BobsPlumbingVideos.com

Real Life Plumbing Advice for People Who Don't Want To Call A Plumber

Diverter Stem Replacement

By Leave a Comment

In this video I show you how to remove and replace the the center diverter stem in a three valve shower body. 

If you have never attempted a diverter stem replacement then I suggest you also check out my video series titled three valve shower body repair. You can watch them for free here:
Three Valve Shower Body Repair – Part 1
Three Valve Shower Body Repair – Part 2

I walk you through the steps on removing the hot and cold water stems along with some tool suggestions for getting the job done. The function the diverter stem is solely to direct the water to the shower head or the tub nozzle and with this repair you won’t have to shut off any water to the fixture itself. Just make sure the hot and cold water sides the shower body are in the off position.

To remove the stem you simply follow the same instructions out lined in my video “three valve shower body repair” where I demonstrate the removal of the hot and cold water stems. As you can see this stem looks a little different and has a two way function. When the stem is pull back away from the seat the water will travel through two openings in the stem that direct the water up to the shower head. When the washer is  closed against the seat the water travels full flow down through the tub nozzle. Their is also a seat inside the body that should be replace when you install a new stem, don’t forget to make sure the stem is in the fully opened position before placing in back into the body. If it’s in the closed or halfway position, you’ll chance damaging the stem and or shower body.

In a world of new style single lever pressure balanced tub and shower faucets, the three valve shower body still exists and when they fail, the repairs have to be made. I hope the video shed some light on the subject of replacing the stems and seats in these style shower bodies, and if you still have questions about this or any of my videos, you can e-mail me at info@bobsplumbingvideos.com.

HAPPY PLUMBING!

How To Solder Copper Tubing part 2

By Leave a Comment

Here’s part 2 of how to solder copper tubing. 

If you haven’t seen part 1, check it out here: How to solder copper tubing – part 1

In part 1 I took you through preparation process and laid out the necessary tools and supplies for your soldering journey. In this video I demonstrate how to solder one horizontal and one vertical joint using 1/2″ copper tubing. As a rule on the smaller diameters (1/2″ & 3/4″) I’ll leave my torch tip on one area of the fitting and because I’m using Mapp fuel along with my Turbo Torch STK-1 tip the job gets done fast. One step often missed in the the soldering process is not reaming or d-burring the inside of the copper pipe. This step you don’t want to miss as it will cause turbulence resulting in noisy plumbing.When I solder I always heat the fitting which will insure that the solder will flow freely into the joint. Their seems to be many opinions on whether you should heat the pipe or fitting, but I was taught this way at an early age and to date it’s my opinion that heating the fitting will insure a leak free joint 100% of the time.

One other very important step I want to point out is that when your through soldering and the joint sets, it’s important to grab a damp cloth and wipe off all that excess flux. Did you ever see a nicely laid out series of water lines that were lined up perfectly both horizontally and vertically but was covered in crusty green gunk? Horrible! That’s the left over flux someone forgot to wipe off.  The soldering process is not to difficult to do and if you take it slowly, you should have no problem with it.

If you didn’t watch part 1, I recommend you check it out first. 

Remember you can always reach me at info@bobsplumbingvideos.com if you have any further questions.

HAPPY PLUMBING!

How to Solder Copper Tubing – Part 1

By Leave a Comment

Watch and learn how to solder copper tubing in this easy to follow video.

Their are several videos on you-tube showing how to solder copper tubing ; some good, some bad and some in-between. In this two part series I lay out the tools, cleaning procedure and steps to take when soldering small diameter ( 3/4″ & 1/2″) copper tubing. I will do a video on larger diameter copper, but in this series we’re going to concentrate on the small stuff.

