Badly Rusted/Leaking Main Waste Pipe

Take a look at the pipe & fittings...
Is there a mark cast in it like "XH"?

Redwood said:

Take a look at the pipe & fittings...
Is there a mark cast in it like "XH"?

Click to expand...

OK, I'll have to wait till next weekend to go to my mother's house and take a look. Thanks.

Redwood,

There are only two types of donuts, one for service weight and one for extra heavy, correct? There is no in between size right? I'll just go and buy both and return the one I don't use. Make sense?

xroad

If you look on the Fernco website, you'll find donuts in various sizes at about 1/16" increments. Every foundry did things approximately the same, but there are differences. I know this from personal experience where neither a 'normal' nor a X-tra large would fit.

jadnashua said:

If you look on the Fernco website, you'll find donuts in various sizes at about 1/16" increments. Every foundry did things approximately the same, but there are differences. I know this from personal experience where neither a 'normal' nor a X-tra large would fit.

Click to expand...

Holy cr@p, and I thought it was going to be an easy slam dunk!

1/16" incremant is a pretty small step. I cannot measure the width (diameter) of the opening at the "T" with that kind of accuracy, not even if I have the pipe removed, which I cannot. Once I remove the pipe, I have limited time to zip up the whole thing. So, I cannot do a trial and error and run to the local plumbing supply, who probably don't have it.

Humm, now the diamond blade on my 4" grinder is looking better, as recommended by nhmaster.

I'd pick up the 2 common ones and give it a shot...
If you can't get a snug fit then go to plan "B"

If you get the right size, you can insert the pipe in it with some effort, but it's not horrible. If you get one that is too tight, you'll be swearing, if you get it in at all. If it's too loose, it will leak. Get the right one and it works great. I was in the same situation...needed to get it done and the local shop only had a couple of sizes, neither one fit...bummer. I ended up cutting it off and replacing with pvc.

There is an accepted method of packing and caulking the joint that would allow you to use PVC (or you could pay a plumber to do a leaded joint with CI). I'd bought a tube of the special caulk and got some of the oiled hemp, but the stuff was (unopened, but) so old, I couldn't use it...was really pissed at the supply house - they should have known (when I looked at the date code, it was like 6-years old). Packing the stuff in, is a pain, but the size doesn't matter if yo ucan find stuff beyond the expiration date. Can't remember the name of the stuff. You have to pack a layer of hemp, caulk, and repeat, three times, filling up the socket.

That would be oakum...

nhmaster said:

Use your 4" grinder and a diamond wheel. Cut's like butter.

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Well, it has been a few months. Did the repair of the tempory patch few months ago. Reserched the donut thing ... too much unknown on the size. Cannot risk having the system off line for more than few hours. It serves a rental tenant. I rather take a slightly longer road that guarentee to get me there than a shorter road that may escalate to "Oh Crap!" situation.

Decided to go with grinder/cutting wheel and rubber boot route.

I purchased a wet/dry diamond cutting disk for my 4" grinder. I will use it to cut the cast iron sewer pipe to splice in the section of PVC. The box said it is used for cutting masonry and ceramic. That should be the right disk for the job right?

Anything I should watch out for in blade selection? Maybe there some variants I should be aware of?

The guy at Sears seems very knowledgeable (I was very surprised). He mentioned that the metal may melt and clog up the teeth of the cutting wheel. He suggest to run it through a block of concrete once in a while to knock off the metal deposits.