JeffeVerde
Member
My pool is plumbed in 2" copper. After 40 years, all but one of the brass gate valves has stripped it's stem, and of course, the manufacturer has gone out of business and I can't find a match to swap parts with.
I've got four valves side by side, feeding into a manifold, and I'd like to leave the manifold intact. There's a union at the other end of the manifold, so my thought is to pull the innards from all the valves and cut the valve bodies in half with a sawzall (the valves are spaced too close together to get to the middle valves with a grinder). Then I can sweat off the valves one at a time, rather than trying to torch four 2" valves all at once. (and yes, I've got mapps and acetylene torches)
Has anyone sawzall'd a brass valve? Is the alloy soft enough to cut with a bimetal blade? I might be able to get to the outside valves with a grinder, but I definitely don't have clearance to reach the middle pair.
Or am I missing something and there's a better way to skin this cat?
I've got four valves side by side, feeding into a manifold, and I'd like to leave the manifold intact. There's a union at the other end of the manifold, so my thought is to pull the innards from all the valves and cut the valve bodies in half with a sawzall (the valves are spaced too close together to get to the middle valves with a grinder). Then I can sweat off the valves one at a time, rather than trying to torch four 2" valves all at once. (and yes, I've got mapps and acetylene torches)
Has anyone sawzall'd a brass valve? Is the alloy soft enough to cut with a bimetal blade? I might be able to get to the outside valves with a grinder, but I definitely don't have clearance to reach the middle pair.
Or am I missing something and there's a better way to skin this cat?