CHAPTER VL (Part 2)

ro\ind and symmetrical as you can, but do not spend time fiddling over it; let your joint be perfect at the back, at all events where it is not seen, and do not waste either time or solder. In length let your joints present a happy medium, not too long nor too stumpy. A S^-inch joint should be enough, well made, for a 4-inch soil-pipe, 3-inch for 3-inch pipe, and 2f-inch for 2-inch pipe. Underhand joints are also best made when quickly made. The solder is poured from the ladle over the SANITARY PLUMBING. 213 smudged part of the pipe to get up the heat; then gradually and with a roundabout motion, the stream of solder is dribbled over the shaved part, taking care not to keep pouring on any one spot, as we often see beginners doing, and burning a hole through the lead, but as much as possible distributing your heat. With the solder-cloth continue drawing the solder, while pouring round and round the joint. Keep the hot lead dribbling on near the smudge line, and working it up from the bottom edges towards the centre. Wipe the solder well up against the under side, as, if hotter than necessary, it tends to drop ofiF. Good workmen drop the solder on their cloth right and left hand alternately, and convey it to under side of joint, dragging the solder round from bottom to top, and then finally working round it with the hot iron and wiping it smooth. All soil and waste pipes should be made with their spigot ends pointing in direction of the flow. Fig. 141.— Varieties of lead-pipe joints. No. V is a plumber's flange or block joint, used where pipes pass through, and are supported by a floor or a wood 214 DOMESTIC SANITARY DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. block in a chase in the wall. The lower pipe is brought up about an inch or three-quarters of an inch above the floor or block ; a sheet-lead flange is cut out to fit over this pipe, and is dropped over it, the pipe is then cut level to proper length for dressing back over the flange ; the proper portions of pipe and flange are shaved bright and greased ; the upper pipe is then duly prepared for soldering, accurately fitted in its place, secured, soldered, and wiped. This is a very strong sound joint. No. VI is a moulded joint, sometimes used where soil and rain pipes are exposed on outer or inner wall faces. It makes a very neat joint, and is often seen in good old work, where its powers of endurance have been well proved The mouldings are cast and soldered on with copper bit, and the joint is made also with copper bit. It is better suited for rain than for soil pipes. This joint is not much em- ployed in the present day; undoubtedly the well-made wiped joint is superior in point of strength, and especially for soil-pipes. Bending lead pipes needs even more care and skill than jointing tliem. Lead can be given any shape, if we use due skill to coax it. Bends should have wide sweeps; the plumber is in error who tries to make them sharp. The bore should be kept full size throughout, and the thickness of lead equal everywhere. Take a lead pipe, heat it, bend it slightly ; of course the lead thickens at the inner part and attenuates at the outer part, while the section bulges sideways and becomes flat- tened. The object now is to coax the thick lead from the inner round into the outer thin lead, and here appears the plumber's skill, only to be attained by practice at the bench. Cast and drawn bends are now obtained so perfectly SANITARY PLUMBING. 215 made that bending is not so frequently a necessity, yet every plumber should be expert at bending in every required form. The practice of jointing and bending lead Fio. 142.— Lead bend. pipes must be learned and acquired, not from book study, but at actual bench practice. Branch work also needs care and skilL Branches from water-closets are generally made at the bench where possible, with the traps attached ready to lift into their permanent position. These branches should not be mitred into the soil-pipes, as it is almost impossible to avoid internal projections with mitred joints. An oval hole should be cut in the soil-pipe, small enough to leave plenty of lead for dressing out carefully, with a bent bolt, into a neatly formed socket, avoid bruising the pipe; then fit the branch pipe very accurately, entering it about three- eighths of an inch, not reducing the bore, and keeping it back also from entering the bore of the soil-pipe. Solder 216 DOMESTIC SANITARY DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. must on no account be allowed to get inside. The smudge is neatly painted round the branch and the pipe, the joint is shaved bright and soldered as already described. No branch should ever enter a soil-pipe at right angles. It shoidd always slope towards the soil-pipe, and the socket should be dressed to present a smoothly rounded curve when finished, for the soil to glide over from the water- closet. The more sharply inclined is the branch pipe, the greater tendency to imsyphon the trap ; therefore it is well not to give a greater incline than is necessary for clean flushing of the branch pipe. In countries possessing climate similar to ours, all soil- pipes should invariably be carried up full bore and to the ridge level of roof, having a fixed, not a revolving extractor top, to induce upward and check downward currents of air. In some cases it is desirable to reverse the arrangement, and make the soil-pipe act as the downward fresh-air inlet, sup- plying the ventilating current to some more lofty shaft. It is not possible to lay down rules to suit all cases. The sanitary object for the plumber to keep before him and to gain by any means within reach is to maintain a steady current of constantly