Here’s the deal…
1907 two story. Moved in two years ago, no plumbing problems until now – think something is stuck in there. Cast iron drain pipe from second floor bathroom (only one), straight down to basement. 3 feet above the basement floor it has a 45degree elbow, then penetrates the concrete floor. Right before it penetrates the floor, there is a clean out plug (3 1/4″ thread?) cast into a tee. The plug is very stubborn. Tried heat applied to the female side – no luck. Tried taking a screw driver around the seam between the plug and the female receiver, going clockwise to try to jar it loose – no luck. Of course, I put the big monkey wrench on it, with a 3′ breaker bar, and I am only able to damage the iron plug fitting.
There is enough left of the plug end (square) to apply torque too, but it still won’t budge.
Any bright ideas out there, short of hacking it out?
Thanks in advance!
Replies
probably not what you want to hear but when i get one of these i just wack it with a hammer until the plug breaks up , if i break the wye then oh well, just about every other way would probably have broke it too, not hard to replace ( part is probably under $10). i tend to put in a brass plug for later removal, or a cap with no hub fitting holding it on.
james
If you use a small cold chisel, you can break the cap plug and not the Y. I had to do this on my house and replaced it with a plastic one, but the threads need to be greased so they don't stick next time you need to snake it out. Break it around the square part and once it's cracked, grab it with a Vice Grip or Channel Lock so it doesn't fall in.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Locally the most common 3" CI plug is of thin cast brass...it is easy to sawzall off the cast hex nut shape.
This leaves an inch hole in the plug, into which you insert the sawzall blade, and saw toward the plug perimeter. Do this three or four times, making the plug into segments.
Take a cold chisel and knock each segment toward the center and remove. Work patiently.
Replace with plastic....of the threads match, or a plumbing supply will have an old style brass plug.
.......................Iron Helix
Or.......take maybe a 3/16" twist drill and proceed to drill a series of holes close to one another around the entire perimeter nearish the thread edge.
Knock center of plug loose with hammer, but in your case...... perhaps first drill a pilot hole in the center of the lug, insert screw eye with sufficient length of string or wire attached.... in case the plug gets away from you.
Once plug is removed, collapse remaining threaded portion toward center of hole with a hammer and punch.
Clean up threads with wire brush (hand held or drill mounted) and replace with new PVC plug......or expandable rubber plug if threads are toast.
ybc,
I dont know how it will work on a plug that big, but a trick we use to remove small plugs from engine blocks is to heat the plug itself almost cherry red, then let it cool off. The plug expands when heated and compresses all of the "crud" in the threads, and maybe even the threads themselves a bit. Once it cools off, most of the time it will come out by hand. Some guys also touch a candle on the threads once the plug is hot on the theory that the wax will wick into the threads and help the plug come loose once it cools. You would need a pretty big torch to heat up a 3" plug that hot, but it may not need to get as hot to expand. Might be worth a try before starting to cut.
Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md
You can use a 4.5 inch angle grinder with a cutting wheel. Cut an "X" through the face as deep as you can, then pry out and/or knock out the pieces with a chisel.
More controlled than just going at it with a big hammer and chisel when whole. You do not want to risk cracking the rest of the cast iron. CI is pretty brittle stuff, perhaps more so at this age.
Did you try giving it a little tightening first to break it loose? How about holding a small chunk of dry ice on the plug? Cold should contract it and heat would expand it. Heat the hub, cool the plug. Shot of good penetrating oil before and after heating.