rust in pipes

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garbert

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I shut the well water off to work on some plumbing. when I turned it back on all the hot water faucets were plugged with rust. very slow flow even with the areators off. old farm house with a combo of galvanized and copper. what is the best way to clear the pipes? thanks
 
You likely have lumps of rust that can't get past the valves, remove valves and let some water thru to push it out. (Messy) New washers and seals while you are at it.
 
There are lots of products in the market to remove these rust and cleaning the pipes. Go through those products and resolve your problem.
 
Last year I bought a similar old home circa 1895 that had a mismatch of old and new plumbing, galvanized, copper and PVC. I had leaks, slow flow & stuck valves. After 3 days of fixing one place only to find the problem moved to a new location I gave up and replaced the whole house with PEX all the way back to the incoming pipe. I built my own distribution manifold hot and cold and ran ½ from there to every location in the house and did it in 2 days. Flow has never been better and water quality is much improved.

My previous home was quite similar and I wish now I would have done it all in PEX. Looking back at all the time I spent here and there working on it over the years.

PEX is very DIY friendly once you have the few tools required.

As to cleaning out the rust I never found a good way and I had pipes that had rusted shut to just a pin hole. Every time you disturb them some of it comes loose and moves making a new clog. It’s like a dog chasing its tail.
 
Definitely too much iron in the water. There shouldn't be lumps! Do like they said' although I added a Tee to my line of larger diameter pipe as close to the source as I could with the extra leg hanging down and a cap on the end I could unscrew to drain the crud.
 
Hey BUD ... Did you use Shark Bite fitting with the rings or the cinch ring hardware? The Shark Bite crimper is pricey ($74) while the cinch ring crimper is only $35 ... I have used the Shark Bite and it was flawless.

Your take?

pex-compression-tools.jpg
 
I use the cinch rings. Haven't had one leak. What I liked about that set up was one tool for all sizes and because it grabs on the outside it fits back in tighter spots. If you need to get one off side cutters snip the crimp right off. Only a couple places did I need to use a slip on shark bite fitting. I also bought a cutter just for pex. Be careful those things are razor sharp.
I think I have about $60 in tools is all. Best 60 bucks I ever spent.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Repair
 
Oh, the cutter for the PEX? Bought mine and was messing with it in the parking lot ... you know, a new toy?

Trying to pull the plastic tip off ... cut the hell out of my left thumb. No scar but I know exactly what you mean about SHARP.

PIPE.jpg
 
The cutter you posted looks just like mine. I didn't know anything about PEX before this house and there was an old retired plumber working at Home Depot that felt sorry for me and taught me all he knew about PEX over about ten trips in there. He must of seen my wanting to play with the new toy look and he wouldn't hand me the tool until he showed me several scars he had, and gave me quite the safety talk. Sorry I didn't pass the info on soon enough, but hope others will read it.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Repair
 
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