On Jan 26, 9:06*pm, Harold Lathom wrote:
I need to remove an old pipe and need ideas as to how to remove it.

The 50-year-old 2-inch diameter threaded galvanized pipe that
horizontally protrudes about a half inch from the cabinet under the
kitchen sink is leaking where it meets the 10-year-old plastic pipes that
drain the kitchen sinks and garbage disposal unit.

The threads are all screwed up so I want to replace the nipple.

I can only see the last 1/2 inch of that threaded nipple but it appears
to go through the 3/4" thick kitchen cabinet into the wall about two
inches (or so) and into a T fitting where the vertical up pipe goes to a
vent on the roof while the vertical down pipe goes to the crawlspace
drain pipes.

The problem is how best to remove the four-inch long (I assume) nipple
when only 1/2" of it sticks out of the cabinet attached to the wall.

One option, of course, is to rip out the cabinet, but, that's a LOT of
work to replace a two-dollar four-inch-ling two-inch-wide nipple!

Is there an easier way to get the 50-year-old nipple out?

Rock and a hard place. The normal techniques for breaking a big
nipple lose won't work too well when they're that far in the wall.
You don't have to remove the whole cabinet, you could cut an access
panel out of the back of the cabinet, open up the wall then remove the
nipple, and patch up the hole. Cut out the back of the cabinet neatly
and you can re-use the piece to patch it. It's in the back of the
cabinet under a sink so the aesthetics are not a big deal.

R

On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:20:02 -0800, RicodJour wrote:
Cut out the back of the cabinet neatly and you can
re-use the piece to patch it.

I thought about that but unless I cut a two-foot square section, how does
cutting around the nipple give me access for the pipe wrench?

It's hard to explain but I now have only 1/2 inch (or less) of threads
sticking horizontally out of the cabinet.

If I cut the cabinet 3/4" back, say, with a five-inch square - then the
only pipe wrench I can fit on the two-inch-diameter nipple is one that is
five inches long. That won't give me much leverage.

My pipe wrenches are about two feet long. So, I'd have to cut a two-foot
square hole in the cabinet around the pipe to give me the kind of access
you're suggesting. Right?

I do want your help so I hope I didn't misunderstand what you said.

To repeat, I had thought about cutting just a hole in the cabinet but
that hole needs to be as wide as my pipe wrench is long, right? For it do
to any good?

Or do I misunderstand the solution?

On Jan 26, 10:59*pm, Harold Lathom wrote:
On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:20:02 -0800, RicodJour wrote:
Cut out the back of the cabinet neatly and you can
re-use the piece to patch it.

I thought about that but unless I cut a two-foot square section, how does
cutting around the nipple give me access for the pipe wrench?

It's hard to explain but I now have only 1/2 inch (or less) of threads
sticking horizontally out of the cabinet.

If I cut the cabinet 3/4" back, say, with a five-inch square - then the
only pipe wrench I can fit on the two-inch-diameter nipple is one that is
five inches long. That won't give me much leverage.

My pipe wrenches are about two feet long. So, I'd have to cut a two-foot
square hole in the cabinet around the pipe to give me the kind of access
you're suggesting. Right?

I do want your help so I hope I didn't misunderstand what you said.

To repeat, I had thought about cutting just a hole in the cabinet but
that hole needs to be as wide as my pipe wrench is long, right? For it do
to any good?

Or do I misunderstand the solution?

You wouldn't be using a wrench to take it out, so the access hole is a
lot smaller. My subsequent post explained the approach. You cut a
few relief cuts on the inside of the nipple running the long way,
being vary careful not to cut into the fitting threads, and then use a
chisel to cave in the nipple towards the interior.

Other people brought up a fix using a Fernco type rubber coupling with
the hose clamps, but with 1/2" of pipe exposed it'd only be on the
threads. You could clean up the threads, use some epoxy or silicone
to fill them in, then use the hose clamp, but it's still a kludge
repair. With only 1/2" of thread exposed, it won't be the best
connection. It might leak, it might not.

R

On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:22:14 -0800, RicodJour wrote:
You wouldn't be using a wrench to take it out, so the access hole is a
lot smaller.

Ah. I didn't realize that. Thanks for the clarification!