• Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
  • ENGINEERS
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
  • INSIGHTS
  • MEDIA
  • RESOURCES
  • EMAGAZINE
  • SIGN UP!
cart
facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
  • CONTRACTORS
  • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
  • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
  • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • WATER TREATMENT
  • PMC COLUMNS
  • PMC COLUMNS
  • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
  • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
  • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
  • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
  • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
  • ENGINEERS
  • CONTINUING EDUCATION
  • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
  • FIRE PROTECTION
  • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
  • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
  • PME COLUMNS
  • PME COLUMNS
  • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
  • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
  • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
  • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
  • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
  • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
  • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
  • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
  • INSIGHTS
  • CODES
  • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
  • PROJECT PROFILES
  • COLUMNS
  • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
  • COLUMNS
  • Codes Corner
  • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
  • Guest Editorial
  • MEDIA
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
  • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
  • DIRECTORIES
  • EBOOKS
  • PM BOOKSTORE
  • CE CENTER
  • MARKET RESEARCH
  • CLASSIFIEDS
  • EMAGAZINE
  • EMAGAZINE
  • ARCHIVE ISSUES
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE
  • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
search
cart
facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
    • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
    • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
    • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
    • TECHNOLOGY
    • WATER TREATMENT
    • PMC COLUMNS
      • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
      • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
      • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
      • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
      • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
  • ENGINEERS
    • CONTINUING EDUCATION
    • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
    • FIRE PROTECTION
    • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
    • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
    • PME COLUMNS
      • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
      • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
      • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
      • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
      • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
      • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
    • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
    • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
  • INSIGHTS
    • CODES
    • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
    • PROJECT PROFILES
    • COLUMNS
      • Codes Corner
      • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
      • Guest Editorial
    • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
  • MEDIA
    • PODCASTS
    • VIDEOS
    • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
    • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
    • DIRECTORIES
    • EBOOKS
    • PM BOOKSTORE
    • CE CENTER
    • MARKET RESEARCH
    • CLASSIFIEDS
  • EMAGAZINE
    • EMAGAZINE
    • ARCHIVE ISSUES
    • CONTACT
    • ADVERTISE
    • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
  • SIGN UP!
Columns

The Weakest Joint

By Julius Ballanco P.E., CPD
June 1, 2000
My good friend Bob Adorjan called me a few weeks ago. For those of you who don’t know Bob, he is the retired head of sales and marketing for Fernco. I always credited Bob with making Fernco a household name in plumbing. Rather than walk into a supply house and ask for an adapter fitting, most plumbers ask for a “Fernco.” This isn’t a unique marketing approach. It’s been done with Kleenex, Xerox, etc. You get the idea.

Bob asked the question, “What’s the weakest joint in the plumbing system?” I laughed out loud. Bob and I have had this conversation off and on for the past 20 years. I answered in typical fashion, “The wax ring on the water closet.” Bob started laughing, too. I still knew the answer. We talked, as we often have, about the “immortal” wax ring. While Bob was employed by Fernco for eons, he never forgot he was a plumber first. He always thought like a plumber when a new product was needed. I think that is why he was so successful. As a plumber, he never forgot his apprenticeship instructor who commented about the stupidity of using wax to make one of the most precious joints in a drainage system.

The thought of using wax to joint a water closet to a drainage system was always in the back of Bob’s mind. Just think about it, we go through the trouble of regulating every pipe, joint and connection to the nth degree in plumbing codes and standards. Then when it comes time to attach the water closet to the drainage system, we say, “Oh, by the way, just put a ring of bee’s wax around the opening and tighten two bolts to make a super joint.” Yeah, right!

For The Bees: Just imagine if every water closet was joined by a high-grade joint, say a welded connection, or a soldered fitting, or even an elastomeric adapter. Then this brilliant person came along and said, “I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t we connect the water closet to the drainage system using bee’s wax? It will be a lot cheaper, less than a dollar.” Everyone would laugh at this buffoon. “What are you, nuts?”

The technicians in charge of codes and standards would say, “You want to use bee’s wax — here are the requirements: it must not deform when making the connection, it must withstand the pressure of 10 feet of water head, it must not allow the water closet to rock and the connection must be as solid as all of the current connections.” Of course, the bee’s wax buffoon would lower his head and walk away dejected. Here he thought he had such a wonderful, cheap way of making a connection. Maybe he really is stupid, like everyone says.

Of course, the bee’s wax buffoon was here first. He got the government to write a standard for his bee’s wax, then he got every plumbing code in the country to accept the standard. With the code in hand, he set out to sell the industry on making this precious connection in bee’s wax. Sounds kind of dumb doesn’t it?

If you ever read the federal specification for the wax, you will find that there are two qualities of wax permitted. One quality is required to be loaded with asbestos fibers. Now there’s a four-letter word. And that’s the federal government’s requirement. Of course, in this day and age, the other quality of wax, without the asbestos, is used in wax rings.

A Better Way: Since Bob retired, he had time to tinker with ways of getting rid of wax rings. He knew there had to be a better way of making a connection. After many iterations, Bob developed the plastic connection with an elastomeric ring that replaces the wax ring. The joint is dynamite. You talk about blowing away the competition, Bob surely succeeded. The joint will not leak. Fool around with the connection and the joint just gets tighter.

