How to unthread black iron fitting

Hi, what is the typical method for unscrewing a black iron pipe from a fitting? the pipe is 1" threaded coming out of a 1.5"-1" reducer hung from the ceiling in my basement. Will just two pipe wrenches and some heat work or do I need a special tool?

thanks

Two pipe wrenches should be fine. If that's not enough, sometimes heating the female fitting helps.

A couple of other things you might try if two pipe wrenches won't crack it loose are some PB Blaster on the fitting, and/or cheater handles on the wrenches. FWIW, PB Blaster is an excellent penetrating oil. Many folks try WD-40, but that is not a penetrating oil. It has its place, that this isn't one of them. I'd be careful with heat if the fitting is close to the ceiling.

thanks!

Is liquid wrench similar to PB? I've already got some lying around if so. The fitting is probably about6-8" below the open floor joist.

Go ahead and try the Liquid Wrench. Just be very careful if you then try to heat it, as the oil will smoke and burn. Often, all you need is a bigger wrench.

Yes, I think Liquid Wrench is a comparable product, PB Blaster may be a tad better, but I've never seen result of a test between the two.

If I were to tackle this job this weekend would heating it up tonight and then after it cools down apply the LW work out? Wondering the time needed to penetrate the joint. Is there any value in heating it up days before I try and unscrew it?

On a side note, I am getting ready to reroute some baseboard and notice the original copper fittings have some nice long bends in the 90's. Is it still possible to locate this type of fitting? I'm big into aquariums and we always try and design systems with minimal bends that limit flow. I'm assuming the same applies to heating systems. I contemplated going pex, but from some things I've read the ID isn't 3/4 and that seams to bother me if I'm creating restrictions within my loop.

Oh, sorry, one last thing. Does it make a difference what copper tube I use for hydronic system? red or blue? It seems the walls of the slantfin tube are so thin that the red would be enough but maybe I'm missing something.

Unless you heat it when you want to remove the pipe, so it is still hot and expanded, it will do little if anything to make it easier to take apart. Long radius elbows are something an air conditioning supply company would have. "Red" type M copper was developed for heating systems. Any other grade is "overkill".

Heat only works if you quickly heat the female portion to expand it. Once the inner portion or pipe reaches the same temperature and expands; you're right where you started.

You can also use bigger wrenches. It's why plumbers have big arms.

Us engineers have big muscles too -- inside our heads

Us engineers have big muscles too -- inside our heads

Click to expand...

Yes.......................What do you mean by that?

ummmm.....yeah. What he said.

Thanks guys, the combo of liquid wrench and cheater bars worked great.

Isn't leverage a wonderful thing! As a kid on the farm, I always knew when a couple of 1-12" x 6' galvanized pipes were. This was way before PVC, so we used lots of 2" galvanized pipes in our irrigation system. Even smaller pipes could be difficult. 'Course in those days I weighed in at 130 lbs, so I didn't have a lot of beef to back me up and I needed all the help I could get sometimes. Glad we could help and that it worked out well for you.

quote; Us engineers have big muscles too -- inside our heads

The problem is that they seldom get used or excercised.