bathroom sink - ****** threads in bad shape - options?

[Shiftless]

Rust never sleeps.

 

[Codyboy]

I'm going to regret asking, but why?

Defective the day it got spat out from the ****** making machine in china.

OP needs a bigger pipe wrench. And make sure you're turning it CCW.

Or just thread on a new fitting with some dope and tape. If it's a drain there's no pressure on it.

 

[PCustoms]

Defective the day it got spat out from the ****** making machine in china.

I asked @LOW1, as he posted the comment. But thanks for providing your opinion and validating that I regret asking

 

[mikedodge]

Give it a bit of a twist and see what happens. With the Teflon tape on it it might come out.
Otherwise use one of those slip over clamp on sleeves someone else posted.

 

[LOW1]

I'm going to regret asking, but why?

As another mentioned that is not an old ******. I am thinking that there is something wrong with the finish or the steel quality which would cause those threads to break down like that so quickly.

I don’t think that it matters where it was made.

 

[PCustoms]

@stickshift how long have you had this sink/lived there?

How many times did you use a drain cleaner?

 

[nadogail]

I have had good success when I used a Broken ****** extractor to get a grip on the ****** and unscrew it from the fitting it is screwed into. Broken ****** extractors look like over grown Easy Outs.
After you get the ****** out use a Pipe Tap to
Clean the female threads the new ****** will be screwed into.
Good Plumbing tools are not cheap, a good large sized pipe tap can easily cost more than a hundred dollars.
Cutting through the broken ****** and collapsing it will also work, it may take a lot more time.
Plumbers generally have served a long Apprenticeship and like Doctors they get paid for what they know.

 

[rust in the eye]

There is Teflon tape on the galvanized nippple (HA!) it ought to back out. Brute force is your friend if it resists.
Scram the galvanized, get a PVC trap adapter

 

[manwithtools]

As another mentioned that is not an old ******. I am thinking that there is something wrong with the finish or the steel quality which would cause those threads to break down like that so quickly.

I don’t think that it matters where it was made.

Or it could be given the fact that as a horizontal trap arm, that part of the ****** was constantly incontact to a wet sludge of whatever goes down a sink drain. The sludge would tend to concentrate at that point in the ******. It's probably the worst choice for drain piping there is.

 

[mikedodge]

The pipe coming off the bottom of one of our sinks corroded like that when it wasn't that old. I think its a mix of drain sludge keeping it wet and poor quality metal. At least that part is easier to replace then something going into the wall.

Another sink I need to clean out the P trap, it's newer plastic drain but whoever installed it glued the second side rather then using a threaded end so it's not removable

 

[Lassen Forge]

Replacement sink drain isn't that expensive - unless you like fighting **** to save a few bucks (and yeah, I'd try) swap it out for a new one.

 

[larry4406]

Not fixed yet?

 

[cmandp]

I tend to go Automotive working on old threaded plumbing connections like this.

I would spray it with penetrating oil several times a day until I was ready to try unthreading it.

I would not consider a Fernco a permanent solution.

 

[larry4406]

I tend to go Automotive working on old threaded plumbing connections like this.

I would spray it with penetrating oil several times a day until I was ready to try unthreading it.

I would not consider a Fernco a permanent solution.

Glorified Fernco’s are buried on sewer mains….

 

[Recoveryman]

I went thru hell on a similar situation last year. Didn't know about the Fernco product. Wound up replacing the whole lavatory top. The old one was over20 years old. Grab the Fernco sleeve and consider yourself lucky.
Recoveryman

 

[PCustoms]

I went thru hell on a similar situation last year. Didn't know about the Fernco product. Wound up replacing the whole lavatory top. The old one was over20 years old. Grab the Fernco sleeve and consider yourself lucky.
Recoveryman

What's does a lavatory top have to to with a galvanized elbow/wye in the wall?

