xlr82v2
Member
Don't you hate it when a simple little project turns into a big headache project??
Here's my latest...
Last week, my wife found a bunch of water laying in the bottom of the bathroom cabinet. OK, no big deal. Look under the sink, all the drain pipes and water lines are DRY, even after running water a few minutes to try to see where a drip is coming from. Then, after a few minutes of waiting, and going out to the workshop to get my inspection mirror, I finally see a little bit of wetness on one of the flexible water supply lines where it attaches to the faucet. I got my good ol' dependable adjustable metric wrench, and snugged it back up... as well as all the other fittings under the sink. Most of them were barely finger tight...Bingo, problem solved. We wiped up all the water and made sure that everything was dry, and put everything back under the sink.
Next day, "Brian, the cabinet under the sink is full of water again!" What??? Pulled everything back out of the cabinet, and got back under there. Water was dripping from the cold supply line...and it was wet the entire length. We were going Christmas shopping later that day, so we stopped at Lowes and got a new set of supply lines, and Becky found a new faucet that she liked, since the old faucet had been in there probably 15+ years, and was showing its age. We figured now was just as good a time as any to replace it, since I was going to have everything apart under there anyway. OK, good to go, we're gonna nip this thing in the bud before the water leak messes up the cabinet... (I wish...)
We got back home, I took everything out, replaced the faucet, installed the new flexible supply lines, tightened everything up, put everything back under the cabinet, and we went to bed. Problem solved
.
Next morning, I wake up to hear "Brian, the cabinet is full of water again!!" What??? Pull everything back out of the cabinet, climb back under there with the inspection mirror and flashlight, and finally find a slow drip coming from the cold shutoff valve where it screws onto the copper pipe coming out of the wall. OK, no big deal, we're gonna nip this thing in the bud. Go downstairs, turn off the water coming into the house, let off the pressure, then remove the shutoff valve. Run 10 miles into town, get a new shutoff valve (the old one had a crack in the threads) and replace it back on the cold supply pipe, hook everything back up again. Good to go. Run downstairs to turn the water back on, and the valve is kinda stiff for the first 1/2 turn, then gets very easy to turn. TOO easy to turn!!
I go upstairs, turn on the faucet, and water just comes out at a dribble. The dang main shutoff valve broke just barely cracked open! W#(*%&POWD(&^(*)!!! Hopefully the valve at the water meter isn't frozen open, if it is, I'm screwed!
I went out, pulled the cover off the meter, and luckily, the shutoff valve closed easily. They must cycle that valve each time they take a reading, as that's the first time I've ever closed that valve. Phew! Got lucky there. Ran 10 miles back into town to get a new gate valve. "Hey, weren't you just here???" Yeah, don't ask, I need a new 3/4" gate valve. "Uh oh." Yep.
Got back home, installed the new valve, put everything back together, turned the water back on. No leaks at the gate valve. No leaks under the sink. FINALLY, got this thing fixed. Not!!
2 Days later, (Christmas Eve Morning), Becky went downstairs, and I heard a scream. I ran down there, and water was everywhere. That stupid MADE IN CHINA PIECE OF CRAP GATE VALVE split the threads on the house side of the valve!!! I don't know when it happened, but it was spraying water everywhere BIG TIME. Half of the basement was flooded!
Back out to the water meter, turned off the water again, removed the gate valve, ran 10 miles back into town. "Weren't you here just yesterday?" Yeah, don't ask. Your MADE IN CHINA GATE VALVE SPLIT THE THREADS OVERNIGHT and flooded my basement. "Oh crap, let me see it!" "It sure did." We went back to get another MADE IN CHINA PIECE OF CRAP GATE VALVE, but the one I got the day before was the last one they had. Huh, imagine that!
The only other 3/4" valve that they had was a ball valve, so I took that home instead. We were getting ready for Christmas day with all the family coming over, so I had to get the water turned back on PRONTO!! Got back home, put the new ball valve in, put everything back together, turned the water back on. Good, no leaks. Problem solved...NOT!!
Christmas morning, Becky called me back down into the basement, and said that the floor was all wet under where I put the new valve in. What??? So I got the flashlight and a towel, and wiped everything off. There was a drip about every 15 seconds seeping out around where the threaded adapter was glued onto the PVC waterline coming into the house. Naturally, I didn't have any 3/4" Sch 40 PVC, and I couldn't find the PVC cement that I bought last year for another project. Being Christmas day, the hardware store wasn't open, so I couldn't get anything to fix it, so I just had to let it leak, and pray that the end didn't blow off of that piece of PVC and really flood the basement while all the family was there. I went downstairs every 30 minutes or so for the rest of the day to check on it, but thankfully, it never got any worse.
This morning I drove 10 miles back into town to the hardware store. "Hey, weren't you here day before yesterday?" Yeah, don't ask. I need a piece of 3/4 sched 40 PVC, 2 connectors, and 2 3/4 thread adapters. "What happened now?" The old thread adapter on the PVC pipe where the shutoff valve is is leaking and probably about to blow off. "Man, you just aren't having any luck this week are you?" Nope.
I got back home, cut off the old piece of PVC, made up my new end, threaded the ball valve onto it and glued it on so that I could index the handle of the ball valve where I wanted it to be. Right now the cement is still curing (bottle said wait 2 hours before pressure testing), and I've got about 1 hour to go before I can turn the water back on out at the water meter.
