Tool Tips - November 2011

Easy Water Supply For Flushing Drains
Melt Wax Rings To Loosen Fittings
Flash Drives Save Information And Time

Easy Water Supply For Flushing Drains

When drain cleaning, I often need a water supply for testing and flushing the drain or even using a pressure bag on occasion. I’ve taken a 5-foot flexible dishwasher connector with 3/8-inch compression ends and added a quarter turn by 1/2-inch female shutoff. With a garden hose thread adapter, I can run a hose to use my pressure bag or fill a bucket to flush a closet leg. This beats connecting and disconnecting traps over and over, or trying to fill a bucket in a shower stall.

James Hoxeng
Roto-Rooter
Providence, R.I.

Melt Wax Rings To Loosen Fittings

I found a great way to loosen any metal-on-metal connection, such as a galvanized 90-degree elbow on a pipe. Heat the fitting up with a torch until it gets hot. After it is hot, take a wax ring out of your truck and melt the wax onto the fitting connection. The wax will inevitably find its way toward the hot threads, cleaning and lubricating them. Let everything cool for a minute and the fitting will unthread easily. This also works on cleanout caps.

Woody Frame
Gene Johnson Plumbing
Seattle

Flash Drives Save Information And Time

Since we have 24 buildings we service and maintain, I like to make things easier when I can. I have loaded onto flash drives all the mechanical equipment model numbers, locations, maintenance manuals, parts lists and maintenance history. In addition, you can have a digital inventory of what’s on your truck or in your shop.

I used to keep all this information in notebooks and filing cabinets. With the flash drive, I take all the building information I need when making service calls, saving hours.

Bruce Langele
Operating engineer
Chicago