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Question: My house has new copper plumbing, but the main line is a 60 year-old, 30' run of 1" galvanized pipe. Where the pipe goes through the basement wall, there's a reducing street ell, another ell and then a diaelectric fitting. I'd like to replace the first ell with a 1"x1"x1" tee, as the connect to a new irrigation system I'm putting in. Question 1: I can unthread the dielectric coupling and inner ell, but not the reducing ell, which is too tight for my 24" pipe wrench. I could use a cheater, but I'm afraid I might break the main line, and then I'd be screwed. What's the best way to loosen the connection? I assume penetrating oil, heat, vibration and leverage are the usual options. Am I correct the first two won't endanger the pipe? There are no combustibles nearby. Question 2: The fittings had a *lot* of gunk in them (and the dielectric's only two years old), so I assume the main line must have as well. With the ell off, I'd have a straight shot into the pipe: Is there any kind of brush arrangement that's used to clean out galvanized main line? If so, I could flush into a floor drain afterwards, so I didn't clog up all the fixtures in the house with the debris. The other option, of course, is to replace the main line with copper, and I'm considering that. It's only two feet underground, here in balmy Seattle, so I could dig it out.
Answer: -Do a good job and replace the whole thing. You'll never have to worry or think about it again. -The best scenario is to renew the line. The elbow is of no use to your plan so make a cut with a sawzall nearly to the treads of the pipe and snap the elbow off with your pipe wrench. Be careful with what you use to clean out the pipe, maybe a piece of electricians fishtape will do it but make sure you flush the line before reassembling.
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