More good news: water main and plumbing replacement.

oil pan 4 · 01-14-17, 06:40 PM

Any one ever see that movie "the money pit". That's kind of what's going on. I have to say if our house wasn't paid off it might not be worth it.
The fresh water piping is in my house is mostly galvanized steel. The problem with galvanized steel water pipe is it usually lasts around 30 to 50 years, well the house is 56 years old.
The addition is from 1980 it has PVC and I'm going to leave it alone.

I want to make a big water main and header. I'm going to try and collect 1.5 inch stainless pipe for this. Reuse it. I usually ignore 1.5 inch pipe when I see it now I want it. 1 inch would be ideal bit I hardly ever see 1 inch at all.
This is food grade 304 stainless that was used for water, milk or whey. I will have to weld these lengths and elbows together.
If I can't find enough 1.5 inch stainless I think I will just use 1.25 inch copper.
Then 3/4 copper for most of everything else.
I like copper. Not a big fan of the plastic stuff.

oil pan 4 · 01-15-17, 09:46 AM

The good news is I'm off to a really good start. I got about 15 feet of 1.5 inch stainless pipe yesterday.
Bad news is it could be up to 2 or 3 months before I see any more and I need around 60 feet.

stevehull · 01-15-17, 10:19 AM

Oil pan,

Stainless steel makes no sense! Expensive, hard to make joints, joints are prone to leakage, joints hard to find and expensive. Welding tedious and welds are prone to cracks.

Look at your choices. PEX is there for a reason. If you need stainless for water purity, then we can have another discussion, but you must have other fundemental reasons for not using PEX.

Respectfully,

Steve

oil pan 4 · 01-15-17, 12:42 PM

The stainless steel will cost between $0 and 50 cents a pound. There are no pipe joints. This water and food grade process pipe is butt welded together.
The only time I see this pipe cracked is when it's constantly hydraulic hammered.
There is about 100 miles of this pipe where I work and there are less than a dozen leaks. If it was prone to leaking there would be a few more leaks on 100 miles of pipe.
The only joints I need is a single 90° elbow and I already have it.
I can weld this pipe.

I don't care for plastic line.

oil pan 4 · 01-16-17, 02:27 PM

To fusion butt weld the pipes together you need nice perpendicular cut pipe to butt together with absoltly no gap anywhere arounf the weld joint. Where I work we have a specialized tool for this it's called the George Fitzgerald.
I'm pretty sure I will never own one because they are about $7,000 for a used one and the cheap knockoffs are around half that.
Any pipe I buy from the scrap yard I can take to work and square up the ends on the GF+ machine.

This is going to take a lot of argon.

oil pan 4 · 04-05-17, 09:02 PM

I picked up another 15 feet of 1.5 inch staniless. I am glad I am not in a hurry to get this done.

pinballlooking · 04-05-17, 10:09 PM

So you are ½ way there not to bad.

WyrTwister · 04-27-17, 06:31 AM

Our house was inherited from my parents . It was built in the 1950's , I think . All copper piping . Pier & beam construction .

First I we piled the hot water lines that were buried in the dirt ( under the house ) . That stopped a large leak .

Maybe 6 months latter , large leak in the back yard . Dug that up ( with help from younger son ) and soldered in a repair .

About another 6 months , another water leak . Re-piped the colb water lines in the dirt ( under the house ) . That did not fix the water leak .

That left the water main , from house to alley . Rented a Kabouta Mini excavator from Home Depot , dug the ditch and installed 1" PEX .

Next weekend I rented the mini ex again and covered the ditch up .

The main cold and hot water lines , under the house , were 3/4" . I uses a 1/2" x 3/4" x 1/2" Tee , cut & soldered into the closest run of cold water line . Feeds both directions . With a ball valve before it enters the Tee .

That way , I can turn the valve off , while I am under the house , if I ever have to work on the piping again .

I recommend PEX for the main water line . I ran white 1" . I now have a PEX crimping tool for 1" to 1/2" ( maybe 3/8" ? ) that has only crimped 2 one inch copper " rings " .

The 2 rentals of the mini ex were the most expensive part . The 1" PEX was maybe twice as expensive as PVC . Still , not a lot of $$$$ . The PEX brass fittings / barbs were more expensive than PVC fittings , but only used 2 of them .

If I had it to do over again , I might use red & blue PEX for the branch lines ( under the house ) .

