Plumbers Help

Me | 12/31/2007 | Bob

[Tennessee_Bob]

Yeah, I know, strange question. Maybe I need to change my tinfoil or something.

[Tennessee_Bob]

One of the eight valves in question.

[CholeraJoe]

Hire the oldest local plumber you can find. Surely he’s seen these before.

[keat]

A side view would be better but it looks like a ball valve (1/4 turn) not a gate valve.

But who cares? Getting a new valve in and out without breaking anything is what you need to worry about.

New valves are cheap.

[mdittmar]

Don’t ever turn that one;)

[Texas Eagle]

I give you props. You are one of the most trusting souls I've ever come across. To post a question like this on a forum like FreeRepublic.com....well....God bless you.

As for me. I'm going to pop myself a nice cold bottle of Red Seal Ale and enjoy the thread.

I hope the mods don't move this over to chat or some other black hole.

[keat]

Oh, and Bob. Get ready to see some of this:

[ThomasThomas]

That looks a plug in a tee fitting from this angle not a valve. A side view would be nice. But I know electronic stuff better. In general green is good red is bad, green pipes must mean something good if it were electronic that is.

[Red_Devil 232]

You are going to need a big bundle like this soon.

[martin_fierro]

Feng Shui for plumbers

[Lokibob]

I lived in a house like that. Valves and all.

Here is what I did. I hired a plumber and asked if there was a way to hook up the valves to thermostats. We bought the cheapest thermostats we could find, and installed them in each room. Each thermostat controlled the heat in that room only via the valve. (BTW, this was 30 years ago, too). Bet in todays world, there are computer controlled valves to do the same thing.

I loved the heat the pipes provided, and no dust but the biggest thing I liked was the floor being warm all the time.

Anyway, talk it over with a plumber and see what he/she can do.

My plumber gets $150/hour. I told him that I didn’t pay my lawyer that much, and he said “I could not charge that much when I was a lawyer”.

Let me know how you make out, I am interested.....

....Bob

[Texas Eagle]

Heh, heh. That reminds me of an old Far Side cartoon. Two cavemen are looking at a hole in the ground outside a cave. Next to the hole, a forked tree branch is sticking out of the ground with a roll of toilet paper on one of the forks. One of the cavemen is holding what looks like a crescent wrench and is saying, "Ooooh. This not be cheap." The caption under the cartoon reads, "Early plumbers."

Boy, how I miss the Far Side. I'll see if I can find that cartoon.

[davetex]

You’re right, that’s a plug in a “Tee” fitting.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Trusting? Nah - everything here is taken with a grain of salt. But heck, it’s informative and cheap entertainment.

As expensive as it is to heat this house with the system, I’m thinking seriously about putting in a wood stove. Just have to find out how much it’s going to cost to do it. But in the mean time, I need to figure out the heating system that’s currently in place.

Enjoy - and send me one of those Red Seals - if I had my druthers, I’d be drinking John Smith’s Best Bitters. Damn the RAF for getting me hooked on that stuff.

[keat]

You’re right, that’s a plug in a “Tee” fitting.

I don't think so. What looks like a plug is the rotating part of the valve. In the position in the photo, it is open. Turning 90 degrees with a wrench closes the valve.

If the valve is leaking, it may be that the body can be left in place and a new packing installed, provided it can be dis-assembled.

[Texas Eagle]

Enjoy - and send me one of those Red Seals

10-4. Freepmail me your 20.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I’ve seen similar valves at Los Alamos and Hanford on a gaseous diffusion system but I didn’t get to inspect them because I was near my administrative limit of 5000 mr/year and that would have pushed me over the top. Well, since your’s were installed in ‘44, they’re probably near background by now. :)

[Tennessee_Bob]

Side view as requested. Sorry for the image quality. The valves sit down in a sump in the laundry room next to the boiler, making it a little difficult to get a good side view.

My wife was worried about how the pictures looked - I tried to explain that the plumbing was 60 years old, and wasn't expected to be chrome plated and sterile. At least, I wasn't expecting it to be. I guess I'll be steam cleaning and plating the stuff on my next days off. ;-)

And since she's reading this over my shoulder...I love you honey!!

[Texas Eagle]

And since she's reading this over my shoulder...I love you honey!!

Oh, brother. Get a room you two.

[keat]

That’s a valve, and it’s pretty corroded. No simple job.