Report from the 'Tiny leak' guy on what happened, plus a further question

Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

EagerLearner

Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2019
Messages
8
Reaction score
2
Location
New York, New York
Hi! I'm the one who roiled the forum in early September by asking how I might stop a tiny water leak near the boiler in my gravity (no pump) hot water heating system. I'd already done some preliminary research and made several phone calls to manufacturers, and I was inclined to use J-B Weld Water Weld Epoxy.

There were two factions that formed in response to my question: a) Those who regarded stopping the leak as a reasonable desire and a feasible plumbing task and offered their advice on how to best do it b) Those who ridiculed and upbraided me for even thinking of attempting to stop the leak instead of replacing the guilty joint and who denounced those who abetted my offensive intentions with their helpful suggestions.

First, before going further, let me offer my profuse (though shamefully belated) thanks to Jeff Handy for his Sept. 14th response to my Sept. 12th post "Some Follow-up Questions from the unexpectedly controversial 'tiny leak' guy". He offered an incredibly useful set of instructions leading me step-by-step through the task. His guide--wisely-- recognized what an utter novice I am at this sort of thing and so he took nothing for granted. Jeff, I'm really and truly grateful that you took the time and made the effort! It made a big difference!

Of course, Jeff couldn't predict everything I would encounter-- for example, the plumber who installed this used some sort of stringy material to seal the threads, and as I tried to clean the area for the epoxy I immediately saw that I was disrupting the existing seal and making the leak worse. So I had to abandon the idea of cleaning the area at or near the point of intersection (where the leak was, of course) and instead cleaned (and roughened) the surfaces above and below.

Although the cleaning went well, I was dissatisfied with the roughening of the metal surfaces that I achieved. Though I used an emery cloth and a file-- both intended for metal-- and a wire-brush, I didn't really feel I had made a significant difference by the time I'd finished. I even used a magnifying glass-- before and after-- and I wasn't impressed by the (barely visible) impression I'd made in the metal.

Nonetheless, feeling I had done everything within my power to do, I applied the epoxy all around the circumference of the joint, above and below the leak, hoping it would tightly adhere to the surfaces I'd prepared and would greatly alleviate-- if not entirely stop-- the leak.

And it did. For purposes of comparison, in April, when the system was filled with water, the leak was one drop about every 16 seconds. Now, after having applied the epoxy, when I filled the system to the customary level (the same as April), the leak is one drop in every 68 seconds-- when the system is cold-- and no leak at all when the system is hot (apparently the epoxy expands sufficiently when heated to provide an impenetrable barrier). So I'm pleased that the leak is now trivial enough to not affect the functioning of the system, yet I'm a little disappointed that there's any leak at all.

One further question: If I'm struck by a sudden perfectionistic urge and want to add more epoxy to the adjacent bare metal and perhaps completely stop the leak, what tool might I use to really roughen the surface of the metal?
 
LOL
Wow! You're really pushing your luck by making this a public question to the forum after the beating you took the last time.
In the future you may want to consider a private message. I believe it's referred to as "conversations" on this forum.
 
You have not ''fixed'' any thing.
When a boiler is on the piping is hot and it expands, That is the reason you are not seeing water at that time
when the water cools the pipe contracts and joints that are not tight will leak.
all you have accomplished is slowing the water drip down by smearing crap on the pipe which is acting like a dam
it is still leaking and will continue to leak

good luck with your endeavors
 
Hey congratulations you **** rigged it and didn't listen to the advice of people who told you you should have fixed it right in the first place and it's still leaking would you look at that..Screenshot_20190919-155740.jpeg
 
Diehard says to me, "LOL Wow! You're really pushing your luck by making this a public question to the forum after the beating you took the last time."

Diehard, when people spew vitriol and mockery at you without even knowing you, it says nothing about you and everything about them. So I simply shrug it off, indifferent to their insults.

And it's always possible (theoretically, at least) that types like Frodo think that heaping scorn upon someone is the best way to bring them around to the 'proper' way of doing things. Diehard, are you familiar with Daniel Kahneman, who won the Nobel in Economics for his work in behavioral psychology? A few years ago I heard him tell the story of his giving a lecture to Israeli flight instructors responsible for training Air Force Cadets in the Israeli military. After Kahneman told the group that research showed that reward (or praise) and not punishment was the ideal way to mold new cadets into great pilots, one of the instructors raised his hand to voice his objection, and said something like, "Y'know, Professor Kahneman, that may work in a laboratory with white mice, but in the real world of human beings, I've tried your methods and found the opposite of what you say is true. When I would praise a cadet after a particularly good performance, he invariably would perform worse the next time. And when I would scream curses at a cadet after he badly screwed up, he wouldn't screw up so badly the next time! So nowadays, I don't say a word of praise after a good performance by a cadet, but I let fly with every four-letter word in my repertoire after a poor one. And I've found that it works! So with all due respect, Dr. Kahneman, your advice to us instructors stinks!"

