Swinging the Lead

[Uncle Gizmo]

My weekend project - plumbing in a water softener!

 

[NauticalGent]

Well aint you just the Handy man? What system are you installing?

 

[NauticalGent]

Here's the one I had put in. Too many moving parts for me to do it myself!

 

[AccessBlaster]

My weekend project - plumbing in a water softener!

View attachment 92514

Careful the dissimilar metals don't corrode or fight with each other. Nice job so far!

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

What system are you installing?

Its non Electric (as if theres such a thing!)

I think its this one:-
Monarch Plumbsoft Solo Ultra Water Softener

I've set everything up for an electric water softener, but then my brother-in-law said he had this one, which was too big to fit in his kitchen. I got it at a good discount!

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

What's happening in the USA regarding domestic heating? Over here (UK) the government has gone really stupid about having heat pumps.

Gas boilers are going to have to be replaced with heat pumps within I believe around 10 years!

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

Here's the one I had put in.

Is that in a basement? I ask because I have noticed that many USA houses have a basement. Basements are not very common in the UK. I wondered why the USA have them? Is it because it's very easy to dig a hole? Some other reason, like are you scared of tornadoes?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

In south Louisiana we don't have basements south of about the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain. (Due north of New Orleans.) If we do and the walls crack even a little bit, you have your own indoor fishing pond. Or mosquito haven, depending on how close you are to a natural swamp.

 

[moke123]

Is that in a basement? I ask because I have noticed that many USA houses have a basement. Basements are not very common in the UK. I wondered why the USA have them? Is it because it's very easy to dig a hole? Some other reason, like are you scared of tornadoes?

Gotta have your ManCave somewhere.

 

[Isaac]

I hated the fact that many homes in Oklahoma did not have basements, despite its notoriety for tornadoes.....and Yes, I think that's a GREAT reason to have a basement. However, in Missouri it was much more common.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

Well if the UK had tornadoes with the frequency and ferocity they appear to have in USA then I would be taking the floor up and digging a basement right now!

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

Careful the dissimilar metals don't corrode or fight with each other. Nice job so far!

I'm going to take it to pieces and polish it up with brasso!

Would have done that today but it's in a box outside and it's been raining all damn day!

 

[NauticalGent]

Its non Electric (as if theres such a thing!)

There is, the one in the picture is such a model, made by Kinetico. Being on well-water in Va, the water is extremely hard and it was staining just about everything it touched. After two years of cleaning toilet bowls with muriatic acid, the better half tasked me with getting it fixed. When the engineer came out and tested the water, he of course recommended the full-Monty: silica treatment and an RO unit for drinking - which I agreed to and she and the in-laws clucked their tongues about how I allowed myself to get tricked into buying snake-oil.

We've had the system since late February and if I tried to remove it now, they would murder me in my sleep!

Is that in a basement? I ask because I have noticed that many USA houses have a basement. Basements are not very common in the UK. I wondered why the USA have them? Is it because it's very easy to dig a hole? Some other reason, like are you scared of tornadoes?

This is my garage. Basements in southern and mid-Virginia are rare because the water level is high and with the INSANE amount of clay in our soil, the drainage is almost non-existent. The sump-system would have to be very robust and it would run constantly during a rain.

Basements were originally used to store food because they were ,much cooler than the rest of the house. Later they became auxiliary storage space. Not many tornadoes in Va, but we are prone to hurricanes. The basement is the LAST place I would want to be in during a hurricane in Va!

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

The basement is the LAST place I would want to be in during a hurricane in Va!

So where do you go then, the pub?

 

[NauticalGent]

What's happening in the USA regarding domestic heating? Over here (UK) the government has gone really stupid about having heat pumps.

Gas boilers are going to have to be replaced with heat pumps within I believe around 10 years!

I imagine heat pumps would not be effective in the UK. The school of thought in the US that they are only efficient at heating to 40f/5c. Most of them either have electric heat strips or gas back-up for when to temps drop below the threshold. Here in mid-Va, the winters are relatively mild and I think my gas furnace kicked in for about a month when we got down to 29f/-2c. For that reason, I have heat pumps but you just cant beat gas heat.

It's the summers here that are the worst. The temps are high enough but its the damn HUMIDITY! I break out into a sweat feeding the dogs. When I mow the lawn, it looks like I got caught in a flash-flood. We had to make a sort of mud-room in the garage where I can take of the the outer cloths so I don't track my funk into the house.

Being home is great, but I sure do miss the Italian life sometimes!

 

[NauticalGent]

So where do you go then, the pub?

Now THERE'S an idea!

 

[NauticalGent]

So how does your system work then - salt?

 

[NauticalGent]

Also, I wanted to say that your joints look good. Sweating copper fittings is becoming a lost art here in the US, most "plumbers" these days are using Pex and Sharkbite. Very easy to install but I question the durability.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

Sweating copper fittings is becoming a lost art

That's one reason I wanted to do it myself, I need to keep in practice. I did make a couple of mistakes! Luckily they're behind the pipework where you can't see them!

 

[moke123]

I've always had a hard time justifying paying someone to do something I can do myself. Plumbing and electrial being 2 of them. I just replaced my water heater a couple weeks ago after it flooded my basement. Curious if you've ever tried an old plumbers trick I learned as a kid. You stuff a bunch of white bread in the pipe and shove it in a few inches. It holds back any drips of water that may steam up and push the solder out of the joint. When you turn the water back on it disolves and flushes right out.