Thomas Canfield
08-16-2020, 10:24 AM
The past week was full of little plumbing issues that should have easily been handled.
1. Toilet running needing to change the fill valve. Bought the replacement fill valve at Walmart, Fluidmaster 400AH, the later version of original valve in the American Standard toilet. Waited several days wanting to have time with hardware store open if additional parts (gaskets, etc ) were needed. Found that the supply valve replaced when bought house 8 years back worked fine and hose had a finger tight wing connection and easy removal. The lock nut under the toilet was in a recess and not visible but looked at the replacement nut and it had wings. First bought a universal tool for the fill hoses that worked with socket drive, but it would not go in the recess. Next bought a "shower valve socket wrench" that I could cut slots in side to fit the wing nut, but it did not fit either. Last resort, used cell phone camera to take a picture under the toilet and found that it was a hex nut but no way to get a measurement. Went back to Ace and bought a set of the "shower valve socket wrench" that went up to 1 5/32" which fit the nut and I could get the old fill valve removed. I had to use the same nut for replacement since the furnished lock nut with new fill valve would not fit the recess. I called American Standard and talked to the tech but that was a worthless call since he kept saying I bought the wrong fill valve and did not acknowledge the poor design by American Standard. Lesson learned - take a photo if you cannot see up in a blind area.
2. Had a leak under kitchen sink. Checking I found that the drain basket on side without disposal had a leak in the putty joint. Had to use my Dremel with cutoff wheel to cut the locknut since the locknut was frozen to the basket and the cross inside was too weak to hold basket. New basket and putty from trip to Ace, and then had granddaughter hold the basket while I tightened underneath. Had to do several tries to get basket centered (next time need to give better instructions) and the paper gasket next to lock nut got wet and I had to cut a new gasket from thin cardboard cereal box. Leak fixed only to find additional leak at faucet #3.
3. The single handle kitchen faucet with pull out spray was leaking at the connection to the hose. I am pretty sure it is a Pfister fixture, but could not find any identification marks on the fixture and only a paper tag on hot water line that said"Caution……". There is a special plastic hose connection from the valve tube to the hose and leak is at the valve side. A call to Pfister and then sending them photos of the fixture and connection resulted in the tech saying it is not Pfister. I looked at all the different kitchen faucets available at Lowes (where purchased almost 9 years back) showed that only Pfister used a special connection to hose and rest just used a nut compression connection. Still have a small leak but have pan under trying to get resolved. I did not have the paperwork on the original faucet when I had it installed.
4. Had wet floor by central air unit in house. Found the condensate drain line had plugged up and the unit does not have a drain pan with emergency drain. Need to use drain cleaner on condensate line twice a year without fail - my bad but bad installation also.
I am still glad that I did not call a plumber and use my experience from working 60+ years back, but next time...……..
The toilet repair should have been 2 finger tight connections and simple repair. The drain basket should have used a plastic washer for better design. The sink hose should have been a simple connection. There should have been a secondary pan with the air handler unit for condensate drain plugging. Glad to get the rant off my chest
1. Toilet running needing to change the fill valve. Bought the replacement fill valve at Walmart, Fluidmaster 400AH, the later version of original valve in the American Standard toilet. Waited several days wanting to have time with hardware store open if additional parts (gaskets, etc ) were needed. Found that the supply valve replaced when bought house 8 years back worked fine and hose had a finger tight wing connection and easy removal. The lock nut under the toilet was in a recess and not visible but looked at the replacement nut and it had wings. First bought a universal tool for the fill hoses that worked with socket drive, but it would not go in the recess. Next bought a "shower valve socket wrench" that I could cut slots in side to fit the wing nut, but it did not fit either. Last resort, used cell phone camera to take a picture under the toilet and found that it was a hex nut but no way to get a measurement. Went back to Ace and bought a set of the "shower valve socket wrench" that went up to 1 5/32" which fit the nut and I could get the old fill valve removed. I had to use the same nut for replacement since the furnished lock nut with new fill valve would not fit the recess. I called American Standard and talked to the tech but that was a worthless call since he kept saying I bought the wrong fill valve and did not acknowledge the poor design by American Standard. Lesson learned - take a photo if you cannot see up in a blind area.
2. Had a leak under kitchen sink. Checking I found that the drain basket on side without disposal had a leak in the putty joint. Had to use my Dremel with cutoff wheel to cut the locknut since the locknut was frozen to the basket and the cross inside was too weak to hold basket. New basket and putty from trip to Ace, and then had granddaughter hold the basket while I tightened underneath. Had to do several tries to get basket centered (next time need to give better instructions) and the paper gasket next to lock nut got wet and I had to cut a new gasket from thin cardboard cereal box. Leak fixed only to find additional leak at faucet #3.
3. The single handle kitchen faucet with pull out spray was leaking at the connection to the hose. I am pretty sure it is a Pfister fixture, but could not find any identification marks on the fixture and only a paper tag on hot water line that said"Caution……". There is a special plastic hose connection from the valve tube to the hose and leak is at the valve side. A call to Pfister and then sending them photos of the fixture and connection resulted in the tech saying it is not Pfister. I looked at all the different kitchen faucets available at Lowes (where purchased almost 9 years back) showed that only Pfister used a special connection to hose and rest just used a nut compression connection. Still have a small leak but have pan under trying to get resolved. I did not have the paperwork on the original faucet when I had it installed.
4. Had wet floor by central air unit in house. Found the condensate drain line had plugged up and the unit does not have a drain pan with emergency drain. Need to use drain cleaner on condensate line twice a year without fail - my bad but bad installation also.
I am still glad that I did not call a plumber and use my experience from working 60+ years back, but next time...……..
The toilet repair should have been 2 finger tight connections and simple repair. The drain basket should have used a plastic washer for better design. The sink hose should have been a simple connection. There should have been a secondary pan with the air handler unit for condensate drain plugging. Glad to get the rant off my chest