I cannot bust this cleanout cap free to save my life and I'm afraid
that I'm going to strip it with my adjustable wrench or pipe wrench.
Some are square but some are not - this one is not. I'm thinking it's
1 5/16" My biggest socket is 1 1/4 and its a no go.

On Nov 29, 8:55 pm, wrote:
I cannot bust this cleanout cap free to save my life and I'm afraid
that I'm going to strip it with my adjustable wrench or pipe wrench.
Some are square but some are not - this one is not. I'm thinking it's
1 5/16" My biggest socket is 1 1/4 and its a no go.

You're going to break the cap whether you want to or not. Don't waste
time on it. Just drill enough holes around the nut (staying away from
the threads) to take it out in pieces. Then when you install the new
cap, do what the original installer didn't, use teflon tape or a non
hardening pipe dope to make it removable in the future. HTH

Joe

wrote in message
...
I cannot bust this cleanout cap free to save my life and I'm afraid
that I'm going to strip it with my adjustable wrench or pipe wrench.
Some are square but some are not - this one is not. I'm thinking it's
1 5/16" My biggest socket is 1 1/4 and its a no go.

I've done this on a spa repair. Cut off the top of the square cap. Cut two
radial cuts from the center out with a hack saw blade or a saber saw. Pick
a place where the plastic that is sticking up will give you something to
grasp with the pliers. Where they come in contact with the outside of the
circle should be about 1/2". DO NOT CUT INTO THE THREADS. Carefully, with
pliers and whatever you can use, remove the small wedge. The rest of the
plug will be easy to rotate by grasping it with pliers on one of the three
remaining vertical walls of the square cap. Take your time. Take care not
to damage the threads.

Steve

On Nov 29, 11:45 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
wrote in message

...

I cannot bust this cleanout cap free to save my life and I'm afraid
that I'm going to strip it with my adjustable wrench or pipe wrench.
Some are square but some are not - this one is not. I'm thinking it's
1 5/16" My biggest socket is 1 1/4 and its a no go.

I've done this on a spa repair. Cut off the top of the square cap. Cut two
radial cuts from the center out with a hack saw blade or a saber saw. Pick
a place where the plastic that is sticking up will give you something to
grasp with the pliers. Where they come in contact with the outside of the
circle should be about 1/2". DO NOT CUT INTO THE THREADS. Carefully, with
pliers and whatever you can use, remove the small wedge. The rest of the
plug will be easy to rotate by grasping it with pliers on one of the three
remaining vertical walls of the square cap. Take your time. Take care not
to damage the threads.

Steve

A couple of problems - it's not a square cap that's why I was asking
what socket size. Secondly, it's not plastic it's brass. Brass cap
on a cast iron line.

wrote in message
...
I cannot bust this cleanout cap free to save my life and I'm afraid
that I'm going to strip it with my adjustable wrench or pipe wrench.
Some are square but some are not - this one is not. I'm thinking it's
1 5/16" My biggest socket is 1 1/4 and its a no go.
I don't think anyone can tell you what size it is as there are no standards.
Just take a ruler and measure across the flats, keeping in mind that the
socket will have to be a little loose to fit over the hex. There are stamped
six sided sockets that are pretty inexpensive but you may have trouble
getting enough leverage. A big pipe wrench will grip the plug, also.

One trick to loosen those plugs is to hit it in the middle hard enough to
slightly dish it inwards. There is some risk of damaging the pipe or
loosening a joint so you have to use good judgement.

It is not hard to use a drill and saw to remove the plug, as other posters
have described.

Don Young

On Nov 30, 7:48 am, wrote:
On Nov 29, 11:45 pm, "SteveB" wrote:



wrote in message

...

I cannot bust this cleanout cap free to save my life and I'm afraid
that I'm going to strip it with my adjustable wrench or pipe wrench.
Some are square but some are not - this one is not. I'm thinking it's
1 5/16" My biggest socket is 1 1/4 and its a no go.

I've done this on a spa repair. Cut off the top of the square cap. Cut two
radial cuts from the center out with a hack saw blade or a saber saw. Pick
a place where the plastic that is sticking up will give you something to
grasp with the pliers. Where they come in contact with the outside of the
circle should be about 1/2". DO NOT CUT INTO THE THREADS. Carefully, with
pliers and whatever you can use, remove the small wedge. The rest of the
plug will be easy to rotate by grasping it with pliers on one of the three
remaining vertical walls of the square cap. Take your time. Take care not
to damage the threads.

Steve

A couple of problems - it's not a square cap that's why I was asking
what socket size. Secondly, it's not plastic it's brass. Brass cap
on a cast iron line.

Your only hope is to get a six point socket the right size and an
impact wrench. If you don't own them already, check a tool rental
place for air compressor and impact. It may break up the brass, but
that's not all bad. Failing that, you will have to drill and cut the
plug to the point where it can be removed. Or you can call a plumber
and watch while he deals with it. He may have some unique tricks, a
monster torch or whatever, but it will be interesting. It may even be
necessary to replace the whole threaded cast iron hub in the worst
case, but at least give it a try to save a few $$ HTH

Joe

On Nov 30, 9:25 pm, "Don Young" wrote:

One trick to loosen those plugs is to hit it in the middle hard enough to
slightly dish it inwards. There is some risk of damaging the pipe or
loosening a joint so you have to use good judgement.

