Any plumbers or house restorers here with galvanized experience?

[Pazuzu]

Helping a friend with a leak, we needed to replace the copper flex line on the hot water outlet from his heater. No problem, I got the replacement flex line, but where it connects to the 3/4 galvanized nipple out of the wall got chewed up. The iron pipe actually partially collapsed under the pipe wrench it was so thin from corrosion (70 year old house, probably 70 year old fitting). So, next step is remove the 6 inch nipple from the wall, but it won't budge. I put a 24 inch pipe wrench on it and used probably 1/4 my body weight, not a peep.

Anyone have an idea how to remove a badly rusted/corroded nipple? The pipe in is a wall, next to a stud. No flames please...
The nipple goes into a 90 then up into the attic. One option is maybe cut the nipple flush, then try to crack the 90 loose. If that works, great. If not, I have now destroyed something deeper into the wall.

Can I use a dremel and a pick and slowly tear the nipple apart from within? If the threads are rusted together, will the pieces come out once tension is off, or will they actually be "glued" in place?


Can I use a very short length of rubber hose with clamps? Is there anything like a Shark Bite fitting for galvanized? What about cutting it and gluing a fitting on with JB weld?

[Pazuzu]

I did just learn about internal pipe wrenches, cammed tools that grab it from inside. I can get one right now down the street...

If I cut it, I'd probably do it by hand with a hacksaw blade.

[Cooper911SC]

In my experience you just have to go for it with more leverage.
I am not a plumber, but the house I grew up in and the house I own now are both around 100 years old. Some galvanized and some copper.

I always hate having to work on the galvanized... For exactly the reason you're having. "Replace the angle valve or nipple" turns into having to open the wall and replace xxx other pieces. 😕

Again, I have found trying to support the joint closest to what you're removing and then using firm linear pressure with a large pipe wrench works best. I have tried the "shock and awe" with a freeze off product and banging elbow, tee, etc with a hammer, then the pipe wrench.

Best of luck, hope you don't end up following it to the attic...

Also remember that galvanic reaction occurs between the copper and Galv. Use appropriate connector. Usually the flex lines have this built in these days.

Cooper

[ossiblue]

The condition of the nipple is likely indicative of most of the remaining iron plumbing in the house. Due to its location, at the bottom of a vertical drop and connected to a hot water source that will accelerate electrolysis, the nipple is nearly rusted through. You can bet the rest of the plumbing, being 70 years old, has areas of sever rust occlusion as well, mostly in the hot water pipes. That being said, if you still want to only fix the immediate problem, you will need to be very careful not to destroy any weakened pipes further along the system.

One plus is that you are dealing with a 90* elbow which is very hardy and thick-walled. I would suggest you attempt to cut out the old nipple threads from the female threads of the elbow. This will be tedious work, but you might be able to do it. You can use a die to chase the threads in the elbow once most of the rusted nipple is cleaned away. Still, you may find the elbow cannot be salvaged.

From your post, it sounds like the 90 is protruding from the wall and the pipe to the attic, to which it is attached, is behind the wall. If that's correct, I don't see how you can remove the elbow without going into the wall to allow the 90 to rotate and to grip the pipe with a wrench to prevent it from turning as you unscrew the elbow. If you can do that, then that would be the approach, keeping in mind the pipe to the attic may be weak and you could wind up with even more replacement problems. Working on old plumbing is opening the lid to Pandora's Box and working on old galvanized plumbing is almost guaranteed to lead to unexpected difficulties.

Best of luck.

[Cajundaddy]

Yep old galvanized sucks. My method is to fully support and hold firm the joint fitting, get a big wrench on the nipple I am removing, and add a 4' helper for leverage. An old salt once showed me that the first turn should be clockwise just enough to break loose the threads and then you can reverse it counter clockwise and remove it. This method has worked well for me on corroded gas lines for 30 years.

If the nipple is completely corroded and thin to the point it collapses under a wrench, the best plan is probably to replace all of that thin, hollowed out galvanized stuff so you don't have an in-the-wall flooding problem in the future. Good luck!

[Pazuzu]

There's enough random damage to the wall here that I could get a couple of wrenches on the 90 to remove it if needed, but that would be low on the list.

The house is old, in a neighborhood that is being gentrified, it would be considered a tear down now. The owner, my friend is also old, and I don't expect would want to spend money repiping a house that will probably be sold in 10 years or less, just to be torn down. He's a pensioner and all

Oh well, of to the story to get a set of internal pipe wrenches, and go to town with my breaker bar and cheater bar!
HDX Internal Pipe Wrench Set-HDX150 - The Home Depot

[Evans, Marv]

If the galvanized pipe is in such bad condition structurally, I'd be really hesitant to go torqueing around on it either from the outside of inside. Those internal pipe wrenches will stress the pipe just as much as a regular pipe wrench. If it were me, I might look into some kind of compression fitting to use over the galvanized nipple, assuming it isn't destroyed right up to the 90 degree ell. If your friend is going to try to get another ten years out of it, any stressing on that old stuff might just reduce how long it lasts.

[look 171]

Forget the internal thingy. If there's enough grab or strong section where you can still get a good bite with a pipe wrench, go after that. Try tightening it (Give it a good go at it, I know it sound crazy, but it usually works) then loosen it like you normally would. My old fashion plumber showed me that trick when I was young and beautiful. Good luck. No fun

[ossiblue]

Looking at the responses, if it was my project I'd prioritize it this way:

1) Try unscrewing the remnants of the nipple ala look171's technique. If that fails or the nipple breaks to the threads,

2) Try cleaning out the threads inside the elbow and chase the threads. If not possible or that fails,

3) Try unscrewing/replacing the elbow with new one and new nipple. If that fails,

4) You're left with going into the wall and up toward the attic. Anything goes now.

[DanielDudley]

Take a very fine and thin metal blade in a sawzall or preferably a saber saw. Cut the pipe threads from the inside, and split the pipe. You will get whatever is in there out easily. Split it in two places if you want it be really easy.

Use teflon tape AND pipe dope to seal the new pipe to the old threads. It won't matter if you scored them a little, as long as you don't get crazy.

Ever break off an O2 sensor in a manifold ? this is how you get it out.

[Pazuzu]

Many hours later...

Ended up taking everything out to the attic. I destroyed the nipple, couldn't even chisel pieces out of the elbow, it was just a solid mass of corrosion inside. The elbow wouldn't come off the vertical pipe, but the vertical pipe WOULD come loose. Cranked that out and replaced the 10 inch vertical, the elbow and the nipple. Once we got to that no return point, it was a 30 minute job after the trip to the store.

[Evans, Marv]

Congrats. You were lucky!

[Bill Douglas]

Good skills.

[Cooper911SC]

Nice to get it wrapped up! Seems like many who replied here have had similar experiences.

Cooper

[Tobra]

You got lucky on that deal Mike.

I had to do some galvanized work on my office manager's house. Ended up using a cutoff wheel, cleaning up the cut end and putting a compression fitting on it. It had some sort of prehistoric compression fitting on it that I cut off and replaced. This was for a hose bib in the back yard.

[look 171]

Glad it worked out for ya. A dirty trick but an old pipe can be cut off then re-thread it again if there's enough room but all the pipes really need to be changed out.

[flyenby]

I normally use a pipe extractor, not an inside pipe wrench. If the extractor doesnt work, leave it in the pipe. You can now use a pipe wrench and not crush the pipe.