But Daniel Kahneman realized as the flight instructor was telling him of his experience that the instructor was completely misunderstanding what had been happening with the cadets. When someone is learning some skill-- anyone at all, whether they be a cadet, a pianist, an ice skater, a fellow juggling bowling pins or anyone else-- a particularly good performance is almost certain to be followed by a more mediocre performance the next time whether he is praised or not. And after someone has a spectacularly awful performance he is going to have a less bad performance the next time whether he is cursed at or not. What the flight instructor was observing was simply the statistical phenomenon known as 'regression toward the mean', where very good and very bad outcomes are followed by more typical or average outcomes no matter what an instructor says in response to the very good or very bad outcome. It's just probability following its inexorable course!

So, it's conceivable that Frodo, like the Israeli flight instructor, mistakenly believes his 'tough love' approach to people who stray from what he thinks is the right way of doing things is simply the best technique to bring them into line!

On the other hand, Frodo includes this as a tagline to many of his posts, "I won't say I don't like some folks, but I would unplug their life support to make a pot of coffee."

Um, I guess Frodo intends that as a bit of humor to lighten things up, but even so, I find it just a little hard to believe that (under that MAGA hat of his?) there is actually a soul filled with angelic benevolence towards all of humanity.
 
I do not have time for you to waste asking a question then getting your panties in a wad because you have been told
the n----rig fix you are suggesting will not work.
In the future, If you are not willing to accept the advice given then simply do not ask for it.

As stated in the beginning. the ''fix'' to your problem is to cut the pipe out and replace that pipe
IF, You do decide, to fix it correctly. I am here to walk you through it
i do not n-----rig shat,,it is either done correctly or not at all
as stated in the other thread
tools you will need
2 pipe wrenches
1 hack saw
tape measure
PPE steel toe boots,face mask,safety glasses,ear protection gloves,fire extinguisher
 
s1owAjT.jpg
No...I hadn't heard of Daniel Kahneman. But I just googled him and saw some very interest videos he has and I'm looking forward to listening to them. So thanks for that.
 
Well since we're talking nonsense and all the stuff that doesn't even acquaint plumbing and or related topics here's a picture of a donut and the story to go along with it.

Now you see folks I myself am a very big fan of sour cream donuts believe it what you may they are amazing and the Pinnacle of desserts in my book but you see here this donut tis not a sour cream but a sour cream donut in disguise
Oh it may taste like a sour cream donut but it is not a true Dunkin Donuts sour cream donut but a piece of crap Half Baked imposter that just won't get the job done so please be wary that if you go and try to get these succulent treats always know that some people will pass off these fraudulent Donuts as real sour cream donuts20190105_084637.jpeg
 
voletl says, "Oh it may taste like a sour cream donut but it is not a true Dunkin Donuts sour cream donut but a piece of crap Half Baked imposter that just won't get the job done so please be wary that if you go and try to get these succulent treats always know that some people will pass off these fraudulent Donuts as real sour cream donuts"

voletl, your donut analogy is actually a very good argument AGAINST your position!

Why do I make that claim?

Well, first I think even you and your tag-team partner frodo would concede that donuts are not exactly health food, but perhaps the most pleasant way possible to commit suicide. Therefore, the only relevant factor is taste-- if a donut tastes good, it doesn't matter a bit whether it's an authentic Dunkin' or an impostor prepared by someone who just landed from Alpha Centauri.

Similarly, in a hot water gravity heating system the only relevant factor is how well it's performing its heating function. The drip never really interfered with that heating function, but now its interference is zero. One drop every one minute and 17 seconds with the system cold is utterly irrelevant except to someone who doesn't understand the meaning of the aphorism 'The perfect is the enemy of the good'. Worrying about a minuscule drip is letting the idea of perfection needlessly spoil your enjoyment of the good: i.e. piping hot radiators on a cold winter day.

And actually, that aphorism is especially relevant when I consider your excellent leather work on that wallet, frodo. On the one hand, it's a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Bravo! On the other hand, it's a shame that you'll have to destroy it. Yes, it's a shame that by your own standards you have no alternative but to destroy it. Why? Because you misspelled the word Amendment. There's no 'e' in Amendment. And to simply 'fix' it by scratching out that extra 'e' would surely be a **** fix according to your own standards, frodo. So there's nothing for you to do but destroy it and make a brand new wallet, starting from a piece of raw leather!

Of course, you could always adopt a more sensible attitude and not let the perfect be the enemy of the good-- you could just enjoy your wallet as is and not allow the drip, drip, drip of your careless spelling mistake to bother you, just as I am enjoying my warm house and am not allowing my own drip, drip, drip to bother me.
 
I see you're from New York New York give me your address I'll stop by take a look at what's going on or is your building just like every other shithole that I encounter
 

Latest posts

Back
Top