Cast Iron Soil Pipe Access Plate

Is that the san(m)e cast of the bath tube from a while back?

Sorry cant help with the material selection.

But

How about duck tape?

" d) Why did the weather go cold and wet as soon as I started work dissmantling the central heating?"

It's simple, really.

Been there done that. I've cut into it at head height and above that it's plastic.
The bottom of the boiler is only about a foot above floor level and I can't cut low enough to join because of the weird shaped boss with the access plate which is only just above floor level. Pic below shows a similar type plate.

But thanks for a serious response at last.
Del

Cut a hole in the plate with a hole saw thread the hole, and install an adapter....

That's what I intended to do, when the heads sheared as It's easier to drill and tap on the bench rather than in situ especially as the plate is shaped to conform with the inner bore of the pipe, mind I could replace it with a flat plate.
Gotta answer Qs a) to d) first.
Del

You can perform this task in place, just glue the adapter in place....Make sure your hole saw has a guide bit....I would add a threaded coupling for disconnect....

Did I say coupling, well I meant union, anyway I'm sure something will work out...cheers

I've got an adaptor coming tomorrow which might do the job. I'm working on the flue at the moment... and yes it's raining and cold still.
February was warmer and drier than this
Del

I sympathize with you, it seems the older I get, the stiffer I get, and the cold and rainy weather just makes it worse... Fortunately, you can bask in the warm friendships you have acquired here, and elsewhere, to help ease the pain....

Cheers, some good points.
If I bear them in mind I could re-furbish the inspection plate as it's NFG unuseable at the moment .
As it's just the condensate line I'll be plumbing in I could make it dissconnectable, that way I'd have a useable inspection plate and the condensate couls go into a bucket during any necessary work.
I like the idea of going in on the plate as the fitting won't then protrude into the main bore of the pipe with the associated risk of causing the predicted blockage.
I'm still thinking round the whole the thing... plenty to get on with in the mean time.
I've got the new boiler in, and I've just about re-done the pipe work to give me two zones separating upstairs from down. New pipework will take the heating to the far end of the house where it was previoulsy starved of flow.
I've added a gatevalve so I can choke down the upstairs flow to give an overall coarse balance.
My garage will have so much pipwork it will look like a submarine... Arrooogah Arooogah... DIVE DIVE
Del

I agree with Just An Engineer, leave the clean-out as a clean-out and use either a threadolet or a pipe saddle for the boiler drain.

It simplifies future blockage issues.

Elroy

Hi Elroy,

Could you tell us where i can buy the saddle as shown

It looks like you have found a solution. But if you have to get into drill out and re-tap, I have a gadget that helps do that; I've had to use it only once, and it helped even though I had the most difficult breakage--bolt broken flush with the casting. If the break is above or below the surface, it is easier to use.

Website www.quikcenter.com.

Thanks for the input guys.
I managed to find a fitting at a local plumbing store and got ot fitted last night. Drilling that cast iron was real squirrel pig, The daft thing was, I found the cheapo drill bits cut better than the expensive ones. I had to push hard to get 'em to bite but if I pushed too hard they'd snap. I did a fair bit of re sharpening too and found the cutting angle needed to be quite steep. Got there in the end. As I had to drill an odd shaped hole (round but with a flat top and bottom) I went round the outline with a 4mm drill. Must've broke about 10 of the suckers.
Pic shows the fitting and the hole almost propared. I would have used a KrisDel^TM stick on to save time , but they only come in 'round'.
Del

Well done though replacing the brass with brass studs will avoid galvanic corrosion from an SS combo. The brass may also be there in a case where one might intentionally break the brass fasteners when removing the access plate.

Del, there is another cautionary note for you.

You state this is the soil pipe. As such it will be connected to sewer and probably also to the property "stink pipe". This means that odours from that environment could be directed into your basement.

(I won't get alarmist about flamable concentrations of Methane, of noxious concentrations of Sulfur Dioxide.)

You need to include a "water trap" in your pipe. This could be done with a "U" shape or a single (vertical) loop in the pipe. From your pics it seems that you are using a large enough diameter pipe that it would not syphon. You need enough diameter that water dripping into one end can flow through and dribble away at the other. Both ends are open to atmospheric pressure.

In the months when you are not using your heater you might need to add a little water to make up for evaporation, otherwise you'll get stinky summers too.

I'd hate for Mrs cat to get unhappy with what's happening downstairs. (And if you did get odour from the pipes, it could take months to dissipate.)

I'm sure you're smart enough to take it from here.

Thanks.
There is a water trap in the boiler, I've added another, and a limestone neatraliser for the condensate.
The main thing is... we don't have a basement!
If you have a spare one, you could PM it to me and I could slide it under the front door, it would come in handy for some of our junk.
I got the heating up and running yesterday, took all day to get the air out odf it and sort out some minor probs.
Del