The connection is a plastic collar with two elastomeric (rubber) components. A flexible elastomeric gasket makes the connection to the water closet. An O-ring around the outside of the plastic collar makes the connection to the closet bend (drain). There are two sizes, 3–inch and 4–inch. The collar is designed to adjust to the material of the closet bend. If you screw up, you can reuse the connector, unlike bee’s wax. The joint and seals are really quite clever.

So, in his retirement, Bob is off to make his millions, right? Well, not so right. You see, the problem is, that bee’s wax can still be had for about a buck. Bob’s mighty connection is about five times the price, give or take a few pennies. Now faced with the decision of a high quality connection that we have long waited for to join a water closet to the drainage system for five bucks vs. a cheap ring made of bee’s wax for a buck, what do you think most contractors select? Bee’s wax for a buck! This is business, you know.

Supply houses won’t stock Bob’s new joint. They figure they couldn’t sell the joint when they also stock a fine wax ring for a buck. So Bob has decided to sell the joint directly to the plumber. That’s not the easiest way to become a millionaire. You may have received one of Bob’s fliers advertising the connection or seen his ads in the magazine. He calls the thing the Ultra Seal.

If you ever get the urge to consider this neat joint for joining water closets, give Bob a call. His number is 800/323-6188. Even if you are not interested, Bob is a great guy to talk to about the plumbing industry — and a wealth of knowledge.

Before you get too excited about this new joint, there is one drawback. The connection will not work when connecting to a lead bend. I guess we have to hold on to some bee’s wax for lead bends.

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Ballancojuliusvwhite 200

Julius Ballanco, P.E., CPD, F-ASPE, is president of J.B. Engineering and Code Consulting, P.C. in Munster, Ind. He can be reached at by email at jbengineer@aol.com.

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Worker using the Milwaukee Tool SWITCH PACK drain cleaner

    Pipeline profits: Drain cleaning, pipe inspection create opportunities

    Drain cleaning and inspection services offer lucrative...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke
  • Uponor employee, Arturo Moreno

    The reinvestment in American manufacturing and training

    Plumbing & Mechanical Chief Editor Nicole Krawcke and...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke and Natalie Forster
  • March 2024 Women in Plumbing hero image of woman engineer overlayed by circle of hexagon shapes with numbers from 1 to 10

    Celebrating 10 Influential Women in the Plumbing Industry

    Celebrating Women's History Month and Women in...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke
Subscribe For Free!
  • eNewsletters
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service
  • eMagazine
  • Manage My Preferences

IPEX celebrates grand opening of new Florida distribution center

IPEX celebrates grand opening of new Florida distribution center

Bell & Gossett Illustrates Path to Net-zero at AHR Expo

Bell & Gossett Illustrates Path to Net-zero at AHR Expo

NIBCO Press Solutions

NIBCO Press Solutions

AI can boost efficiency and profitability for plumbing, HVAC contractors

AI can boost efficiency and profitability for plumbing, HVAC contractors

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Plumbing & Mechanical audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Plumbing & Mechanical or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • J.J. Keller CMV vehicles on road
    Sponsored byJ. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

    The dash cam game-changer for small business safety

Popular Stories

Underfloor heating installation with drain sewer hole in bathroom close up on water floor heating.

Using hydronics to leverage time-of-use electrical rates

Watts Nexa mobile image

Behind the Wall: Where smart plumbing gets smarter

Six tankless water heaters that feed the nutraceutical manufacturer’s operations.

How to deliver large volumes of hot water quickly and intermittently

PMCE Home-X April 29 Free Webinar: From Legacy to Leadership: Preparing Your Home Services Business for the Next Generation

Events

November 13, 2024

Future Proofing MEP: Navigating the 2026 High Efficiency Water Heating Standards

Join our deep dive into DOE’s new standards so you can future-proof your MEP practice.

EARN: 0.1 ASPE CEU; 1 AIA LU/HSW; 0.1 IACET CEU*; 1 PDH

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Will business be up or down in 2025?

Do you anticipate business in 2025 to be up or down in comparison to 2024?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

The Water Came To A Stop

The Water Came To A Stop

See More Products

Download the FREE Water Conservation, Quality & Safety eBook: Plumbing Trends Increasing Safe Water Availability

Related Articles

  • It's The Solids That Run Away
    Julius Ballanco

    See More
  • Ballanco

    Soldering vs. brazing when piping is involved

    See More
  • Plumbing Design Of Residential Sprinklers

    See More
×

Keep your content unclogged with our newsletters!

Stay in the know on the latest plumbing & piping industry trends.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
    • Supply House Times
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing

search
cart
facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
    • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
    • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
    • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
    • TECHNOLOGY
    • WATER TREATMENT
    • PMC COLUMNS
      • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
      • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
      • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
      • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
      • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
  • ENGINEERS
    • CONTINUING EDUCATION
    • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
    • FIRE PROTECTION
    • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
    • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
    • PME COLUMNS
      • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
      • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
      • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
      • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
      • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
      • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
    • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
    • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
  • INSIGHTS
    • CODES
    • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
    • PROJECT PROFILES
    • COLUMNS
      • Codes Corner
      • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
      • Guest Editorial
    • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
  • MEDIA
    • PODCASTS
    • VIDEOS
    • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
    • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
    • DIRECTORIES
    • EBOOKS
    • PM BOOKSTORE
    • CE CENTER
    • MARKET RESEARCH
    • CLASSIFIEDS
  • EMAGAZINE
    • EMAGAZINE
    • ARCHIVE ISSUES
    • CONTACT
    • ADVERTISE
    • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
  • SIGN UP!