Part 3

The middle of a frozen pipe should never be thawed first, because expansion of the water confined by ice on both sides may burst the pipe. When thawing a water pipe, work toward the supply, opening a faucet to show when the flow starts. When thawing a waste or sewer pipe, work upward from the lower end to permit the water to drain away.

Applying boiling water or hot cloths to a frozen pipe is simple and effective. Where there is no danger of fire a torch or burning news-paper run back and forth along the frozen pipe gives quick results. Underground or otherwise inaccessible pipes may be thawed as follows: Open the frozen water pipe on the house end. Insert one end of a small pipe or tube. With the aid of a funnel at the other end of the small pipe pour boiling water into it and push it forward as the ice melts. A piece of rubber tubing may be used to connect the funnel to the thaw pipe. Hold the funnel higher than the frozen pipe, so that the hot water has head and forces the cooled water back to the opening, where it may be caught in a pail. The head may be increased and the funnel may be more conveniently used if an elbow and a piece of vertical pipe are added to the outer end of the thaw pipe, as shown in figure 12. Add more thaw pipe at the outer end until a passage is made through the ice. Withdraw the thaw pipe quickly after the flow starts. Do not stop the flow until the thaw pipe is fully removed and the frozen pipe is cleared of ice. A small force pump is often used instead of a funnel and is much to be preferred for opening a long piece of pipe. If available, a jet of steam may be used instead of hot water; being hotter, it is more rapid.

Frozen traps and waste pipes are sometimes thawed by pouring in caustic soda or lye, obtainable at grocery stores for about 25 cents per pound. Chemicals of this character should be labeled "Poison" and should be kept where children cannot get them. To prevent freezing, the water in the traps of a vacant house should be removed during cold weather, and the traps should be filled with kerosene, crude glycerin, or a very strong brine made of common salt and water, or other substance mentioned in Farmers' Bulletin 1426, Farm Plumbing.

REMOVING SCALE FROM WATER BACKS AND COILS

Hard water causes a limy deposit or scale on the inside of water backs and heating coils. If allowed to accumulate the scale retards the circulation and heating of the water and, by closure of the bore, may prove dangerous. Moreover, continued neglect makes it increasingly difficult to remove the scale.

The water back or coil should be removed from the fire box. At the union or other joints nearest the fire box disconnect all pipes and unscrew them from the water back. If there is a clamp which holds the fire-brick lining against the oven, loosen it and remove side and end linings. Lift out the water back and take it out on the ground. Soft scale or sludge may be removed by pounding the water back with a mallet or hammer and then flushing with a strong jet of water. A long gouge or chisel is used on those surfaces that can be reached. Sometimes the water back is heated in a blacksmith's forge and then pounded, but unless carefully done this treatment may break it. Some householders keep a spare water back for use while the other is being cleaned.

Waters of varying chemical composition cause scale differing in composition and hardness. Ordinary limestone (calcium carbonate) scale, if not of excessive thickness, may readily be removed with muriatic acid. Gypsum (calcium sulphate) scale is hard and resistant and with other constituents in their more compact forms is little affected by muriatic acid. The water back should be laid on the ground and filled with a strong solution of the acid in water. The strength of the solution should vary with the amount of deposit, the ordinary mixture being 1 part of acid and 5 to 7 parts of water. If the deposit is very thick, the acid needs little dilution. Commercial muriatic acid in bottles containing 6 pounds (about 2-1/2 quarts) costs 20 to 25 cents a pound. The bottle should be labeled "Muriatic acid--poison"; and, like the chemicals previously mentioned, it should be kept where children cannot get it. Heating the water back hastens the action of the acid. At the end of an hour or two, or sooner if the deposit is dissolved, pour the solution from the water back and flush it thoroughly with hot water to remove the acid. If all the deposit has not been removed, repeat the operation, making sure that the acid is completely washed out before replacing the water back. In replacing the water back it is important to have it level, using a spirit level for this purpose.

Similar methods may be used with copper coils. Place the coil (or heater) on two sticks over a large bowl. With the aid of a lead funnel pour the acid solution down through the coil. Dip from the bowl and continue to circulate the solution through the coil until the deposit is dissolved. The coil should then be thoroughly washed out with hot water.

The hot-water flow pipe close to a water back or coil frequently becomes thickly covered with scale. If the pipe is brass, it may be disconnected and treated with acid and then washed out with hot water. If the pipe is galvanized iron and in bad condition, it will probably be more satisfactory to replace it with new pipe.

