Was wondering if you could help a newbie out-Question about Sink Repair Traps

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Winterfan

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Are sink repair traps okay to use or do they go against code? I thought if I posted here I might be able to get some answers especially since this is such a great and informative site. I am currently using one on a bathroom sink because the previous j-bend had developed a really bad leak. Unfortunately, I do not think I can use a regular p-trap on this sink again because the old chrome trap arm is soldered quite far into the drain stub out. I guess I have what you would call a brass solder bushing. If I try to get the rest of the old trap arm out of the stub out I will end up losing the stub out which is soldered itself into a pipe in the wall which I do not have access to. It will be difficult for me to open the wall because the sink, which is a wall hung sink, is very close to where I would need to open the wall so I might have to remove the sink to work behind the wall and I really do not want to have to do that if possible. So that's why I want to know if it's okay that I'm using a sink repair trap. Basically the current setup is I have a j-bend attached to the tailpiece and a 90 degree elbow attached to the bend and part of the old chrome trap arm. It has not leaked at all and is draining fine. However, I plan on doing some work on the pop up assembly on this sink so I will need to remove the sink repair trap from it. And if it's not okay that I'm using it I would like to know so that when I do work on the pop up assembly I can get the right kind of p-trap on the sink as well. Any information you can provide me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 

TMB9862

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A picture would be worth a million words here.

It sounds like you have a copper stub coming out of the wall (probably 1-1/2") with a brass pushing on it probably reducing it to a regular 1 1/4 brass or chrome trap piece?
If that's the case I would normally just cut that bushing out and use a no hub clamp. Since it's a wall mount sink I take it this is exposed? In this case I would go to the plumbing supply and just get a copper (or chrome if it's available) trap adapter for whatever size your stub is. Unsolder the bushing, clean it up, solder the trap adapter on, tin the exposed copper pipe, then install a chrome P-trap.
 
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Winterfan

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Yes I'm sure the old trap arm is soldered in place. It is not attached with a slip nut. There are no slip nuts anywhere behind the wall either. Ugh. That's why I hate living in an older home and why I'm using the repair trap. I too would like to be able to get the bushing out but like I said I will have no stub out from the wall then and might have to remove the sink to work behind the wall since it is in such a confined space. I really do not want to have to do that or I may as well get a new sink and the one right now is in decent shape and doesn't get used all that often. I don't want to shell out $1000 for something that doesn't get used too often.
 
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Winterfan

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Marlin336 said:
A picture would be worth a million words here.

It sounds like you have a copper stub coming out of the wall (probably 1-1/2") with a brass pushing on it probably reducing it to a regular 1 1/4 brass or chrome trap piece?
If that's the case I would normally just cut that bushing out and use a no hub clamp. Since it's a wall mount sink I take it this is exposed? In this case I would go to the plumbing supply and just get a copper (or chrome if it's available) trap adapter for whatever size your stub is. Unsolder the bushing, clean it up, solder the trap adapter on, tin the exposed copper pipe, then install a chrome P-trap.

Yes, at least the sink is exposed. I too would like to somehow install a trap adapter like my other sinks have. It would be ideal but my soldering skills are not that great and neither are my dad's who works on fixing things up with me. What would be the best way to cut out the bushing if I was to go that route? I don't want to damage the stub out. That is my main concern.
 

hj

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trap

Repair traps with a slip nut to connect to the tubing going into the wall are a stop gap, as long as the setup is not too long to fit into the space available, and the old tubing is not rotted away like the rest of the trap.
 

TMB9862

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Winterfan said:
Yes, at least the sink is exposed. I too would like to somehow install a trap adapter like my other sinks have. It would be ideal but my soldering skills are not that great and neither are my dad's who works on fixing things up with me. What would be the best way to cut out the bushing if I was to go that route? I don't want to damage the stub out. That is my main concern.
The best way get the bushing out would be to just heat up around it and pull it right out. Just heat the bushing itself and the end of the stub out while pulling on the bushing, it should come out before the stub out does. Then heat the end of the pipe and wipe the solder smooth with a rag. This way you don't loose any length on your stub out.
If you want to cut it out you are going to loose some length, be sure it will still be long enough after being cut. The best way to do that would be to use a regular copper pipe cutter and cut it just behind the bushing. If you can't do that then you can use a hacksaw and just cut carefully.
 

Winterfan

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Marlin336 said:
The best way get the bushing out would be to just heat up around it and pull it right out. Just heat the bushing itself and the end of the stub out while pulling on the bushing, it should come out before the stub out does. Then heat the end of the pipe and wipe the solder smooth with a rag. This way you don't loose any length on your stub out.
If you want to cut it out you are going to loose some length, be sure it will still be long enough after being cut. The best way to do that would be to use a regular copper pipe cutter and cut it just behind the bushing. If you can't do that then you can use a hacksaw and just cut carefully.

Thanks for the these suggestions on how to get the bushing out. I really appreciate you helping me out.
 
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