Recent content by JMThomas

I have a 220v GFI breaker/disconnect box on the side of my house near my Jacuzzi. (Culter-Hammer (Eaton) BR24L70RP type 3R). The box contains a neutral bar and assembly for connecting a single breaker, plus an door for accessing the breaker handle as a disconnect along with the test/reset...

Tis been a while, and I've been doing post mortums on various brands of filters. Unfortunately, the new is mostly bad. The worst I've found is sold under the DuPont brand by the big box stores. They have to come from China, and the length of the carbon impregnated paper wrapping the filer has...

Another way to look at this problem: carbon block filters are $25 - $40. The carbon paper wrap filters are $4. Should I expect carbon block to last 10 times longer?

The first (and only) thing that happens is the water taste goes off. Replacing the carbon wrap filter fixes the problem. There is no noticeable pressure drop that would indicate clogging. Right now, I'm replacing the carbon wrap every 4-6 weeks, when the spouse complains about taste...

Using my tape measure, they 9-7/8 x 2-5/8 for the TO1. The RS5 is 9-15/16 x 2-3/8. Here's a U25 filter unit. Here's the Dupont WFPFC8002 version of the OmniFilter TO1. Sorry the links don't quote exact filter sizes, but they are ubiquitous on the consumer market.

It seems time and the race to the bottom has knocked out what little quality/effectiveness these guys have. There are several brands at the big box stores, and every one I've tried recently looked identical, even the dissected spent cartridges. The first OnmiFilter TO1 filters I bought 15...

In the last year or so, black FlexFix (880924) non-metalic tape has disappeared from the big box stores. Any reason why? Did UL delist it or the code change? This stuff is Polypropylene (OPP) with an acrylic adhesive, and is darn useful for more than just flexible insulated duct jackets...

That's what the plumbing contractor did while building my (two story) house. Unfortunately, they assumed that the sewer was hooked up. When they pulled the balloon from the house clean-out, there was a massive flood unto the front yard.

The joint will be as mechanically strong as the surface area in (direct) contact between each piece. Since you've no pressure in a waste drain, mechanical strength is not near as great a consideration as for water supply lines. Many connections are deliberately NOT perfectly bottomed out. One...

A lot of things in life are evolutionary, not revolutionary. PS: It's not a solvent weld in the traditional sense. The label "cement" is very apt.

A water test is done when everything's complete, including your trap/sink connections. All openings are plugged, from lowest to highest, starting with the connection from house to the sewer. One method is to insert an inflatable balloon through a main sewer clean-out just outside the house...

Yes. The confusion is that some universal cements, now labeled "multi-purpose cement", used to have a label saying "ABS-PVC-CPVC Cement" (e.g. old Oatey Red Label). This old label implied that it would bond unlike to unlike (e.g. ABS to PVC) which is not true. It merely contained a...

My wife, the chemist, says that the magic word is "co-solvent". Looking at the MSDS, she says that they are probably hooking the ABS and PVS to a third item. She says tetrahydrofuran is a polar ether which will connect to dissimilar materials, and notes that the cyclohexane based molecule...

I suspect that the drain ell/small sweep is specified 98% to aid the turning of a clean-out snake, and 2% for (unnoticeable to me) better fluid flow. I looked for ABS (black) 2" and for 1 1/2" short sweep (drain ell). (I assume Canadian plumbing hasn't gone metric...). They are sold in...

You're very welcome. Compression/Tension strips can be placed on the sides of the 2x4; they don't have to be between the 2x4 and the drywall to do their job. The rolled edges will be out of the way. I wouldn't worry about stud shoes or cover plates causing a bulge in the drywall unless you...