Clogged Cold Supply, 1 loc., Pre shutoff

[HANDYHACKERinFL]

I am visiting relatives in deerfield, Illinoise, and cant help but look for things to fix while here. House is 50-60 years old at least, and I am very intrigued by old houses after working on all the newer junk in Florida. First project is the bathroom that has cold water running fine in tub, toilet, but not the sink. It was a drop, drop, I played with the shut off valve and it increased to a dribble. Removed supply hose, same. Saw mineral deposits in hose seat, valve is screw/washer/seat valve, connected via threaded to 1/2 in galv pipe. S.O. Valve seems to function normally, just feels a bit tight when turning. So pipe is clogged with mineral deposits right? and would it be safe to assume the deposits are built up at the point of connection to shut off, since thats where a reduction in flow occurs, an orifice of sorts? So I plan to get a 2 new ball valve shut offs, hope those old valves come off without too much trouble, (no breaking pipes upon removal please) shut house supply off, and replace. After removing cold shut off I hope to see a mess of crusty mineral deposit, which I can scrape out. anyone here experience this type of situation before, have any warnings or advice? Thank you!

 

[Verdeboy]

I would first try to remove the guts of the shutoff valve and have someone turn on the water for a few seconds to try to clean out any debris. If that doesn't work, you can always unscrew it. But one possible scenario is that the galvanized pipe might be so corroded that when you unscrew the S.O. valve, it might disintegrate. Then you'd have a real project on your hands.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[HANDYHACKERinFL]

Pipe looks good

I removed the shut off, no problem. Its 3/8 galv pipe threaded connection, but looks like similar diameter pipe to 1/2 copper pipe. Anyway, I saw no clog there as wished for, its further inside the pipe. Same circuit as tub and toilet which have no clog. Acces to the pipe in question is a crawl space, and obvious real fix is to replace the pipe. Trying to find an easier solution. Is it possible to attach a type of snake to a drill and get it into the pipe a couple of feet, around the first 45 which is 6" in, and hopefully to the clog of rust and deposit to break it loose? I imagine such a tool exhists, what is is called and where can I get it?

 

[Verdeboy]

Have you tried just flushing it out yet? Unlike a drain you have the benefit of high water pressure.

 

[Jadnashua]

It's more likely rust (which technically is a mineral, but it is not deposited). If it has closed the pipe up enough to do that, reaming it out is probably not a great idea. Replace?

 

[HANDYHACKERinFL]

Flush a clogged supply?

I thought about a reverse flush. I would cut water supply, open other taps, and apply compressed air. Or they make a water hammer device that uses a blast of compressed air to apply a shockwave to water, but I would have to get water into the pipe first. how can you flush something that is clogged. It has pressure on it now, and just dribbles. Maybe I need to flush it backwards. Or maybe this crap is so hard it has to be physically removed or the pipe replaced, as sugested in my alternate thread, clogged 1/2" galvanized supply. If you have any ideas how to open the flow, please let me know.

 

[Jadnashua]

If it is rust, replace the pipe.