"HeyBub" wrote in message
m...
wrote:

I am really not getting the connection between draining the h/w tank
or even replacing the valve stems and this break. Guess I'll find out
when I get a plumber out here.


Rare, but not unheard of:

Turning the main valve on rather quickly puts a pressure surge in the
pipes.
If a joint or section of pipe was fragile, this sudden surge could cause a
failure.

Just jostling a section of fragile pipe can cause leaking. This confirms my
decision to search high and low for a new cartridge for my kitchen sink
instead of replacing the whole assembly. Old plumbing is vengeful. Bother
it enough and it will fight back. Hard.

I learned that putting a new toilet in. Everything up the line from what I
was working on failed because the joints were old, calcified and ready to
go. And they went. A simple toilet replacement ended up with torn up
walls, multiple trips to the plumbing supply house and visits to the
neighbors to use their toilets. I did learn that if you're going to be
applying any serious force to an old pipe to strap it down as well as you
can to eliminate the chance of it acting as a huge lever and damaging a
joint upstream.

Same damn thing happened when the shower diverter valve failed. After 70
years stuff happens.

--
Bobby G.