SpudFiles

i found a long 3/4 threaded pipe in my basement . It has a couple of fittings and a cool ball valve on the end. But they seem to to stuck on with some sort of weird pipe compound (looks like peanut butter). I tried beating it with a hammer and chiseling the stuff off but nothing has worked. How might i get this crap off the pipe so i can unscrew the fittings? BTW It is currently doused in purple primer. thanks

Best thing to do is get 2 pipe wrenches and just twist with all your might.

DON'T heat the valve becuase you will melt the rubber seals inside of it. You could try putting hot water on it and then try it.

WOW!! has the right idea, two pipe wrenches is the way to go. Sometimes fittings can get stuck together pretty good, one time on the farm I work on, we had to get a ball valve off of an irrigation pipe, and we wound up having to put two pipe wrenches on it, then fasten one wrench to the hitch on a truck, and tie the other wrench to the back of a tractor and drive the tractor away from the truck

potatoflinger wrote:WOW!! has the right idea, two pipe wrenches is the way to go. Sometimes fittings can get stuck together pretty good, one time on the farm I work on, we had to get a ball valve off of an irrigation pipe, and we wound up having to put two pipe wrenches on it, then fasten one wrench to the hitch on a truck, and tie the other wrench to the back of a tractor and drive the tractor away from the truck

you broke the pipe right? I hope it doesn't get that extreme.

Just get to wrenches and hit them with a hammer till you get it off.

Just get mad at it.

No we didn't break the pipe, one wrench was on the valve and the other was on the pipe. I don't think it will get that extreme, since it was a 3" pipe.

Blast it! :bom:
But yeah, I'd suggest using pipe wrentches too.

may be try to spray some kind of lubricant in the threads might loosen it a bit

pressure washer to get the compound off

freeze it the compound will become brittle and separate from the pipe as the metal contracts, how ever do not fidget with the valve it might cause permanent damage to the rubber. try using butane or propane, to rapidly cool it, hell even co2 might work if all else fails burn it, and get new rubber seals,

Dont freeze the pipe or the valve, that could cause cracking when you are trying to get it off.

Boil up some water and soak the valve end in it for 5-10min and try to get it off then.

WOW!! wrote:Just get mad at it.

Has worked for me so many times.
Sometimes, all you need a bit of fury to get your muscles going.

Torch it.

It's not likely to get any harder if it's old sealant but it could become more brittle and crumble with excessive heat.

Make sure you're outside at the time and don't breathe any fumes.

wd-40 or similar, locktight make a product called freeze and release that works like a charm. we use it on everything encluding engines at work

Hotwired wrote:Torch it.

It's not likely to get any harder if it's old sealant but it could become more brittle and crumble with excessive heat.

Make sure you're outside at the time and don't breathe any fumes.

DO NOT
You cant you will melt the seals in the ball valve.