Any Tips on unscrewing/loosening an old pigtail?

JamesC in Stamford CT

Hello, I tried last night to remove the pigtail to replace it and add a new 3 psi guage next to my pressuretrol. I even had drained the water out of the boiler low enough so it wold not drip all over the place one I got the pigtail off (not a bad thing to have done, I removed lots of sediment from the bottom of the boiler, the mud leg, etc).



But then I could not get it unstuck. I was afraid of applying too much pressure since I thought I might just break it and then not be able to remove it. I could not unscrew the pressuretrol from the pigtail -- it wold not budge. Nor could I unscrew the pigtail from the low-water cutoff device that it's screwed into.



Any tips on how to remove it without making such a mess of it? (see pigtail pic below)

Big Ed_4

Brass

I am surprised , it looks like a brass pig tail ? Use two wrenches to remove pig tail and counter torque and then it out with compressed air if your afraid of breaking in the tap of the number 67 LWCO , .. 3# gauge may be too low for the P404 pressuretrol ... If it climbs higher the gauge is shot unless it is a retard type ... Still keep the 15# model for safety ..



Also mud or they are called solids indicates steam leak and adding water... Take care of them $$$

BobC

It will take considerable force

It looks like there was some kind of thread sealant used on the installation so that pigtail should be removable. It will take considerable force to get that started. You might try some KROIL or PB Blaster penetrating oil on that joint for a couple of days before going at it again.



I've used jorgensen wooden clamps on those with great success, the large clamp gives you a lot of leverage and you can apply force gradually so the chance of snapping anything off is reduced.



We're at the beginning of March now, if the amount of force required makes yo nervous, wait til spring when yo won't need heat - just in case.



Bob

crash2009

When I am working on something I shouldn't be

 I usually get started first thing in the morning.  That way, if I break something, I only have to pay daytime rates to clean up my mess.  One time, I even made a tenative appointment, with our plumber, when I thought for sure, something would go wrong.  So far, I have been getting lucky, maybe you will too.  With that said here we go.

1-shut off the power to the boiler

2-disconnect the wires inside the pressuretrol, remove the wire armor from the pressuretrol.

3-grab the pigtail, as close as possible to the pressuretrol nut, with a pipe wrench.

4-grab the pressuretrol nut with a big, good quality, crescent wrench, I used a 15"

5-Hold, not turn, the pipe wrench

6-Using the crescent wrench, loosen the pressuretrol nut from the pigtail.

Hope I didn't forget anything.  Maybe you should call a plumber.

Brad White

How well

do you know the pig?

Dave in QCA

LOL

I took me a bit... but I'm smiling now!

Rod

LOL

Brad , You're bad!

crash2009

The first time

I had to chew off my arm so I wouldn't wake er up.

Charlie from wmass

Lets look at the basics

what type of tools are you using? I would use a set of 10" or 8" pipe wrenches. Make sure to use them in pairs. Try tightening the joints first just enough to get the fitting to budge and then loosen the fittings. Righty tighty lefty loosey. 

JamesC in Stamford CT

success!

Thanks to everyone for helping me figure this out. I got to know the pig very well and everything worked out just fine. I found that the vise-grips worked well since they are slightly rounded, so the contour matched the roundness of the tubing better than most wrenches -- that meant more surface area connected with the tubing to prevent crimping. Attached are some pics as I took apart the old pigtail and then the final product.



You will see that I put a ball valve to the new 3 psi gauge. I did this so I could shut off the supply to the gauge if things went above 3 psi to protect the gauge from being overpressurized (Hen's idea, I think?). I had been concerned of possible overpressurizing, because my boiler never cycles off except from the thermostat -- so I was thinking that maybe the pressuretol was not functioning and that things were getting overpressurized. But, putting on the gauge led me to understand the opposite was happening -- in fact the boiler never, ever gets to even 1 psi. That will probably be the subject of another post about pitch and insulation.



In the mean time, this post is simply to say thanks, I was able to put all together this piping, can monitor the pressure, and no leaks! Thanks.

Charlie from wmass

Glad you are up and running

Insulation may help get some pressure built as it will slow condensation rates.

Charlie from wmass

I like the pigtail you got

They are a bit different from your old one that is the style I see. Is it foreign made.

Brad White

360 degree pigtails

Well, that is what they call them. I see those in McMaster Carr and other sources. I think they look nicer than the 90 and 180 pigtails.



Foreign made? I would bet.

JamesC in Stamford CT

foreign or domestic?

The pigtail I got was online from McMaster -- I could not tell from the website nor could I tell when it arrived whether it was foreign made. I wanted a different style than the one I had since the old one was very short and closer to the water line, and I wanted to be sure the pressurtrol and gauge never got wet. So this was the tallest I could get, it is listed as:



Style "C" NPT Male x NPT Male 7-1/2" Red Brass 4031K67 14.00



on the website at http://www.mcmaster.com/#pressure-gauge-pigtails/=bpb6su

Mark_125

What kind of gauge?

Hi James,

What kind of gauge did you get? Do you have a link to an online supplier?

Thanks,

Mark

Hen

gaugestore.com

I got my low pressure gauges from http://www.gaugestore.com/ , which was suggested on THE WALL.  I got a 0-3 # gauge for one boiler, but for the second boiler, after some reflection (I have two boilers) I got 0-5 # gauge.  My boilers were cycling up to 4-5 lbs pressure (way too high, I learned from THE WALL: I am still working on that problem) and I was concerned I may blow the 0-3 # gauge.

JamesC in Stamford CT

wika gauage

I also got the Wika gauge, it was suggested on this site.

http://gaugestore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=33020

Hen

Gauges come bottom mount and

Hi Mark, In case you decide to buy one, make sure you get the mount that you want.  The gauges they sell on this site come bottom OR rear mount.