What's going to happen next???
This sure hasn't been my week!
Here's my latest...
Last week, my wife found a bunch of water laying in the bottom of the bathroom cabinet. OK, no big deal. Look under the sink, all the drain pipes and water lines are DRY, even after running water a few minutes to try to see where a drip is coming from. Then, after a few minutes of waiting, and going out to the workshop to get my inspection mirror, I finally see a little bit of wetness on one of the flexible water supply lines where it attaches to the faucet. I got my good ol' dependable adjustable metric wrench, and snugged it back up... as well as all the other fittings under the sink. Most of them were barely finger tight...Bingo, problem solved. We wiped up all the water and made sure that everything was dry, and put everything back under the sink.
Next day, "Brian, the cabinet under the sink is full of water again!" What??? Pulled everything back out of the cabinet, and got back under there. Water was dripping from the cold supply line...and it was wet the entire length. We were going Christmas shopping later that day, so we stopped at Lowes and got a new set of supply lines, and Becky found a new faucet that she liked, since the old faucet had been in there probably 15+ years, and was showing its age. We figured now was just as good a time as any to replace it, since I was going to have everything apart under there anyway. OK, good to go, we're gonna nip this thing in the bud before the water leak messes up the cabinet... (I wish...)
We got back home, I took everything out, replaced the faucet, installed the new flexible supply lines, tightened everything up, put everything back under the cabinet, and we went to bed. Problem solved
.Next morning, I wake up to hear "Brian, the cabinet is full of water again!!" What??? Pull everything back out of the cabinet, climb back under there with the inspection mirror and flashlight, and finally find a slow drip coming from the cold shutoff valve where it screws onto the copper pipe coming out of the wall. OK, no big deal, we're gonna nip this thing in the bud. Go downstairs, turn off the water coming into the house, let off the pressure, then remove the shutoff valve. Run 10 miles into town, get a new shutoff valve (the old one had a crack in the threads) and replace it back on the cold supply pipe, hook everything back up again. Good to go. Run downstairs to turn the water back on, and the valve is kinda stiff for the first 1/2 turn, then gets very easy to turn. TOO easy to turn!!
I go upstairs, turn on the faucet, and water just comes out at a dribble. The dang main shutoff valve broke just barely cracked open! W#(*%&POWD(&^(*)!!! Hopefully the valve at the water meter isn't frozen open, if it is, I'm screwed!I went out, pulled the cover off the meter, and luckily, the shutoff valve closed easily. They must cycle that valve each time they take a reading, as that's the first time I've ever closed that valve. Phew! Got lucky there. Ran 10 miles back into town to get a new gate valve. "Hey, weren't you just here???" Yeah, don't ask, I need a new 3/4" gate valve. "Uh oh." Yep.
Got back home, installed the new valve, put everything back together, turned the water back on. No leaks at the gate valve. No leaks under the sink. FINALLY, got this thing fixed. Not!!
2 Days later, (Christmas Eve Morning), Becky went downstairs, and I heard a scream. I ran down there, and water was everywhere. That stupid MADE IN CHINA PIECE OF CRAP GATE VALVE split the threads on the house side of the valve!!! I don't know when it happened, but it was spraying water everywhere BIG TIME. Half of the basement was flooded!
Back out to the water meter, turned off the water again, removed the gate valve, ran 10 miles back into town. "Weren't you here just yesterday?" Yeah, don't ask. Your MADE IN CHINA GATE VALVE SPLIT THE THREADS OVERNIGHT and flooded my basement. "Oh crap, let me see it!" "It sure did." We went back to get another MADE IN CHINA PIECE OF CRAP GATE VALVE, but the one I got the day before was the last one they had. Huh, imagine that!
The only other 3/4" valve that they had was a ball valve, so I took that home instead. We were getting ready for Christmas day with all the family coming over, so I had to get the water turned back on PRONTO!! Got back home, put the new ball valve in, put everything back together, turned the water back on. Good, no leaks. Problem solved...NOT!! Christmas morning, Becky called me back down into the basement, and said that the floor was all wet under where I put the new valve in. What??? So I got the flashlight and a towel, and wiped everything off. There was a drip about every 15 seconds seeping out around where the threaded adapter was glued onto the PVC waterline coming into the house. Naturally, I didn't have any 3/4" Sch 40 PVC, and I couldn't find the PVC cement that I bought last year for another project. Being Christmas day, the hardware store wasn't open, so I couldn't get anything to fix it, so I just had to let it leak, and pray that the end didn't blow off of that piece of PVC and really flood the basement while all the family was there. I went downstairs every 30 minutes or so for the rest of the day to check on it, but thankfully, it never got any worse.
This morning I drove 10 miles back into town to the hardware store. "Hey, weren't you here day before yesterday?" Yeah, don't ask. I need a piece of 3/4 sched 40 PVC, 2 connectors, and 2 3/4 thread adapters. "What happened now?" The old thread adapter on the PVC pipe where the shutoff valve is is leaking and probably about to blow off. "Man, you just aren't having any luck this week are you?" Nope.
I got back home, cut off the old piece of PVC, made up my new end, threaded the ball valve onto it and glued it on so that I could index the handle of the ball valve where I wanted it to be. Right now the cement is still curing (bottle said wait 2 hours before pressure testing), and I've got about 1 hour to go before I can turn the water back on out at the water meter.
What's going to happen next???
This sure hasn't been my week!
...
