would be a 3" close nipple.

The way it's done there is not the best design. You can see that the tailpiece from the sink is not straight vertically, because you can't control the horizontal dimension. That presents the potential for a leak. Before going the close nipple route, I'd look at what is available in new P traps. You may have enough room so that you could could get a new slip-joint type P trap in there, using a reducing bushing on the existing T, etc.

Reply to
trader_4

The 3" piece of pipe is the close nipple between the trap and the Tee. It's covered in red tape. I'm not so sure it's actually 3" diameter, it looks like it could be smaller to me.

Reply to
trader_4

On 6/21/2014 9:28 AM, trader_4 wrote: ...

I agree on that on the size--2" more like it, methinks...unless that drain from the sink is 2" which would be remarkable...

Reply to
dpb

Novel,

Thanks. As I suspected, the photo tells a lot more about the situation.

  1. The existing plumbing does appear to be galvanized steel.
  2. Using the plastic tail pipe as reference, it looks like 2" pipe, though it could be 1.5" (width, not length).
  3. The piece you need is a pipe nipple. However, with the limited space you probably need a "close" nipple. Basically, this just means the short segment of pipe is threaded from end to end so the fittings can fit "close" together.
  4. The tee the pipe nipple threads into appears to be installed upside down. The side inlet should slope downward so water can flow down the drain properly. Yours looks like it slopes upwards toward the vent. Ideally, that should be replaced.
  5. It's hard to tell from the small photo, but it looks like there's another piece of tape (duct tape?) wrapped around the pipe below the tee. Was that another leak?

If it was me, I would replace the existing trap and tee with all new PVC or ABS pipe. To avoid issues with trying to dismantle old corroded fittings, I would probably just cut the galvanized pipe with a hacksaw below the tee and use a Fernco coupling to add the new parts. You may want to support the pipe above and below the point you're cutting it so it doesn't drop into the floor if it's not properly anchored.

Good luck!

Anthony Watson

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Reply to
HerHusband

On 6/21/2014 12:21 PM, HerHusband wrote: ...

...

Good catch on the the swept-tee being upside down--I didn't notice it was anything other than an ordinary tee.

If it were mine, the idea of fixing the T is good; I'd go w/ a reducing sweep tee if can find one; if not use a bushing to go to standard 1-1/2" drain and then can go to the run-of-the-mill currently available selection of drain parts from any corner hardware.

The tee may be a bit of a challenge locally at anything other than a full-supply plumbing supply house, however; a quick search of the BORG stock didn't show that they had any sweep tees at all, what more a

3x3x1-1/2 or whatever it actually is (I'm still thinking that isn't 3" line, too). It really doesn't look like there's anything wrong w/ the one there itself altho the question of what the tape below is doing there is a possible worry.

In fact, now that I look at that again, wondering about the question of dissassembly, there's a bushing in the bottom outlet and it may well be that it's a reducing tee itself as I can't now convince myself the bottom D is as large as the inlet and tee sides. It may be 3x2x3; the top surely is pretty-good-sized.

Looking at the practicality of it, unless there's an issue from the tee down, I'd just plan on replacing the nipple w/ a reducer as above--the reversed sweep clearly worked for a long time; I'd probably wait until there were reasons to redo a bunch before tackling that much unless OP just wants to do it now...

Reply to
dpb

All of the above is why I said it's probably not a good idea for the OP to be going out to buy a 3" close nipple. A lot of possible factors that could go into how the repair is done. I agree it was a good catch by HH, that the T looks like it's installed in the wrong direction. Hard to tell for sure though from the pic. Also interesting is what that tape below is doing there. If all is sound except the nipple, and the cause of problems hasn't been the T, then I'd agree with you, I'd just leave the T alone and work from there. But I'd leave it for the person doing the work to decide how to proceed.

I'd suggested previously that maybe there is enough room so you could put a reducing bushing in the T, then go to a new P trap with a slip joint so that it can properly align. The way this thing was done, it depends on the length of that nipple, how far it goes in when tightened up to get a vertical alignment with the sink tailpiece. Not a good way of doing things.

