A hundred years from now....

SlamDunk

I was doing work on my house that required me to remove ( with a saws-all) some return pipe and fittings that was in the crawl space. I had to bring it all to work to to retread pipe and separate cuts from cast fitting.

I showed my boss a reducing tee and said "the last time this fitting saw the light of day was when a young man installed it 90 years ago. I am re-using it and the pipe to keep his spirit at rest." When I went home to install the fitting, it split in half! I actually felt a bit of remorse!

I noticed that there was no evidence of wicking or dope on the old pipe. When I turned the wrench to loosen at work, it popped. It must have developed a fracture then.

Oh well. I'm sure the dead man understands!

JUGHNE

I had that happen on an eighty year old tee.
It didn't pop until I went to put it together again.
That 2' +3' pipe wrench with the fittings in a vise cracked it coming apart.
Glad it showed up before complete install.

Steamhead

A hundred years from now, we will all be Dead Men...............

dopey27177

In the old days (I am nearly an old,old timer) pipe joint compound was made on the job.

The old timers bought the ingrediances at the local pharmacy. This was litharge and gliceren. Both mixed together when dried made a compound that would not come apart.

Spelling sucks but you now know what the old timers used before canned pipe compounds,

Jake

HomerJSmith

I always tighten BI fittings until they crack and then I give it one more turn. Never had a problem.

EBEBRATT-Ed

@dopey27177

I have run into that stuff (litharge & gliceren) crushed a few pipes trying to get that stuff apart, Might as well be welded. Cutting torch or grinder with a cutoff wheel is the answer

motoguy128

I couldn’t get a fitting loose when trying to remove a radiator in my house. I’m divine the room into a mast bath and laundry and playing some musical radiators. I took two small sledge hammers and whacked it on the seam. Viola! It cracked just like I had read. Bad news is the threads are a little sketchy since they haven;t seen light in 115 years. But I only run <1oz, so nothing ever really leaks anyway. Threaded a cap on it while I’m finishing construction, and the pipe stays cold, so no air leaks.

Hap_Hazzard

Try finding litharge today. You can order it from suppliers that sell pigments for people who like to mix up their own paint, but that's about it. It's not too hard to make though.

ChrisJ

Hap_Hazzard said:

Try finding litharge today. You can order it from suppliers that sell pigments for people who like to mix up their own paint, but that's about it. It's not too hard to make though.

I find it easier to just buy pipe dope or PTFE tape my self.

Is litharge essentially red lead?

ethicalpaul

ChrisJ said:

Hap_Hazzard said:

Try finding litharge today. You can order it from suppliers that sell pigments for people who like to mix up their own paint, but that's about it. It's not too hard to make though.

I find it easier to just buy pipe dope or PTFE tape my self.

Is litharge essentially red lead?

Well sure, @ChrisJ , but not everyone can deal with the intense smell of teflon tape!

ChrisJ

ethicalpaul said:

ChrisJ said:

Hap_Hazzard said:

Try finding litharge today. You can order it from suppliers that sell pigments for people who like to mix up their own paint, but that's about it. It's not too hard to make though.

I find it easier to just buy pipe dope or PTFE tape my self.

Is litharge essentially red lead?

Well sure, @ChrisJ , but not everyone can deal with the intense smell of teflon tape!

Teflon is a brand name.

ethicalpaul

Familiarity with the Teflon brand of fluoropolymers has led to the name becoming a generic trademark, and the practice of any PTFE-based thread seal tape being referred to as "Teflon tape". Chemours, owner of the Teflon trademark, no longer manufactures any thread seal tape,[10] but objects to this practice.[11]

Hap_Hazzard

ChrisJ said:

Is litharge essentially red lead?

Yes. Lead monoxide.