I have an 2" ABS waste pipe coming out of a trap up through a metal drain for a 35 year old fiber glass shower in an upstairs toilet located over a family room below. It had a wedglock rubber gasket filling the gap between the drain and the ABS. It now leaks and I need to be repaired. I would like to use oakum and lead for the fix. Anyone see any problems with this or have you encountered the same application and used Lead and Oakum. I already am having to repair drywall from a leak so I want to do this one time and be done with it. It has been more than 40 years since I did any of this type of work. Any suggestions would be helpful. TIA for your advice.

the rubber donut is the easy way out but if i remember correctly you said you could not get it to work.
so, if you can pack and pour a lead joint then go for it. if you need to borrow a packing iron or a caulking iron just jump in the car and drive across the country. i have a bunch of them. :>

Will the ABS withstand the temperatures? Another method would be to attach a female adapter to a 2" X 3" galvanized nipple and caulk that into the drain body. Then reattach to the trap underneath. My caulking tools are available also as I average only one caulk joint per year.

the ABS will NOT tolerate molten lead

you will need to pour and caulk to a galvanized nipple

or

LABORIOUSLY caulk with lead wool hoping not to damage/collapse the ABS

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

I know some do it, but my opinion is that the hot lead will soften the ABS and prevent a good seal when you caulk it tight.

the seal is the Oakum

the lead is to hold the Oakum in place via the groove in the CI bell


lead @ 621+ degrees WILL damage the ABS

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

the molten lead doesn't damage PVC. is ABS unable to stand the heat? the joint does not get caulked until it has cooled down to room temperature.
i look online and i see ABS soil pipe hub adapters but they all use a rubber donut rather than lead.

I still have 15 lbs of lead, a ladle, packing iron and inside and outside caulking irons but I was at Fergusen's early today and saw an Epoxy that was distributed by Hercules. I called the Tech support engineers and they told me that it would stick to ABS as will as Metal. I think I am going to try that if my silicone doesn't hold up. I am going to plug the drain and put a couple of inches of water in the shower to make certain that it holds then after about a month, I will replace the drywall ceiling that was damaged. Thanks for all of your suggestions. I appreciate you guys being there.



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maybe rough up the ABS with a file to give the epoxy a better surface to grab onto..
personally i'd play around with a piece of ABS and some hot lead on the work bench. pvc will hold up just fine, i have done it many times. maybe stuff something in the abs riser and fill it with water before pouring?
remember plastic expands and contracts while the epoxy will not. i'd be afraid.
good luck...

The epoxy MAY work. You really need to check the formulation and specific application the epoxy is designed for.

I had to do a structural rafter repair several years ago and due to accessibility issues I wasn't able to replace the termite damaged member, but I looked at using a liquid epoxy poured into the wood to fill the voids, then reinforce with plywood on both sides.

What I found was that there are many variations of epoxy being sold on the market, some for concrete, some for wood, some for metal etc...and you have to pick the right epoxy. The one I used for specific formulated for wood, and it has similar properties like wood. It was expensive too like $60 a quart or something and before I used it I tested it on some scrap pieces to make sure, that if I put some stresses on the piece of mended scrap the epoxy will bend/twist the same way wood will, as wood is going to move, expand & contract. I spoke to the tech of the manufacturer and he told me the various types of epoxy sold for different materials were all formulated specifically for that material. Otherwise it's like pouring concrete cement to mend wood.

You might want to call the epoxy's manufacturer and just make sure it will handle adhesion amd watertightness between unlike materials, because once the epoxy is in it's not coming back out so you don't really have a chance for a do-over.



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AND, how many lead joints have you had to "seal" by recaulking the lead?

One time at a plumbing supply store a guy there told me there is this thing called "cold lead", once you pack in the oakum, you pack this cold lead in and it deforms and caulk the joint as good as hot lead would. Is this true?

sum, it would depend on the application. when hot lead is poured into a cast iron hub, it melts the 'tar' that the manufacturers coat the pipe with. this helps with the seal.

if the oakum is packed in really well and one inch of space left for the lead and the lead is caulked inside and outside I think it will not leak. especially once water hits the oakum and it swells.
when we did new home construction with XH soil pipe, we always filled the system the night before inspection and ignored the leaking joints. in the morning the leaks had stopped and all we did was top the system with more water.

in principle:

the caulked/packed Oakum (swells and) makes the seal

the poured/packed lead makes a mechanical seal with the groove in the bell and is designed merely to hold the Oakum in place

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

The cold caulking you are talking about uses lead wool. The calking process is the same except the lead is not molten, it is just packed into the joint.

and is more time consuming as it 'compacts' seemingly forever

however, for ONE joint it is practical

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638