How do i fixed mis-pitched main pipe

nycpa

I was looking my main pipe and noticed that it has lost its pitch.  Not

sure why, maybe because of house settling.  I attached a picture of the

main.  The left side of the room is where the boiler is, the right side

is where the dry return goes into the wet return.  Instead of the main

being pitched  towards the wet return from left to right, the left

pitches to the middle and the right pitches towards the middle causing

water to settle in the middle.  That pipe where the middle is, is the

pipe that feeds the radiator in the dining room.  This is also the

radiator in the last three years, not this is year though, had water

coming from the radiator vent on really cold days.  It hasn't happened this year

even with the 5 degree weather we had.  There is slight water hammer

noise i hear from that radiator here and there but not very loud like i

hear from other people's house.  I used a level to confirm the pitch. 

The left one looks good but the right one is pitched in the middle.  I

tried to slightly push it up with my hand but wouldn't move.  I have a

one pipe system. 







Is there a way this can be fixed?  Should i use a 2 by 4 to move it up

then strap it?  Do I have to replace the pipes on the right side and

lower the dry return? 







Advice is appreciated. 

moneypitfeeder

You got it...

A 2x4 will work fine to help push it up, if you've got a magnetic level put that on top, use the 2x4 to push the pipe upwards till you get rid of the sag, and then secure the pipe to the ceiling. If you can get someone to help you, all the better!

ALIGA

peice of 2x4

level and a jack, should do the trick.

nycpa

is quarter inch safe ?

I wanted to move the sag a quarter inch up, will this be safe? Also are the main pipes replaceable? Can a plumber unscrew the pipes and put new ones in?

ChrisJ

Yep

Everything is replaceable.

Jamie Hall

Quarter inch?

is that all?  That's not much, and you should have no problem with that at all.  I'll bet you could go up an inch or two before you started to notice it at the ends on that line.

JStar

Main

I see perforated metal strap as a hanger. It was definitely modified some time after the original installation.

ChrisJ

Perforated strap

Joe,

All of my original hangers are perforated metal strap albeit much heavier than the stuff you find these days. That along with a slotted bolt and a square nut.

JStar

Strap

Hmm. I usually only see split-ring hangers or chain.

ChrisJ

Yep

I don't know why mine are this way other than its really old and heavy stuff.



I've attached an old picture that was taken before I insulated the pipes. This shows one of the original hangers. All of them looked like this and quite a few are still there. The ones I replaced I used strap iron because I didn't know what else to do at the time. Still trying to decide as I don't know what's best.

JStar

Strap

Now that I think about it, we'll sometimes see steam systems from the 40/50's that used perforated strap. The older systems don't.

nycpa

two inches?

Can I really push the pipe that high without breaking? I think quarter to half inch would help, I don't want to mess up the other pitch already there

BobC

Stretch a level string

along the main and use that to judge whats going on as you raise the sag in the main. Then figure out how to get a pipe hanger to hold it in the correct place once you have it in the right place.



Bob

nycpa

thanks

Thanks Bob c and others, always great advice