Bathroom sink drain soldered - is this a good plan?

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Chris Branson

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Hi Everyone,

I'd like a sanity check on my plan for what I think I need to do from what I've read in other posts on the forum.

There are 2 places on this sink that have a "nuisance" leak that I'm sure are ready to go catastrophic at any minute, so I'd like to replace the sink and all of the plumbing back to the trap arm (or at least that's what I think that is). The plan is to remodel this bathroom after the other bathroom in the house, so I'd like something to get through maybe the next year. I've never tried to sweat copper and would prefer to not cut open the back of the cabinet and wall and I think that the copper (does that look like 1 1/4" copper?) close to the wall is in good shape.

The first leak is obviously around the sink drain, so it's time for a new sink, I'm sure.

That hose clamp is pinching tight the nut that seems to have cracked all on its own. Because the pipe is flared, I've no idea how to get a new nut around the flare to replace it without removing the drain pipe, but it appears to be soldered everywhere. I looks like I nee dto cut the pipe which would, of course remove the flared end.

I'm thinking of getting a large tube cutter and cutting that drain pipe just behind the 90 degree curve and using a Fernco style coupler to attach all new ABS drain plumbing and sink.

I'm assuming all this white buildup is some sort of corrosion - can I get rid of that somehow? I assumed that I should at least where the coupler would go?

Does this seem like a good plan? Am I missing anything?

Thanks everyone!

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Reach4

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1. 1-1/4 copper is 1.3875 OD. Get a digital caliper to make measuring easy.

2. For a bathroom sink I would use the shielded coupler to connect to a "spigot" trap adapter. Spigot means the od is the same size as a schedule 40 pipe would be. The trap adapter can be ABS. Then use polypropylene slip-joint trap to connect to the new basket. Chrome-plated brass is interchangeable once you get into the slip joint area. I would not glue the anything before the shielded coupling. Fernco and Mission are brands. Fernco-type may be interpreted as non-shielded, because that is what they made originally. But now Fernco branded shielded couplings are readily available. https://www.fernco.com/plumbing/shielded-couplings/proflex-couplings has sizes, and even cross-references the Mission numbers.

3. You can use a 1-1/4 inch trap adapter, but it may be easier to find a 1-1/2 spigot trap adapter, and use a reducing washer to connect to the 1-1/4 trap. A Fernco 3001-1125 or P3001-1125 or Mission CK-1125 could connect from 1-1/4 copper pipe to the 1-1/2 spigot trap adapter if I did that right.

4. I would avoid a vessel sink, but others might find them charming. The overflow of a regular sink not only serves as an overflow, but also provides a vent to make the sink drain better.

5. Technically, the trap arm is the whole path from the output of the U of the trap to the vent in the wall.
 
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John Gayewski

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Cut the copper pipe just after the 45. Leave enough to sweat a new brass trap adapter onto the copper pipe and 45. Then use a new tubular trap and sink drain.
 

Chris Branson

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Hi again everyone, thanks for all of the advice!

I'm finally pulling this together and walking through the plan in my head. One thing that seems like it will be an obstacle is cutting that copper where it meets the corroded stuff. It looks like the supply lines are going to be in the way of swinging around the handle of a cutter all the way around and we don't seem to have an auto-cutter for that large of a pipe in any of our local stores.

So assuming that's true, any suggestions on backup plans? I'm running through a few ideas and my favorite right now is to try to de-solder the corroded chrome plated stuff (assuming that's maybe brass?) from the small straight copper piece using a small butane torch. I feel like that'll leave the most amount of that copper behind and probably be fairly safe to handle in that space. Any thoughts on if that should or possible caveats? I've read that brass might need more heat than butane but not sure if that applies to tubing or just fittings. I suppose I could also use a hacksaw, but I'd read that a hacksaw may damage downstream fittings because of the movement that hacksaws cause.

Also, any thoughts on why this corrosion might be so aggressive? I'm curious if the bottles of cleaning solutions stored under the sink might be a cause? Is this just what that stuff does? I feel like the copper is fine, although looking at this picture, I do wonder about those little dents on the bottom of the short straight piece of copper.
 

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