| When soldering valves to copper pipe, thicker walls | | | | will last you forever. I'd finish with a saws-all and a |
| require more heat to sweat. Sweating copper is all | | | | grid-edge blade. BTW the grinder with the diamond |
| similar, where you scour the pipe's exterior and the | | | | wheel is great for cutting tile, concrete and brick. It |
| "cup" of the fitting to be soldered. Flux both of them | | | | will be pretty dusty cutting through these things. |
| and heat the area all around the cup. Then place a | | | | Adding a New Drain to Cast Iron Pipe Where There |
| torch flame in one spot, applying solder to the | | | | is a Cleanout? There are a couple of ways to go |
| opposite side until the heat causes the solder to flow | | | | about this. The brass "little rect. box" is a cleanout |
| toward it. Solder will flow to heat without exception. | | | | plug. Unscrew it if you can, but if not then cut off |
| But overheating is a possibility, so remove the torch | | | | the square with a saws-all. Then cut from the center |
| from the pipe once the solder flows to the heat and | | | | out to the threads in pie-like sections. Peel the plug |
| immediately clean it with a wet rag. | | | | out of the female threads. Ideally it will be three |
| Cutting Cast Iron and Plastic/Cast Connections? Cut | | | | inches. Screw in a three inch male adapter. But it |
| the case iron with a reciprocal saw, maybe a | | | | might be 3 ½ inches, which is no longer in |
| Milwaukee saws-all. Cast iron is very strong, so you | | | | production. Use a 5x3" Fernco bell with the 5" over |
| want to use heavy metal blades. I like the Lenox | | | | the cleanout hub. Push down with a 3" by 2" bush in |
| 614R and start with six-inch blades. It will take some | | | | the 3" end of the Fernco. Another way to do it is to |
| time to penetrate the side of the pipe, but it will go | | | | take a section out of the cast pipe and use Fernco |
| quicker once there is a hole there. Longer metal | | | | around a PVC or ABS Sanitary Tee. The 6" iron pipe |
| blades are necessary to finish the job. It might seem | | | | is most likely 4" cast. It can be cut with a saws-all or |
| like it won't cut it, but trust me, it will. To connect | | | | snapped with a ratchet cutter designed to penetrate |
| the plastic and cast iron, use Mission or Fernco No | | | | cast iron. You might want to rent or borrow one, as |
| Flex couplings. Be sure not to forget the vents. | | | | they usually cost more than three hundred dollars. |
| Add: When going after iron waste pipes I like to use | | | | When taking sections out of the pipe, it is important |
| a rigid ratchet cast iron cutter. Sometimes the area is | | | | for safety purposes that the pipe's upper section is |
| too confined to use that tool though. In this case I | | | | supported. Otherwise the entire pipe could fall down |
| use a mini-grinder and a diamond wheel to cut as | | | | violently. |
| much as I can. The diamond wheel is $100 but one | | | | |