changing fresh air through every foot of soil-pipe, waste-pipe, and drain, with the outlets discharging the air at a safe distance from windows, skylights, and chimneys, where the escaping air shall blow right away, and with the inlet arranged so that no offence can be caused by chance back draughts. Many outlets of foul-air shafts can be seen fixed close to windows and just over chimneys, which may draw in the foul air and cause serious illness. All branch waste-pipes, as well as soil-pipes, should be abundantly ventilated at the outgo of every trap, so placed and sloped that the soil water may not be thrown up into SANITARY PLUMBING, 217 the vent-pipe; and this pipe must be carried separate to above roof level, or it may join the soil-pipe vent-shaft above the highest branch intake. This precaution is necessary, not only to maintain the movement of air through the pipes, but also to prevent violation of water-seal in traps. The form of the traps best for various purposes requires consideration. The points of a good sanitary trap are these: — ^A small internal surface and contents; every portion washed by every flush; total absence of sharp corners and edges; a good water-seal, yet easily cleared; a distinct open space Fig. 143.— Various lead traps. visible between inlet and outgo; resistance to syphonage in ordinary use when fully ventilated. Many plumbers are faithful to the old D-trap, and will remain true till death. It undoubtedly is a good form to resist syphonage, but here its claim to consideration ends. Experiments will show that D-traps are not self- cleansing. They have a large internal surface, coated usually with sUme and filth, from three to six pounds 218 DOMESTIC SANITARY DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. weight of foul matter being found in them frequently. They have sharp corners and edges, and generally smaller water-seals than other traps, and so are liable to unseal by evaporation, or by capillary attraction working through some rag or thread over the side of outgo ; but the greatest danger with all such traps (whether. D-trap, Eclipse, or helmet shape) is that there is no open space visible between the inlet part on the house side and the outgo on the drain side. The division con- sists of a piece of sheet lead alone, and this is not visible, and is found sometimes with holes corroded through, giv- ing free passage to the foul air and making the trap tenfold worse than useless. Fio. 144.-Helmet trap. rphis illustration of a helmet D-trap shows an attempt to get over the objection of sharp corners. In round-way syphon traps, such a danger becomes mani- fest immediately to both the nose and the eye. The ordinary round-way trap, if well made, as all such appliances should be, and of the U-form (in Fig. 143), not that with the sloping outgo, seems to have everything in its favour when efficiently protected by ventilation. It has small surface, small contents, is self -cleansing, has no corners, has open-air space between inlet and outlet, is easily made, easily fixed, and cheap, not being patented. This form is with advant«ige made slightly reduced in bore, say a quarter of an inch at bottom of syphon, and considerably enlarged at top of outgo. The flushing water will always cleanse the enlarged portion, while the enlarge- ment tends to reduce syphonage. 219 N«.4 SANITARY PLUMBING, Re.t. Ne.2. No 3. hMr |le.«. II«.6A Ne.7. Na.tt. Fio. 145. — Various traps. Dnbois drawn lead. No. 1 is the S-trap; No. 2, half S-trap; No. 3, P-trap; No. 4, running trap ; No. 6, short bend ; No. 6a, long bend ; No. 7, double 8-trap ; No. 8, special 8-trap. All represent the best shape of their kind. Fig. 146.— Anti D-traps. Water-closet traps should have 2-inch water-seal at least, to allow for evaporation and other unsealing effects. Trough, bath, and basin traps may vary in depth of drown or dip from three to six inches, according to circumstances. Fig. 147 shows the upper portion enlarged to receive the 220 DOMESTIC SANITARY DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. brass end of the washer of the waste plug in a trough, so that the area of the waste may not be reduced, and the application of a brass cleaning screw at the bottom of trap, Fio. 147. —Trough trap. Fio. 148.— Bath trap. suited for a bath or basin waste. These traps are cast of soft pure lead, without solder, and are smooth inside ; they possess all the best points of good traps. Pick 149. Fio. 150. Fio. 161. These traps show a compact form of trap with cleaning screw in front, but with the insanitary defect that no air space exists between inner and outer parts. This mid-feather trap has the same defect, but is often used in lead-lined troughs, the brass grating being arranged to screw off for cleaning out the trap. It is sometimes cemented into earthenware troughs, as shown in Fig. 153. Bell traps with loose covers which lift out at will should SANITARY PLUMBING. 221 JffllBHUHBWTaS— ^g: * Fig. 152.