You just gotta see this plumbing job

[Redwood]

Not exactly the same kind of hose clamp are they? The clamps supplied on all these drain couplings are stainless steel... Unless you are buying chinese ones then they might be made of just about any material.

 

[Cass]

Lately...yes...just large cheap hose clamps.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Mikey]

I have never seen a stainless dryer vent hose clamp...they all are steel.

I've got 2 of them... of course, I once had a dive knife that had "Stainless" stamped on the blade. It was easy to read, 'cause the letters were all rusted.

 

[Rancher]

Stainless steel comes in many grades, depending on how much chromium and nickle have been added, the joke about many stainless steels is that the are just (stain-less), not stain proof.

Rancher

 

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Stainless steel comes in many grades

I think that's what I'm dealing with.....doesn't matter how much I pay for the clamp, years later that worm gear slowly rusts, spins out of the clamp or chews the mesh pattern in the stainless band.

Take for example these fancy S/S grills; people thought they bought quality only to find out the grade of stainless was enough to get less life than a powder coated enamel finish.

 

[Herk]

Good clamps usually say "All Stainless" on them.

 

[Redwood]

Good clamps usually say "All Stainless" on them.

That would be the key!

 

[Too Tired For This]

Here's another Code question about the use of Fernco flexible couplings:

Section 6.05.6 of the International Plumbing Code says, "Access shall be provided to all flexible water connectors." Does that section apply only to flexible connectors used in water supply plumbing (chapter 6 of the Code)? Or does the word "all" mean it also applies to flexible connectors used in sanitary drains (chapter 7)?

Recently a plumber installed a Fernco coupling between a new bathtub drain assembly (the tub's primary drain pipe, the overflow drain pipe, and a tee joint) and the old trap. (Both old and new pipes are brass, I think.) The only way to reach the coupling is to cut a hole in the bathroom ceiling of the condo below, which doesn't satisfy the Code's definition of "access" if my understanding is correct. One of my concerns is that if the drain ever develops a clog that needs to be snaked, the snake will chew up the coupling. A related concern is that the coupling provides a ledge that may make clogs more likely. The plumber used a power tool to speedily cut through the old pipe above the trap, and I don't know if he bothered to smoothe the jagged edge that the cutter would presumably have left, and a jagged edge may make clogs more likely too. If the coupling were accessible, those concerns could be easily dealt with: simply unscrew & remove the coupling to remove the clog and before snaking.

 

[Reach4]

Here's another Code question about the use of Fernco flexible couplings:

Section 6.05.6 of the International Plumbing Code says, "Access shall be provided to all flexible water connectors." Does that section apply only to flexible connectors used in water supply plumbing (chapter 6 of the Code)? Or does the word "all" mean it also applies to flexible connectors used in sanitary drains (chapter 7)?

Here is what I found in the 2009 IPC:

605.6 Flexible water connectors. Flexible water connectors exposed to continuous pressure shall conform to ASME A112.18.6. Access shall be provided to all flexible water connectors.​

I think this only applies to pressurized systems. I am not a plumber.

A related concern is that the coupling provides a ledge that may make clogs more likely.

Consider the ledges that would be in threaded galvanized fittings and leaded cast iron joints.

 

[Too Tired For This]

Consider the ledges that would be in threaded galvanized fittings and leaded cast iron joints

I believe the bathtub drain plumbing in our 8-story condo building (built during the early 1970s) doesn't use threaded fittings or leaded cast iron joints. Below is a photo of the tee joint that the plumber cut out, plus short sections of pipe attached to the tee. The tee and the two upstream pipes look like brass (or some other copper alloy) and the downstream pipe looks like copper. The pipes appear to have been soldered, not threaded. Where the brass meets the copper pipe, the downstream copper pipe's inner diameter is wider than the brass pipe's, a "ledge" orientation that I presume won't promote clog growth. At the three openings of the tee joint that have what appear to be threads on the outside, it feels smooth -- no ledges -- on the inside.