Good judgment on something you've never done before is called good
luck.

R

In article , RicodJour wrote:

One trick to loosen those plugs is to hit it in the middle hard enough to
slightly dish it inwards. There is some risk of damaging the pipe or
loosening a joint so you have to use good judgement.

Good judgment on something you've never done before is called good
luck.

And bad judgment on something you've never done before is called
learning ;-)

So, I guess he might as well whack the thing. Best case, the
problem is solved and worst case he got some edewkayshun.


--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Microwave some water until it boils for a couple of minutes. Rush it out
and pour it on the cap. That works for me for a lot of sticky situations.

Steve

"Joe" wrote in message
...
On Nov 30, 7:48 am, wrote:
On Nov 29, 11:45 pm, "SteveB" wrote:



wrote in message

...

I cannot bust this cleanout cap free to save my life and I'm afraid
that I'm going to strip it with my adjustable wrench or pipe wrench.
Some are square but some are not - this one is not. I'm thinking
it's
1 5/16" My biggest socket is 1 1/4 and its a no go.

I've done this on a spa repair. Cut off the top of the square cap.
Cut two
radial cuts from the center out with a hack saw blade or a saber saw.
Pick
a place where the plastic that is sticking up will give you something
to
grasp with the pliers. Where they come in contact with the outside of
the
circle should be about 1/2". DO NOT CUT INTO THE THREADS. Carefully,
with
pliers and whatever you can use, remove the small wedge. The rest of
the
plug will be easy to rotate by grasping it with pliers on one of the
three
remaining vertical walls of the square cap. Take your time. Take care
not
to damage the threads.

Steve

A couple of problems - it's not a square cap that's why I was asking
what socket size. Secondly, it's not plastic it's brass. Brass cap
on a cast iron line.

Your only hope is to get a six point socket the right size and an
impact wrench. If you don't own them already, check a tool rental
place for air compressor and impact. It may break up the brass, but
that's not all bad. Failing that, you will have to drill and cut the
plug to the point where it can be removed. Or you can call a plumber
and watch while he deals with it. He may have some unique tricks, a
monster torch or whatever, but it will be interesting. It may even be
necessary to replace the whole threaded cast iron hub in the worst
case, but at least give it a try to save a few $$ HTH

Joe

Sorry I was so far off base. I'd try some hot hot water, then maybe a small
torch. Soak with penetrant cold, then try it. Heat it up a bit and pour
some penetrant on it and try that. After that, good luck.

Steve

On Nov 30, 10:57 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
Microwave some water until it boils for a couple of minutes. Rush it out
and pour it on the cap. That works for me for a lot of sticky situations.

Steve

All good ideas. As I mentioned, I think the hex plug is 1-5/16" an
odd size socket but they are out there. I couldn't find one locally
but I was able to order a deep impact one for about $12. I tried PB
Blaster, Liquid Wrench, put the Stilson wrench on it and smacked it
with a 8lb sledge - it just took a piece of the brass off.

In the end I was able to get my electric snake through the sanitary T
bend (where this cap was on the end of) but I had to work the hell out
of it - and it would have been nice to put a flashlight in and see a
few feet down the line.

When I get the socket I could use my impact wrench but I am think my
six foot breaker bar is the answer. I forget how powerful my impact
wrench is - I think it can only handle 240 ft/lbs. I think this is
more like 500!

I can't get stuck with thing half on otherwise we'll have the entire
contents off all the waste lines in the basement. I'll try my socket
with I get it and then give someone a call if that fails. I am not
dieing to get it off now that my snake job is over but I'd still like
to get it taken care of.

On Nov 30, 10:37 pm, wrote:

snip

When I get the socket I could use my impact wrench but I am think my
six foot breaker bar is the answer. I forget how powerful my impact
wrench is - I think it can only handle 240 ft/lbs. I think this is
more like 500!

snip

If your impact is such a wimp it's time to upgrade. The market has
many of the newer design double hammer impacts out there and the
original Ingersol-Rand 231 is still one dandy tool, and puts out 500
ft-lbs. Porter-Cable has an Asian knock off for around $110. There are
others on Harbor Freight just fine for the occasional user. It's the
same principle as the NFL uses hardly any 140 lb. linebackers. And
don't forget, Sears sockets and such are made by the same people that
make Matco, so you can order virtually anything you need online if it
isn't already in the store. .Good luck.

Joe

On Nov 30, 10:15 pm, (Malcolm Hoar) wrote:
In article , RicodJour wrote:



One trick to loosen those plugs is to hit it in the middle hard enough to
slightly dish it inwards. There is some risk of damaging the pipe or
loosening a joint so you have to use good judgement.

Good judgment on something you've never done before is called good
luck.

And bad judgment on something you've never done before is called
learning ;-)

So, I guess he might as well whack the thing. Best case, the
problem is solved and worst case he got some edewkayshun.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
|http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I finally busted that nut. I ordered a 1-5/16" socket and stuck it on
the end of my breaker bar. Whaled on it for a second and it broke
free.

wrote

I finally busted that nut. I ordered a 1-5/16" socket and stuck it on
the end of my breaker bar. Whaled on it for a second and it broke
free.

Ya got lucky. It could have been MUCH more complicated if it was truly
frozen and you had to go to plan B.

Steve