I want to point out that I prefer to use Mapp fuel as opposed to propane fuel only because it burns at much higher temperatures getting the job done faster. In combination with the Turbo-Torch regulator and STK-1 torch tip featured in the video, the job goes quite quick on the small sizes and saves time on the larger sized copper tubing. You may certainly use a basic torch tip along with propane fuel, the job will just take a bit longer to complete. The key in a good strong joint is the cleaning and preparation process. I clean both the outside of the tubing as well as inside the fitting and depending on how dirty, I’ll use a scotch bright pad or plumbers emery cloth. The next step is to liberally coat the pipe and fitting with flux hopefully using a flux brush, (you don’t want to do this with your finger, flux is nasty). Their are differing opinions on what to heat first (the pipe, the fitting) but since I started in the business I was always taught to heat the fitting. By heating the fitting a process called capillary attraction takes place whereby the heat from you torch will actually draw the solder into the fitting with minimal effort.

The first part of this video series is all about the tools and preparation, in part two I’ll demonstrate a horizontal and vertical joint using 1/2″ copper tubing. This is not that difficult to do, so when you’re done with part 1, jump on over to part 2 and let’s solder a couple of joints.

Here’s a quick link to How To Solder Copper Tubing – Part 2

HAPPY PLUMBING!

 

 

How a Pop-Up Assembly Works

By Leave a Comment

So your basic lavatory pop-up waste assembly is not so mysterious after all. Let’s take a look at how a pup-up assembly works.

A simple invention designed to keep the water inside of your lavatory to shave or perhaps wash your face. Most of the ones I have installed are similar in design with the exception being that the material was either plastic or solid brass construction.

The one featured in the video is of solid brass construction which has always been a reliable unit, fact is, I prefer brass pop-up’s to the plastic versions.

Simply put they just work better and last longer. As you can see it’s a pretty simple concept, pull up on the lift rod and the stopper goes down. Push down on the lift rod and the stopper goes back up.

For me, the most important part of the installation is that in addition to placing a ring of plumbers putty around the chrome flange before you place it into the sink, I also place a ring of putty on the beveled washer that seals the bottom of the pop-up against the bottom of the sink.

This is one step that although in theory is not required, can save you from having to disassemble the unit and doing it all over again. Trust me I speak from experience, if I have to make a return trip for a nuisance leak, it costs me money! Not to mention the inconvenience to my customer.

The other point I’d like to make is that when I set up my lift rods, I always make sure my stopper ends up being in the fully open position when my lift rod is pushed completely down.

I often see that when the lift rod is fully down, the stopper is only partially up which causes the water to pool in the sink which is just a nuisance.

Before you set your rods, make sure the stopper is in the fully up position and you can’t miss.

Check out the video and if there is something I missed, please drop me a line at info@bobsplumbingvideos.com.

HAPPY PLUMBING!

How To Install a Basic Kitchen Deck Faucet – Part 2

By Leave a Comment

If you haven’t watched video 1 of this 2 part video series then watch it here:
How To Install a Basic Kitchen Faucet – Part 1

Let’s continue to install the basic kitchen deck faucet in the concluding part of this video series.

So now that you have removed the old faucet, it’s time to prep the new one. The faucet in this video has a hard plastic deck gasket but you still have to use plumber’s putty for a completely water tight seal.

As I mention in the video, in the past, I covered the entire bottom of the faucet with plumber’s putty, and there is nothing wrong with that if you so desire, but I found that by running a bead of putty around the entire edge of the faucet gets me the same result.

The important component is that you want it to squeeze and fan out beyond the faucet body to ensure a watertight seal.

If you are planning on installing a spray hose attachment, now would be the time to screw the male end of the hose into the faucet before you place it onto the sink.

String the hose in through the center hole and then you can bring it up through the fourth hole in the sink if so equipped.

An important tip here is that you’ll have to remove the spray head from the hose before you do this which is pretty simple to do and again,

I’ll cover that in future videos.

Now it’s a matter of tightening the locknuts, followed by connecting your hot and cold water supply tubes, turning on the water and you’re done.

Don’t forget to clean the excess putty from around the faucet, for this I generally use a wooden toothpick to keep from scratching anything.

You also want to remove the aerator and flush out any debris that may have accumulated in the installation process.

Get a little glass cleaner, shine that puppy up and you just saved yourself a boat load of cash by doing it yourself. Job Well Done!!!

HAPPY PLUMBING!