 

[rooster59]

Don't unscrew anything going into the wall on a friday

 

[Sturgeon]

Always a money maker, or cut the nipplle off at the hub and very carefully work out the the theaded portion,

 

[Hohn]

Found myself in a similar spot. Messed up threads and the fitting was not likely to budge (didn't try) found a rubber sleeve at the box store that clamps on to the stub and the trap. Easy peasy. These come in assorted sizes and shapes. Good luck.

With nearly two decades in my current house, I can tell you that staying in a house long enough means you will have a Fernco in a couple places or you probably will regret not having discovered them earlier.

 

[PoorUB]

Don't unscrew anything going into the wall on a friday

I had a buddy call me at 9:30 PM and ask about repairing a tiny leak in the kitchen sink drain. I told him in the morning go pick up a certain plumbing piece at the hardware store. Then he goes on and says they have relatives showing up in the AM so it needs to be fixed now. I told him to set a bucket under it and fix it after they leave. Then he adds he has it torn a part already!

I would never attempt to repair a sink drain at 9PM if I knew it had to be repaired right now, especially if it was a tiny leak. My experience, if I am lucky, it turns into a four hour, two or three trip to the hardware store fiasco.

 

[driftpin]

In 1980 I bought a So. FL CBS home built w/ductile cast iron (DCI) DWV pipe. I installed new shut-off valves on all the sinks and the 1 toilet. I don't mind soldering, I used an acetylene plumber's tank.

The fittings out of the wall came from galvanized steel pipe. I used several wraps of teflon tape and used CU fittings into the water pipe (the galvanized steel pipe). I hoped the teflon tape would slow-down any galvanic corrosion. The repairs lasted 27 years until the house was demolished.

 

[Death Row Dave]

No hub fitting for me and done , until another day

 

[Hohn]

I have nothing new to offer, except my sympathies. It's amazing how some long-past plumber or homeowner can reach out and make your life hell from the great beyond.

You just want to dig them up and scream "EXPLAIN YOURSELF! WHY IS THAT FLUSH WITH THE &^%$#@! WALL? WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?"

I should post up sometime what I found inside the wall of my 2005-build house. I'm sure they cut every corner possible now that I've seen inside the wall firsthand.

Absolute garbage workmanship and attention to detail. I could train an 8th grader to do better work in 6 months than what the "pros" did.

Case in point: Our master tub is plumbed hot and cold backwards. "You had one job."

 

[Hohn]

I’m thinking that there may have been a factory defect in that ******

Seems more like to me that galvanic corrosion between the galvanized ****** and the brass is to blame.

It's amazing how nobody seems to pay any attention to dielectric and the effect of dissimilar metals. Galvanized pipe directly on brass or copper is a no-no specifically for this reason. It's the worse dielectric mismatch of all common plumbing materials.

Remove the galvanized ****** and replace it with stainless (Menards/others has for reasonable) then reattach brass. NO galvanic risk and problem solved.

IF this is my problem to solve, I'm gently removing that ****** with some Knipex alligators. Work slowly and see if the visible flange tries to twist with the ******. If it does, carefully remove as much tile as needed to see what's back there.

IMO there's no part of a "Correct" solution that involves keeping that ******. But a Fernco on it it probably your best bandaid. Just cut the threaded part off, the Fernco will last a long time.

 

[manwithtools]

Seems more like to me that galvanic corrosion between the galvanized ****** and the brass is to blame.

It's a drain arm, the lower portion of this fitting sits constantly in whatever sludge forms in a sink drain. Corrosion of the galvanized ****** was going to happen no matter what the mating fitting was made of. It's just not the right material for a drain system. That's why it's not used in that application anymore.

 

[Skyman]

I am well aware of galvanic corrosion, but it didn't prevent me from making a blunder that I knew better than to make. Inexplicably, it just didn't occur to me while threading a pair of iron pipe ******* into brass elbows in the wall below a bathroom sink while rebuilding after a complete tear-out. Looking back on it now, I'm not sure which surprises me more - that I did something so stupid despite knowing better, or that it took so many years to rot away to the point that it started leaking.

Luckily, I caught the leak before any damage was done. I didn't deserve to be so lucky.