God bless
Wyr

01-14-17, 06:40 PM	#1
oil pan 4 Land owner Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NM Posts: 1,026 Thanks: 12 Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts	More good news: water main and plumbing replacement. Any one ever see that movie "the money pit". That's kind of what's going on. I have to say if our house wasn't paid off it might not be worth it. The fresh water piping is in my house is mostly galvanized steel. The problem with galvanized steel water pipe is it usually lasts around 30 to 50 years, well the house is 56 years old. The addition is from 1980 it has PVC and I'm going to leave it alone. I want to make a big water main and header. I'm going to try and collect 1.5 inch stainless pipe for this. Reuse it. I usually ignore 1.5 inch pipe when I see it now I want it. 1 inch would be ideal bit I hardly ever see 1 inch at all. This is food grade 304 stainless that was used for water, milk or whey. I will have to weld these lengths and elbows together. If I can't find enough 1.5 inch stainless I think I will just use 1.25 inch copper. Then 3/4 copper for most of everything else. I like copper. Not a big fan of the plastic stuff.

01-15-17, 10:19 AM	#3
stevehull Steve Hull Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: hilly, tree covered Arcadia, OK USA Posts: 826 Thanks: 241 Thanked 165 Times in 123 Posts	Oil pan, Stainless steel makes no sense! Expensive, hard to make joints, joints are prone to leakage, joints hard to find and expensive. Welding tedious and welds are prone to cracks. Look at your choices. PEX is there for a reason. If you need stainless for water purity, then we can have another discussion, but you must have other fundemental reasons for not using PEX. Respectfully, Steve __________________ consulting on geothermal heating/cooling & rational energy use since 1990

04-05-17, 10:09 PM	#7
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	So you are ½ way there not to bad. __________________ Current project Aquaponics system , Passive Solar Greenhouse build To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Solar Install 12.5 Kwh- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mini Split installs - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. EV Chevy Volt - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

01-15-17, 09:46 AM	#2
oil pan 4 Land owner Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NM Posts: 1,026 Thanks: 12 Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts	The good news is I'm off to a really good start. I got about 15 feet of 1.5 inch stainless pipe yesterday. Bad news is it could be up to 2 or 3 months before I see any more and I need around 60 feet.

01-15-17, 12:42 PM	#4
oil pan 4 Land owner Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NM Posts: 1,026 Thanks: 12 Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts	The stainless steel will cost between $0 and 50 cents a pound. There are no pipe joints. This water and food grade process pipe is butt welded together. The only time I see this pipe cracked is when it's constantly hydraulic hammered. There is about 100 miles of this pipe where I work and there are less than a dozen leaks. If it was prone to leaking there would be a few more leaks on 100 miles of pipe. The only joints I need is a single 90° elbow and I already have it. I can weld this pipe. I don't care for plastic line.

01-16-17, 02:27 PM	#5
oil pan 4 Land owner Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NM Posts: 1,026 Thanks: 12 Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts	To fusion butt weld the pipes together you need nice perpendicular cut pipe to butt together with absoltly no gap anywhere arounf the weld joint. Where I work we have a specialized tool for this it's called the George Fitzgerald. I'm pretty sure I will never own one because they are about $7,000 for a used one and the cheap knockoffs are around half that. Any pipe I buy from the scrap yard I can take to work and square up the ends on the GF+ machine. This is going to take a lot of argon.

04-05-17, 09:02 PM	#6
oil pan 4 Land owner Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NM Posts: 1,026 Thanks: 12 Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts	I picked up another 15 feet of 1.5 inch staniless. I am glad I am not in a hurry to get this done.

04-27-17, 06:31 AM	#8
WyrTwister Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: USA Posts: 543 Thanks: 6 Thanked 44 Times in 38 Posts	Our house was inherited from my parents . It was built in the 1950's , I think . All copper piping . Pier & beam construction . First I we piled the hot water lines that were buried in the dirt ( under the house ) . That stopped a large leak . Maybe 6 months latter , large leak in the back yard . Dug that up ( with help from younger son ) and soldered in a repair . About another 6 months , another water leak . Re-piped the colb water lines in the dirt ( under the house ) . That did not fix the water leak . That left the water main , from house to alley . Rented a Kabouta Mini excavator from Home Depot , dug the ditch and installed 1" PEX . Next weekend I rented the mini ex again and covered the ditch up . The main cold and hot water lines , under the house , were 3/4" . I uses a 1/2" x 3/4" x 1/2" Tee , cut & soldered into the closest run of cold water line . Feeds both directions . With a ball valve before it enters the Tee . That way , I can turn the valve off , while I am under the house , if I ever have to work on the piping again . I recommend PEX for the main water line . I ran white 1" . I now have a PEX crimping tool for 1" to 1/2" ( maybe 3/8" ? ) that has only crimped 2 one inch copper " rings " . The 2 rentals of the mini ex were the most expensive part . The 1" PEX was maybe twice as expensive as PVC . Still , not a lot of $$$$ . The PEX brass fittings / barbs were more expensive than PVC fittings , but only used 2 of them . If I had it to do over again , I might use red & blue PEX for the branch lines ( under the house ) . God bless Wyr