Soldering very loose 3" drain pipe possible?

[ingterra]

So the toilet pipe fell off during a reno, wasn't soldered well at all to begin with,
there is almost no coverage and half the pipe is pitted from the flux inside the joint.

Realistic to solder this very loose fitting 3" pipe?

Rubber coupling a reasonable way to fix this?

 

[Sylvan]

Clean it really well then solder.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[ingterra]

Called a few plumbers, sent pictures, crickets, too hard i guess. Can a fernco renforced rubber coupling be attached to the tee?

 

[JohnCT]

So the toilet pipe fell off during a reno, wasn't soldered well at all to begin with,
there is almost no coverage and half the pipe is pitted from the flux inside the joint.

Makes me wonder how the rest of the soldering is on that 3" pipe...

John

 

[LLigetfa]

Clean it really well then solder.

Depending on how "loose" the fitting is, I might consider tinning both sides prior to rejoining.

I've read some good things about using a special copper formulation of epoxy in lieu of solder.

 

[ingterra]

Makes me wonder how the rest of the soldering is on that 3" pipe...

John

yeah... the tee isn't aligned with the pipe, guessing that's why the joint failed, top and bottom look ok.

copper formulation of

i thought about that, is there a DWV rated one? urine eats through copper

 

[wwhitney]

Called a few plumbers, sent pictures, crickets, too hard i guess. Can a fernco renforced rubber coupling be attached to the tee?

Those aren't intended to be go over the hub of a fitting. Plus if you wanted to still seat the pipe into the hub, you'd have to cut out the internal stop in the rubber portion. So while I think it would be possible to make it work, doesn't seem like an appropriate solution.

If you're having an alignment issue, you could cut off a suitable stub of 3" copper DWV, clean everything properly, and then solder that into the fitting hub. At which point you can use a Fernco 3003-33 or Mission K-300 for a 3" copper to 3" copper connection.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[LLigetfa]

i thought about that, is there a DWV rated one? urine eats through copper

I was not implying that the formulation contains copper but rather it is formulated to bond to copper.

 

[Jeff H Young]

I was not implying that the formulation contains copper but rather it is formulated to bond to copper.

Probebly not rated as legal Ive seen the stuff sold "as seen on TV " that glue copper pipe together for pressure applications but wouldnt try it for pressure , or even concider buried in a wall if exposed in basement I might try a glue of sorts but a last resort I wouldnt put that on my resume LOL

 

[Breplum]

WW's suggestion is excellent if you find a hungry plumber who wants the challenge. Is the space actually accessible ?
Or, maybe call Fernco or, I know Mission Coupling makes custom couplings but don't know if it is quantity or one-off.
If it were me and accessible: Heat and remove any solder residue from the fitting. Then wire wheel brush on drill to further clean, then emery cloth and pre-tin the fitting.
On the pipe, cut a nice length of choice off, use the fresh end to solder in, and a mission K300 to finish, or better yet, abandon the rest of the copper pipe and re-do in cast iron using a CK33 (CI to K)

 

[ingterra]

Space is as pictured, i'd say semi accessible.

Ran into a plumber who did work for me one time, paid him whatever he asked then, a+ experience for both. This time told me to text him, still waiting for a reply, haha. May have to do this myself, oh boy.


As per all your suggestions.

Plan a
- pre-tin both and solder a short piece of 3" copper, add a mission coupling to it then whatever

concerns
a) desoldering the existing connection
b) not being able to fill all the gaps with solder, somehow even a new piece of 3" is very loose in the existing tee


Plan b
Wrap the end of the pipe in teflon before sticking it into the hub, and connect using mission k300 with the middle ridge cut out. It would feel very dirty to do it this way, but seems like there is no risk to doing it this way.


What do you guys think?

 

[Fitter30]

Clean it with a sandcloth flapper brush, tin all sides and the lip of the fitting. Being a drain if you can get 50/50 solder it fills better than no lead and cap the joints. 3" will take some heat to make the joint. Map gas at least and mirror the the joints.

 

[Breplum]

With 3" we use two Map gas torches for best results. Really hard with one torch. Have fire extinguisher and water ready.

 

[Jeff H Young]

I dont recall ever usung a handheld mapp on 3 inch Even 2 would not be my choice Id break out the b tank with a32 or at least a14 tip but thats in a perfect world

 

[Sylvan]

Depending on how "loose" the fitting is, I might consider tinning both sides prior to rejoining.

Actually, tinning impedes capillary attraction (action) Tinning is great when soldering lead to brass or lead to copper but copper to copper is not advisable

 

[ingterra]

pre-tinned, mapp + good torch, 50/50 etc. went ok except i couldn't fill in the 2mm gap at the top portion, i guess it was too loose for a novice to solder.

may not leak for all i know, put feels like a hack.


plan b, going to cut out the copper tee and put in plastic with a couple of mission couplings

 

[Jeff H Young]

you have to "cap" the joint or at least should. too much heat the solders runs away just enough to melt it. heating both the pipe and fitting you are done sucking the solder in so it needs to just be capped.
I cant verify your success sorry to say . Id want that gap filled

 

[ingterra]

I got experience out of it, appreciate all your input. There isn't enough access there, replacing is the way to go anyway.

As pictured there is a wye for the tub/sink and a tee on top of it. According to this

https://www.reddit.com/r/Plumbing/comments/yn0rmc

the wye is a a bad idea. replace the wye with a tee??

 

[wwhitney]

As pictured there is a wye for the tub/sink and a tee on top of it. According to this the wye is a a bad idea.

Depends. If the tub drain (the one right above the drywall?) is dry vented upstream of the picture, then either one is fine.

If the tub drain is relying on this connection to the copper stack for its vent, that's not actually allowed as it is joining underneath the toilet drain. So in that case you should add a dry vent for the tub, which could then rejoin the stack above all the fixture drains on that stack (assuming the stack goes up through the roof).

Cheers, Wayne

 

[ingterra]

Yes. tub drain right above drywall, tee to toilet above it, stack exists through roof

On the way to the main stack tub connects a sink drain, the sink drain has it's own venting to the main stack

If i understood you correctly, either tee or wye would work.

Correct? Keeping the wye since it was there originally and there were no issues