Reply to
seagirt555

That seems to be the best solution. Fernco couplings are your friend.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

It's hard to tell from the small photo, but it looks like there's

Anthony, yes a 'real plumber' did that years ago before I bought the house according to the previous owner in order to snake it straight down and the n taped it. I am a diy..but particularly not in plumbing of that nature so i would have to leave all to the discretion of a real plumber. To the best of my knowledge, PVC's are not allowed or were not allowed in NYC.

Reply to
novel

In DRAINS it is common to have threaded brass" tail-pieces" that corrode and break off. Generally they thread in one end and have a "compression sleave" type connection at the other end to seal what is in reality a slip fit joint.

Reply to
clare

What he needs is a proper plumber to replace the whole messed up abortion of a drain system he has there. The T-Y into the drain is installed upside-down, for starters. I've not seen a galvanized drain system in over 40 years - And the tailpiece into the trap doesn't line up straight - so the nipple, if he was going to just replace it, needs to be about half an inch longer. Removing the broken nipple from the fitting without breaking the pipe above or below is a crap-shoot at best. I don't blame the drain-cleaner for not getting involved in the repair. It's got trouble written all over it. Impossible to give an estimate on, because there is no way to know where you will eventually be able to stop.

Reply to
clare

And he'll need an "inside" pipe wrench too- - - -.

Reply to
clare

+1 on the "good luck"
Reply to
clare

The scary part is that pipe just MIGHT also be the vent stack - - -

- - -

Reply to
clare

And if using a fernco, (actually 2 of them) you WILL want the ones with the stainless steel wrap on them (Fernco Sheilded Couplings) if that pipe is, as I suspect, the vent stack.

Reply to
clare

That's probably because it's just a close nipple. Nipples don't come in any size you want. Which is why I suggested that if he's lucky, there might be enough room to go with a new P trap that has a slip joint fitting on the end that goes to the tee, so the length doesn't matter.

It's not clear, but the drain guy may have already unscrewed the nipple from the tee. If not, I agree, that could be a PIA. And it sure looks like the tee is upside down. I guess if it's worked relatively trouble free for 50 years, it can be left there, unless, as you say, it's shot too. If this sink has had regular trouble though, the incorrect tee may be part of the problem.

Agree. Which is why I advised that going out to buy a 3" by 3" nipple might not be a good idea.

Reply to
trader_4

Novel,

As far as I know, PVC and ABS are standard in the national plumbing codes. Of course, it's entirely possible you have a local code that supercedes the national code. If that's the case, you would probably have to go with galvanized again. Here in Washington state, I don't think I've ever even seen a galvanized P-trap. :)

From the photo and what you're describing, it sounds like the plumbing has been pieced together and patched up over the years. It probably needs updating, but then you run into the old issue of how far do you go. Problems tend to escalate when you're dealing with old pipe. It could turn into a real headache.

As another poster mentioned, if you can get that old pipe nipple out without breaking things, it might be smart to just replace that and leave the rest alone. At least until you can afford to update the rest of the plumbing.

Good luck!

Anthony Watson

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Reply to
HerHusband

I must have missed your earlier post, but your suggestion is a good option. That would give a little bit of horizontal adjustment for aligning the P- Trap.

Of course, if NYC doesn't allow plastic pipe as Novel thinks, that may not be an option.

Anthony Watson

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Reply to
HerHusband

Novel,

I can't really tell much from that tiny picture, but it doesn't look like any P-trap I've ever seen. Regardless, standard plastic P-Traps are usually less than $5, not a big expense.

Anthony Watson

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Reply to
HerHusband

I agree. Novel admits to not being familiar with plumbing work, so it would be wise to have a real plumber come in and update things.

Several years ago my in-laws asked me to fix their leaky kitchen faucet. The spout corroded and broke off so I had to track down a new faucet. While trying to remove the faucet, the old galvanized fittings broke. When I tried to replace the fittings, the next section of galvanized pipe split lengthwise. By the time I got back to a usable fitting, I was about 20 feet from the faucet where I started. :) I went ahead and replaced the entire plumbing system with new plastic pipe.

Anthony Watson

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Reply to
HerHusband

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