How to remove a cast iron lead joint (Revised/Re-edited) 

This comment saved me 4.5 mins.

Best believe that was done on purpose!

Would a propane soldering torch soften up the lead, just enough heat to pull out iron sleeve?

they edited the best part

They didn't want to show the part where they had to put the torch on it for another hour either that or they drilled holes for another hour and a half

I rarely work with lead This is the tip I was looking for Thanks 🙏

I’ll definitely give that a try. I was blessed to be taught by a couple older plumbers close to retirement who were way past the “he’s gonna take my job” to dumping as much knowledge in my head they could. Sent me home with a headache most days!! Thanks for the tip!

so no concerns about this separating? I know drains aren't under any great pressure, just surprised there's no clamp or cement to replace the lead.

@@phantom12321800 There is a steel clamp that goes over the rubber that tightens with a couple of hose clamps.

Cut a notch in the steel?

@@michaelrothman4602 No, the new PVC pipe

Good luck Joe and thank you!

Red Beard...we’re quite the beard fans around here as well!! Thanks for the thumbs up. Unfortunately this channel got terminated so all we can do is comment. Please check our our new channel we’re all these videos are duplicated and we’re still uploading new ones!!

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V6fPuBD9jyI.html

@@plumb4uplusmorellc533 No problem at all, always happy to support my fellow content creators. I am looking forward to improving on my own current video format I have uploaded and, in the future, trying to create content as good as yours in the long-term............sorry to hear about the terminated channel. Sounds good. will do.

We’ve encountered what your talking about and it’s issues. Glad to hear you’re doing it the right way. The plumbing trade needs lots of that! While I have you RU-vid terminated this channel for violating community guidelines but we’re not even sure why. All I can do is respond to comments here. We’re still making videos if you’re interested. Lots of links in the comments .

Thanks for the feedback Johnson! I normally would agree with you...but we’re near Charlotte where Charlotte Pipe is located so most of the cast iron pipe and fittings we see are Charlotte pipe and the donuts we use are “Charlotte seals” that are also made by Charlotte Pipe and still used in new commercial installs. I’ve ran loads of push joint cast iron in new schools and healthcare jobs during my career. We have to test those just like pvc systems and only use pipe lube (camel snot if you live around here) to complete the joints. If your using a donut from one manufacturer and a fitting from another I imagine you’re correct.

Tye seals are a huge pain

Camel Snot? You mean Duck Butter.

@@justen7994 yes sir try the 10” and up not fun

Joy jelly?

You’re welcome Hames thanks for watching! If you like this sort of thing check out our new channel we were forced to create because RU-vid terminated this one. The only thing we can do here is respond to comments.

The way you dumped all that lead into the soil is probably why it's illegal... Put a bag under it to catch the lead chips instead of contaminating the soil. Otherwise thanks for the video. My whole house is cast iron that has to go.

@@court2379 Do you know how much lead is used and shot - that little bit isn't anything sigh

@@wg7644 There is a difference between it being scattered all over the wilderness and it being concentrated in a few spots around your house. If it is anywhere that gets foot traffic it can get picked up as dust and make its way into your house where it gets breathed and swallowed thru flem, or settles on things you touch and eat. If you have a well nearby it can leach into your water supply (though surface water generally shouldn't get in). I believe some plants can also pick it up if you garden and then eat those plants. Tiny amounts, but over 20 years can start to matter. Though any house that has cast iron piping also has lead paint, and the flakes of it landing all around the house is probably far worse. It's a small risk, but why not be a little more careful and eliminate it entirely.

@@court2379 I've been around awhile. America's true health issues are about consuming too much food - there is a band wagon that needs to go forward.

@@wg7644 While I agree with your statement, I don't see what is has to do with needlessly contaminating the soil around a house?

@Caleb Ahmir Yes it took some time and not right for every situation but worked great for this particular job. If you like this sort of thing visit our new channel where we’re still making videos. This channel was terminated by RU-vid without warning so all we can do is respond to comments. This is a link to our latest video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xhpnCem6fkM.html

Matt I usually use 1/4” and I’m sure it’s just whatever bit Lowe’s had on sale. It’s very easy to break bits doing this so have extra. Bit quality isn’t a bit deal lead is very soft. Also this channel is terminated for violating one of RU-vid rules but I don’t even know which one. All we can do is comment here. Please check out our new channel where we’re still making videos. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V6fPuBD9jyI.html

The inner diameter of the gasket is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the pipe and likewise the outer diameter of the gasket is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the hub so when you push the pipe in it puts pressure on the joint both ways. That being said it can be pushed back out of the joint with the same pressure it was push in with so be careful during backfill. Also please subscribe to our new channel where we’re still doing videos. All we can still do on this one is reply to comments. ru-vid.com/show-UC1-RtPJegbm-DW-A7HdaRmw

A general pipe lube should work fine, I think we used silicone or silicone grease in this occasion I can’t remember exactly. As far as I know silicone doesn’t degrade the neoprene the donut is made from like true rubber gaskets used in the past.

@@plumb4uplusmorellc533 I am doing this right now on 2 shower drains. The removal section of your video, drilling out the lead, was very helpful to me, thanks for posting that. I called Fernco technical support and they said to only use soap for a lubricant, like dishwashing liquid soap. I am not sure about other things that maybe safe to use, but that is what they told me.

