[quote=moneymaker]I put a ball valve in many years ago but used shark bite fittings as I did not want to use torches (oxy acetalene) as that was all I had at the time. had no problems but did have to have the water department replace their valve as it was defective at the street, they put a ball valve in as well after freezing the line with liquid nitrogen, talk about working quickly, they had to finish before the line thawed.[/quote]
I missed this comment. Many of the ball valves don’t like to be soldered because of the seat. If you look in through the end, you can see that the seat around many of them is a plastic – teflon like material that is probably not too happy getting a lot of heat.
[quote=flu]
I don’t know if I would use PEX on potable water. I don’t think there has been any studies done if it is safe for drinking….then again, PVC isn’t exactly good either and lots of houses run PVC.[/quote]
You can use PEX on potable water. It tends to be used on R-O water because it is resistant to corrosion. Pure R-O water can eat metal pipes; copper and galvanized.
[quote=flu]
The concerning part is the bottom elbows. Yes, there appears to be two of them.[/quote]
Thats the little ‘dance’ to get away from the wall for the valves and regulator.
[quote=flu]
Any change of attack? I think the bottom part of the drywall needs to be removed. It’s probably going to get destroyed anyway with any sort of heat to the pipe…
I’m thinking maybe remove both elbows at the bottom and just have a clean pipe running up from the ground to work with…[/quote]
That may make it harder. I still suggest seeing if you can just repair/clean out the valve first. Anyway, most of the ball valves are going to be ‘threaded’ on vs sweated. I also see that comments on the one HD sweated ball valve are not very good. Check the lengths of any of the replacement items before going all the way down to the vertical pipe. I would also be careful of getting that joint closer to the foundation or further out from the wall – it makes it more likely to be hit by something. You might be able to get by with replacing the second of the connected elbows with something like this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/NIBCO-3-4-in-Lead-Free-Copper-Silicon-Alloy-Pressure-90-Degree-C-x-M-Elbow-C707-4-LF/202029387 which would give you threads for the ball valve. The portion to the pressure regulator would also need to be changed, which would mean something like this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-3-4-in-Copper-Pressure-C-x-MPT-Male-Adapter-C604/100345906?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-202029387-_-100345906-_-N to connect to the ball valve from the top. I am assuming 3/4″, but there are also 1″ products for the same.
[quote=flu]
I also measured the pressure on my pipes. It looks to be around 80-82 PSI…Ouch…I guess it’s been that way for awhile now…[/quote] That could either be an adjustment on the regulator, the regulator not sealing – causing pressure creep when there is no flow, or regulator diaphragm being shot. Watch the pressure when a valve is slowly opened. Does it drop and then get to a more normal pressure? If so, then the regulator is not sealing and may need replacement. If it stays at 80+, try using the nut to drop the pressure. From what I remember, tightening is less pressure. Be careful, there is a jam nut and the housing is plastic – don’t force things. If the regulator does not change the pressure on adjusting – then it needs an overhaul – probably easier to replace unless you know how to do the teardown and rebuild.
Have fun – be careful – be safe.. don’t flood the garage ;-P
Oh yes, when loosening the compression fittings, stabilize the regulator so you don’t transmit torque through the pipe. It looks like you can put a large crescent or monkey wrench on the brass end of the center body of the regulator.
