looking for outside of the box ideas only

pyewayorthehighway

i am just wrapping up a job and in a finished area (office workers included) i have a 1 1/2 black iron union leaking its on the first floor of a 9 story building with a down fed boiler system i looking for anyway to stop the drip with out have to drain the riser down and replace union. heat has be on for about a month. i gave it a good snug with two guys cross pulling on 2' wrenches and still have a small drip its above a drop ceiling and is staining the ceiling tile any tricks or ideas this is besides putting a bucket under it.

JStar

Leak

Are the pipes level where they join at the union?

pyewayorthehighway

leak

pretty sure its level but ill investigate that

Paul48

2

2 guys, 2 wrenches, 2 cheaters......then a bucket, or drain it.

Mark Eatherton

That dirty cotton sock chucker...

My father (rest his soul) showed me an old TEMPORARY plumbers trick. Take an old cotton sock, and fill it with rock salt (could probably use softener pellets crushed up if you can't find good old ice cream rock salt).



Wrap the sock around the leaking joint, and then wrap that in a plastic bag. The salt will grow onto the leaking joint, and either stop the water through crystalization, or dissipate it through evaporation.



As noted, this is a TEMPORARY fix. Once the Spring springs, replace the union and I'd even throw some sealant on the face of the ground joint union, and some grease on the union nut threads. (I know, the code says NOT to use sealant on the threads, but the code is also not faced with the possibility of having to drain this building down to fix the friggin' leak)



ME

bob_46

Union

First get a new quality union like a railroad union (AAR) . Take two five gal. buckets and

notch them half way down on each side . Stick the buckets around the pipe on each side of the union about three feet apart. Turn the system off let it cool valve off what you can.

Fill the buckets with dry ice . Wait a few minutes . Say a little prayer. Crack the union and see if you have pressure. Change the union as quick as you can.

nicholas bonham-carter

Union lube

When you lubricate the ground faces of a union with pipe joint compound, you are actually putting fine grit into the sealing area.

A much better solution, I think is to use dish washing liquid to really lubricate the metal to metal contact surfaces. You want the metal faces to be face to face, and not metal to paste to metal.

I know that many have used dope with success, but really save the dope for the threads, and use even earwax to lube up the union face (if you have no dish washing liquid).--NBC

Tom_133

Got any 220 juice?

The guy I work with swears he once welded a naughty union in place... I wouldn't put it by him, that being said if it's a slow leak perhaps my coworker may have a the right answer

icesailor

Serial Code Violator:

I guess I am a serial code violator.  I can not remember the last time I had a leaking union. I paint each and every union nut with Never-Sieze, I carry a clean can of thread joint compound for the face of unions. The cost of having to fix them after is too great. If you are supposed to get something apart so you use unions, why would you make it up in such a way that it takes a couple of guys with 3' wrenches and extension bars to break the nut. It doesn't.

If you put the amount of torque on a union nut that is described, the torque is unmeasurable and could break the nut. That could be expensive.

MikeL_2

off set the mating surfaces

I've had some luck loosening the union nut slightly, and then tightening each half of the union to change to a new mating point of contact...............

icesailor

Mis-matched unions

More than once (but maybe not more than twice), I have seen where a union wasn't mated with its partner. The union had probably been returned. Although it went together, the "mate" was an orphan and no matter how I tried, it wouldn't go together.

The last time was when I removed a CI radiator for a floor replacement. It was 1 1/4" on both ends. I left the radiator on a dolly. Someone took the dolly and left the radiator. They mover the radiator but flipped it around. When I connected it, the first side I connected, went right on. The other side would go part way and get hard to turn. No matter what I tried, it wasn't crossed. When I spun the radiator, both union nuts fit and there was no problem. 

RobG

Ridgid Pipe Freezer

I've never used one, but heard they were great.

http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/SF2500-Pipe-Freezer

They are not cheap, but think about the return on investment on time savings verses draining down and bleeding buildings or homes. The cheapest one I found was on Ebay for $2775 with free shipping

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ridgid-SF2500-Pipe-Freezer-120-Volt-Domestic-RIG-68967-/271113221211?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f1f9b745b



Rob

unclejohn

Epoxy wrap

I used this on a 1 1/2 90* ell on the return of a boiler that was dripping. It looks like a knee wrap. You soak it in warm water then wrap the pipe and work the stuff and if forms a epoxy hard seal. Of course you won't be taking apart the union again with out a sawsall.

jumper

tommy tape ?

Ninety feet of water might be too much pressure. But that's the first thing I'd try because it's so easy. Drips sometimes seal themselves. Is the drip from a connection or from the union itself ?