Thanks Solar Eclipse Timer...we have a once in a lifetime solar convergence coming up tonight between Saturn and Jupiter hopefully you’ll get a chance to see it. Back to plumbing thanks for the recommendation from fernco!! I’ve used a lot of things to lube gaskets over the years but never used dish soap. I’ll have to give that a shot. Thanks

Duck butter

Beacon grease 😅

We’re still making videos on our new channel if you like this sort of thing. The channel tour on now got terminated without warning or strikes by RU-vid. Please visit our new channel at the link below. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xhpnCem6fkM.html

Great question Rick…That actually won’t work because if you put the gasket on the 4” pvc first it actually expands it too much to fit into the cast iron hub. If you put it into the cast iron hub then push the PVC in then the ribs on the inside and outside of the gasket compress both inwardly and outwardly sealing against both surfaces. By the way this channel was terminated by RU-vid only allowing us to respond to comments but we’re still making videos on our new channel here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Db2lOKs6e2o.html

We used silicone because it’s what we had. The best lube according to fernco which was provided by another viewer is water and dish soap which a lot of us have as leak detector on our trucks anyway. Also yes I beveled the pipe with a grinder and a flap disk. It makes a huge difference than not beveling. Also since this project I did a small job at a pharmaceutical factory which required the pipe and fittings to have an extremely high chemical resistance. The material we used was josam stainless push fit sanitary pipe and fittings with epdm gaskets (the same material the Charlotte seal I used is made of). Point being the silicone shouldn’t cause any degradation which is so thing other viewers were concerned about. Good luck and thanks for watching!!

Glad it helped!!

Dave I always forget this...this channel got terminated because of violating community guidelines. I got no strikes or warnings and they won’t even tell me what I did. Here’s a link to our new channel. ru-vid.com/show-UC1-RtPJegbm-DW-A7HdaRmw

Your going to be there a long time and you have to keep scraping the lead with a screwdriver to keep it shiny so it will melt better I'd suggest using using the drill like he did and then if you have to torch it go ahead but if you haven't experienced it burning okum is horrible

Seymore that’s a great question. Once the lead is removed behind it is oakum which fills the void between the outside of the pipe and the inside of the hub. Depending on how tightly the oakum is packed you can sometimes wiggle the pipe out and other times have to pull it out with needle nose pliers or a screwdriver. The pipe should come out in one piece and the oakum should separate from the hub fairly easily. You would need to make sure none of the residual oakum would keep the new seal from contacting the hub. Also sorry about the volume this was one of our first videos...we’ve learned a lot since then. Check it out on our new channel multiple links are in the comments

Johnny it’s very likely that that the galvanized is leaded in just like the joint we did in the video. That was common practice in our areas (NC) at least. If it’s 1-1/2 in a 2” hub you can probably use a larger diameter bit than a 1/4” like we used in the video. Good luck!

@@plumb4uplusmorellc533 you are absolutely correct. I ended up doing as you did in the video, drilling and using the gasket donut, what a bitch it was for me, the hub was next to a foundation riser, drilling at an angle while keeping my wrist straight so that the bit went in straight, last thing i wanted was to damage the wall of the hub. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Im going to hit the subscribe. Looking forward to more content!

@@dannydee9919 if your going to subscribe please subscribe to our new channel here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QJNFcBEVmPY.html. All we can do on this channel is respond to comments. We violated RU-vid community guidelines somehow so we had to start a new one.

@@plumb4uplusmorellc533 done!subscriber number 26th! A plumbing channel Violateing youtubes community guidelines? That's a first. Did you guys forget to edit out the "plumbers crack"?? Lol .jk.

The redundancy of these comments is astounding. I’m replying from my other channel I’m not even gonna change log in to respond. This is under a tri plex where two of the three residents are on oxygen. Your caveman tourch tactics are not appropriate for this situation. That’s why this is rare any numskull plumber can melt lead with a torch or any other caveman tactic. This is my 23 or 24 yr plumbing, 10 yrs of which was for the largest medical system in the Carolinas where melting lead with a torch is not an option…sometimes that would be an appropriate option but not in this case. What would be yours or anyone else’s snarky know it all solution to your torch removing all the original tar coating on the pipe…you know the stuff that protects the porous cast iron from rust, degradation, and leaks?

Close...North Carolina. Accent almost gave us away. If you like this sort of thing check out the new channel we started after RU-vid terminated this one. All we can do here is reply to comments. Thanks ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V6fPuBD9jyI.html

Probably listened to Dr. Ruth and used KY.

We used a flap disc and a grinder. We used silicone for lube because we had it on the truck. A mild dishwashing liquid or plumbers grease affectionately referred to as camel snot around here.

Cordless grinder and flap disk

Those transition donuts are super tough especially when cold. Also if you’ve read any other comments on our channel you’ll see that RU-vid has terminated our channel for severe violations of their community guidelines. They won’t tell us what the violations was and have denied multiple appeals. We’ve started a new channel and hope you can join us there. All we can do on this channel is respond to comments and the content will remain up for now.

@@plumb4uplusmorellc533 that's obsurd! I'll definitely follow the other channel

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It depends on how wide the lead gap it’s. Usually 1/4” but you don’t want the bit to catch the pipe or hub or it’ll snap the bit in half quickly.

Recipe to no hub

it took me two hours but i got it out without stress.

We've all broken many a drill bit doing this..