— Mid-feather trap. Fig. 163. never be permitted in any position where a trap is required. The cover is invariably left oflF to enable tea-leaves, peelings, etc., to pass away freely, and then there is no trap or water-seal. Traps with check valves or balls are always unreliable; the balls become coated with dirt, and in some forms drop from their seating if the water they float in leaks away or evapo- rates, which is the only time when the ball might prove useful The precaution which such complicated traps are supposed to supply is unnecessary, when the waste-pipes are properly ventilated and disconnected from all doubtful drains. Fig. 154. The growing use of tinned-copper pipes for water service is a trouble to those who employ plumbers, and it is desir- able that plumbers should not let this business slip through their hands. The writer has had difficulty in persuading his best workmen to tackle this work; they have pressed for coppersmiths and brass workers to be sent to help them to bend the copper pipes, while they, the plumbers, stand by and look on at the process in dignified attitudes, taking the copper pipes when bent and screwing them in position, but causing two workmen's time to be expended on work which one should do. 222 DOMESTIC SANITARY DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. This concession, let plumbers be warned, cannot continue. Unless they acquire the art of bending and fitting copper and iron pipes, as well as lead pipes, the work will be alto- gether taken out of their hands, and there will remain the danger that the worker, who bends and fixes copper water- pipes, will find it necessary and profitable also to be prepared to fix lead water-pipes, for the two often run together in country work. The writer presses this matter strongly upon plumbers for due consideration ere it be too late. The author does not believe in the possibility of teaching young plumbers their handicraft from books ; the only way to acquire the skill necessary for a journeyman is the way of the bench in the workshop, under the guidance of an experienced craftsman. There are, however, certain evils to be avoided, which the author wishes to indicate for the benefit of young plumbers, as he has to point them out to his own apprentices from time to time. In lining a cistern with lead, handle your lead neatly and carefully always ; do not bruise or scratch it. Avoid the use of light lead. If lining a small cistern with one piece of lead, do not forget, when cutting the lead, to leave half an inch to spare for the under-lap at corners, and also the proper square projecting pieces to form corner-joints where the lead turns over the edges of the cistern at top. Avoid dressing the angles too sharp, or thinning the lead by over-dressing at any point. Avoid shaving the parts for solder too wide, because the solder should cover the shaved space up to the smudged line. Avoid dressing and working at the lead, and try to coax it into position by pressure rather than by hammering. Avoid lifting the bottom lead off the bottom and leaving it hanging on the turned-over edges when finished. SANITARY PLUMBING. 223 Be careful, while soldering, to keep your lead flat to the timber; for if you solder your seam while the sides or bottom are bulged out by expansion, you will have trouble to dress them home afterwards. Avoid having your solder and irons overheated, and do not try to do too long a seam at a stretch. In lining moderate-sized cisterns, the author prefers to have bottom and sides in one piece of lead, and to have it smudged and shaved before being placed in the cistern. The ends should be cut full large, so as to press tightly home flat to woodwork. In lining large cisterns, the bottom is generally a separate piece and heavier than the sides. The sides are put in first, preparing a turned-in edge to rest on wood bottom of cistern and an under-lap for corners, and leaving sufficient lead to dress out over the top edges when in position. When sides are fitted in position, prepare the bottom, drop it in, and dress it tight into the sides, ready for soldering ; then mark and smudge. Avoid the mistake of shaving too much at once. Shave a portion and solder it quickly, portion by portion, and avoid disturbing the lead while soldering. Lining large cisterns requires much practice for perfection. Lead Burning. This process, understood and practised by a limited number of plumbers, is one that should receive more atten- tion, and ought to occupy a more prominent place in the trade than it does at present ; it is a growing branch of the craft, and therefore one specially to be cultivated by technical teachers of plumbing. 224 DOMESTIC SANITARY DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. Undoubtedly one of the subjects which plumbers will expect to be taught in a technical school is the art of lead burning. It is more practised in London than in the provinces. Lead burning differs from ordinary soldering in the fact that no alloy is used in the process, no flux is required, the metals to be joined being united by self-fusion. When the process is really well done, the work is mechanically stronger, and chemically more secura Solder and lead expand and contract unequally by heat and cold; solder and lead in contact with moisture and heat, especially with acid moisture, form a galvanic couple, when the more easily oxidised metal is attacked and wasted away. In chemical works solder cannot be used in the leaden vessels and tanks, and lead burning becomes a necessity. Before the lead-burning machine was known, these joinings were made by pouring red-hot lead on the joints and fusing together with a red-hot iron, but the work was slow, troublesome, and clumsy. Lead burning has been largely adopted in the dock- yards, and probably the demand for the process will extend every year. Solder alloy, being one-third tin, costs much more than lead, and is more easily oxidised, and it necessi- tates the use of fires for melting the solder and heating the irons, which fires are in many places extremely likely to set fire to buildings, and have often done so, and in other places have set fire to the tempers of the owners and servants of the house, and so the employment of solder in jointing forms both a material and moral menace to the plumber. The hydrogen-gas generator is a very simple and safe machine, which may be left in a room or on a roof while the workman goes away to his meals.