Killertoiletspider

The fittings used are not designed to direct your cable, they are designed to cause no impedance to solids. they are true cross fittings. Somewhere the hospital has a set of as built drawings, find them, from them you will be able to pick the spot to clear the drains from, a cast iron stack fitting can have over a dozen different inlet configurations, but it has only one outlet.

Christina

When the cast iron at the one outlet that all of the sets of restrooms is tied into is stopped up and there is not a proper cleanout installed. At this point, I would look more toward the architect or the installer. I am a repair plumber. Being stuck with figuring out how to clear lines that dim-wit monkeys have installed without considering the fact that
" !something may get stuck in there and I will be long gone."
SO...
In controdiction with your above statement of they are not designed to direct my cable, but they are designed to cause no impedance to solids, listen to yourself. I told you the solids and paper are getting hung on the (hence the reason I was called in the first place), so therefore you are telling me that the cast iron and its fittings are good for NOTHING! If it were waste water with no solids or paper in it... I am sure it would drain all day... but that is not this application. Again, in this area of the hospital it is mainly elderly... have you ever dealt with elderly? Try telling them to not flush toilet paper... or regulate how much they use...

If I need help in locating the drains and the cleanouts, which I don't being they are plainly in sight (by the way I mentioned that when I told you that the drop ceilings were not yet installed in the lower floor) I will contact the head of maintenance and ask for their "liar's map". Otherwise, I think that the proper decision was made by contacting the head of engineering when the lack of cleanouts for that floor level was pointed out to him. Which, by the way all involved agreed and proper cleanouts are being installed.

This thread was started with the question of...
Cast Iron should be banned from plumbing.
Does anyone else agree with this statement?

NO!
YOU HAVE TO LEAVE SOMETHING FOR THE
MONKEY TO ENTERTAIN HIMSELF WITH!

And as for your statement... Somewhere the hospital has a set of as built drawings, find them... I did not ask you how to do my job or deal with this problem. The problem has been clearly fixed. You asked me what the problem was that I ran into after I said that I thought
"The pipe is too abrasive causing everything you can think of sticking inside the pipe. I really think PVC should be the only thing allowed in these types of waste lines." You did not clarify that you wanted to plumb for me! Had I known that you were going to step up to the plate and tell me how to figure it out... I would have told you that you are a day late and a dollar short.

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SewerRatz

Christina the problem is not the abrasiveness of the pipe. The problem is how it was installed. If you have a water closet at the beginning of the drainage system then a sink that ties in several feet away down stream there is nothing to wash the line clean.


There are 100000's of homes, hospitals, high rises, commercial and industrial buildings in the Chicago area that has Cast Iron and they all do not clog up on a regular basis. The buildings I have seen plug on a regular basis was poorly laid out drainage systems that would even clog if it was done in PVC.

__________________
Ron Hasil Lic #058-160417
A-Archer Sewer & Plumbing specializing in:
Tankless Water Heaters | Drain and Sewer Cleaning
Sump and Ejector Pumps | Backflow RPZ Testing

Christina

OK, SewerRatz, I will listen to your input on that and I will agree. I will also say that had the proper cleanouts been installed at the original time of construction it could have saved a lot of time. I will also make a statement that telling me to go located a built as map (like I am blind) was a personal stab at my intelligence and I did not appreciate it. Thank You, SewerRatz- for not trying to treat me as though I need a map when the lines are CLEARLY exposed!!

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TheMaster

Well I will not agree...a water closet works just fine at the beginning of the line if you have good pipe installed correctly. Cast has met its final match with the use of low volume flush toilets. Pvc is clearly the best solution.

Christina

OK, so after I proof read it aloud it seems as though SR completely changed my mind. I should have said "OK, SewerRatz, I will listen to your input on that and I will agree that improper installation could be a contributing factor"

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Tieger plumbing

Ever think that possibly the installer did not follow directions such as a clean fill below the piping and above the pipe and compacting the soil prior to allowing pavers over it and this under ground pipe was it imported crap or Extra heavy cast knowing that once it is installed it would be very difficult to maintain?

NYC has some cast iron sewers in Manhattan HEAVY traffic areas over 100 years old and no defects in material.

Tieger plumbing

Originally Posted by Christina
Have been called out to a new section of the hospital that is ran in cast-iron. Now, I know, this is suppose to be CI do to strength, sounds, acids, fire codes, whatever... but I know for a fact that PVC is allowed elsewhere in the hospital so why not here?

Acid????? Who ever said CI is used for acid??

Duriron / Pyrex / Plastics / Lead are used for acid waste, NEVER Cast iron for chemical /acid .

Acid will pit the cast iron and thus cause more stoppages and then some handyman will add more chemicals to clear the stoppage and cause more corrosion of the piping, catch 22 with inept people dabbling in fields will no formal training or have no clue to the virtues or short comings of each product.

Plastic has many,many uses but in many cases for regular drainage in commercial and residential etc cast iron is quality installation.

The better codes even state Acid / Chemicals SHALL BE Neutralized prior to entering the drainage system through an acid crock of other means .

If I am pouring acetone down a plastic piping system and saying plastics suxs as it got eaten away

TheMaster

Thats why there is failure after failure with cast iron on kitchen sink drains that are 40 years old........dish detergent. Its acidic and is suppose to go down the drain. Pvc out performs cast iron in a residential setting. Pvc is slick for the life,household cleaners do not eat it like it does cast iron. You dont hafta worry about the soil attacking it. You dont hafta worry about electrolisis attacking it. You dont hafta worry about sewer gas attacking it. It installs quickly. Pvc is clearly the better pipe for residental. The only thing cast iron can claim is that its the quiet pipe......and if pvc is installed with care that can be solved to. Like not letting any framing or drywall touch the pipe or wrap it with sheetlead. Using cast iron doesn't make you cool or a good plumber...it only costs people more money to buy,install,maintain. Its not the better product.

TheMaster

Had an old timer today complaining about plastic drains and how he like cast iron and wanted it to make a comeback at a supply house. I told him..."Hold out your hands...now **** in one hand and want with the other hand and see which one fills up first" ......and walked out. Think he got the point? Whats so funny is he spends his time complaining about a type of pipe when his customers ask for plastic and he's too stupid to realize this is a business and not a game. Give the customer what they wont or they will get it from sombody else. If customers wanted cast iron I would be installing cast iron. Period.