LEAKS IN PIPES AND TANKS

A small leak in a water pipe can be stopped in an emergency as follows: Place a flat rubber or leather gasket over the leak and hammer a piece of sheet metal to fit over the gasket; secure both to the pipe with a clamp obtainable at hardware or 5-and-10-cent stores. A small leak under low pressure is sometimes stopped by shutting off the water and then embedding the pipe in richly mixed portland-cement mortar or concrete. Broken sewer pipe can be repaired in like manner, and a wrapping of wire netting embedded in the mortar or concrete increases its strength. However, it is better to relay the sewer and make all joints water-tight and root-proof as described in Farmers Bulletin 1227, Sewage and Sewerage of Farm Homes. A small hole in cast-iron pipe may be tapped for a screw plug.

Where a leaky screw joint cannot be tightened with a pipe wrench, the leak is sometimes stopped with a blunt, chisel or calking tool and hammer. Sometimes a crack or hole is cleaned out and then plugged and calked with lead, or a commercial iron cement mixed to the consistency of stiff putty. Sometimes a pipe band, a clamp with two bolts (similar to but stronger than the one shown in fig. 14), or a split sleeve is employed to hold a thin coating of iron cement or a gasket over a leak. If the leak is at a screw joint, the band is usually coated inside with one-eighth of an inch of iron cement and then slipped over the pipe. Keeping the bolt farthest from the coupling or fitting a little tighter than the other, both bolts, are tightened. During the tightening, the band should be driven with a hammer snugly against the coupling or fitting.

In addition to these methods and devices, there are several kinds of good, inexpensive, ready-made pipe and joint repairers obtainable of manufacturers and dealers.

A corroded and leaky spot in a steel tank or range boiler can be closed with an inexpensive repair bolt or plug obtainable from dealers. Figure 13 shows a home-made repairer consisting of a three-sixteenths by 3-inch toggle bolt costing 10 cents and a flat rubber gasket, brass washer, and nut. The link of the bolt, after being passed through the hole, takes an upright position, and screwing up the nut forces the gasket tightly against the outside of the boiler.

A small hole must be reamed or enlarged with a round file to a diameter of about five-eighths inch. The metal beneath the gasket should be firm and clean. A little candlewick packing may be wrapped around the bolt to prevent leakage along the bolt. Sometimes a hole is closed by driving in a tapered steel pin to turn the metal inward, forming a surface which can be tapped for an ordinary screw plug. A hole in the wall of a tank or pipe having considerable thickness can be easily and quickly closed by screwing in a tapered steel tap plug which cuts and threads its way through the wall. These plugs in different sizes are obtainable of dealers and a monkey wrench is the only tool required to insert them; it is unnecessary to shut off or drain the water from the tank or pipe.

A small leak at a seam or rivet can often be closed by merely rubbing a cold chisel along the beveled edge of the joint. Do not attempt to calk a seam unless the plates have considerable thickness and the rivets are closely spaced and are close to the calking edge, and then use extreme caution. Run a regular calking tool or blunt chisel along the beveled edge, tapping the tool very lightly with a light hammer to force the edge of the upper plate against and into the lower plate.

CRACKED LAUNDRY TUBS

Cracks in slate, soapstone, or cement laundry tubs are made water-tight with a mixture of litharge and glycerin or a specially prepared commercial cement. The litharge and glycerin are mixed and stirred to form a smooth heavy paste free from lumps. The crack should be cleaned out to remove all grease and dirt and the paste should be worked into the crack with a case knife. A paste of portland cement and water, or of the white of an egg and fresh lump lime, has been used successfully for this purpose.

HOSE MENDERS OR SPLICERS

A break in garden hose can be quickly repaired or two pieces of hose can be joined with a 10- or 15-cent iron or brass hose mender or splicer shown in figure 14 (upper left). Cut off the defective piece of hose, insert the mender in the good ends of the hose, and wire or clamp the hose as shown in figure 14 (below). Menders come to slip inside of 1/2-, 3/4-, or 1-inch hose. The regular brass hose coupling shown in figure 14 (upper right), which costs 25 to 40 cents, can be used for this purpose.

U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1946

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25 D. C. -- Price 5 cents

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Transcriber Note

Illustrations were repositioned so as to not split paragraphs.