1" Poly House Main to 3/4" Copper (Seeking Suggestions)

[lkellogg]

Hi All,

I'm looking for your suggestions on how to refresh this setup, which is where 1" black poly (connected to meter pit outside) comes in through the basement block foundation, and joins with 3/4" copper.

I noticed some rust/condensation on part of the backside of the cleanout body...and figure it probably wouldn't hurt to be prepared to have supplies on hand to replace this someday soon.

-How is the 3/4" copper joined to the 1" poly? Are those usually barb fittings of some sort? I assume that's what that bottom square copper piece is?

-From what I can see, the way to replace would be to cut the 3/4" copper just above the flared portion of the top thread coupler...and then spin off the cleanout body, and keep the barbed copper "square" inside the 1" poly. Then use a 3/4" copper female to 3/4" copper sweat, connect female the square barb, and sweat on 3/4"?

-Is a cleanout even needed on incoming freshwater (rural water, not well).

-Would you recommend replacing the rusty hose clamps on the 1" black poly where it clamps onto the copper barb? Or should I just leave them alone since they aren't leaking?

I'm open to any other suggestions you might have.

 

[cdherman]

Good pictures. Is that "cleanout" as you call it brass or galvanized steel? The cleanout was probably installed more as a drain -- ever try to sweat copper with water in the lines?

Put a magnet on the "cleanout". If its brass, I would do NOTHING. Those old clamps are indeed rusted, but that black PCV pipe is so stiff by now, you could probably remove the clamps and it still would not leak! The original installer triple clamped it -- means its got an extended barb (long). Well done.

But if the installer put a galvanized fitting in there, it introduces dielectric current issues and it will continue to rust away. Most people would leave it till it fails (it probably won't leak, but it could start releasing rust particulates into your water, mess with aerators on your faucets, orifices in your water softener if you have one........

Do the magnet -- post back. More experienced plumbers than I might give you a better answer as to whether a steel fitting in an otherwise copper brass system is as bad as I state......

 

[Sponsor]

 

[wwhitney]

Good pictures. Is that "cleanout" as you call it brass or galvanized steel?

It's galvanized, the rust marks on the threads of the plug are the give away. It should have been brass.

For the OP, what's going on above your picture? I'm not sure if it's worth proactively replacing that tee. If you want to replace it, I'd suggest finding a convenient place to cut the copper pipe where will be easily fixable (e.g. with a copper repair coupling, or a sharkbite repair coupling if you don't solder), and then unscrewing the copper female adapter from the galvanized tee, and replacing that tee with brass. Or you could replace it with a ball valve with a drain on the house side.

As for the rusty hose clamps, those are worth replacing, if only because the double clamp is installed wrong. One of the points of a double clamp is that a single clamp doesn't compress as well under the screw body. So the screw bodies of double clamps should be offset around the circumference of the pipe.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[Sarg]

Looks a bit like my father's did decades ago.
I sprayed it with FluidFilm after a gentle clean up.

 

[lkellogg]

Thank you all for your input/advice. I finally got around to replacing the corroded tee (it was dripping a few drops every minute through a rusted pinhole).

In case it helps anybody in the future, here's what I did:

The 90 degree brass hydrant elbow refused to come out of the black poly, so I had to cut it. Interestingly, the clamps (presumably put on sometime in the 1970's, weren't even over the metal barb of the 90 degree, and there was no stiffener inside the pipe either. Clamps were only tightened around the pipe itself.

Once I cut about 1.5" off the black poly, I put some plumbing grease in the entrance of the poly to aid in installing a new 90 degree hydrant elbow (worked well). I was able to get new (100% stainless) hose clamps around the barb material on the new 90.

I then installed a female to female adapter on the 90, soldered a male adapter onto the end of some 3/4" copper, and then a new Nibco ball valve on the other end. I threaded the male end into the female coupler on the 90, and soldered the top portion of the ball valve into the run.

I'm now contemplating adding in a brass solder tee with 3/4" female, and a 3/4" boiler drain quarter turn to be able to cleanly drain the house line into a bucket whenever I need to perform a solder repair in the future.

 

[Reach4]

If doing that again, liquid dish detergent is a good lube, and will give more temporary lubrication.

Boiling water can be good for heating the pipe to make it more flexible for inserting a barb.

For connecting to copper pipe that may have moisture, a compression fitting can do that.

 

[Slomoola]

Heat gun for installing the poly to a fitting. Gently heat the poly to soften it a touch.

I would of used a Boshart stainless steel sweeping 90 to go vertical.

Boshart ball valve in stainless. Has a drain on it too. This one is for PEX connections.