I have a torque wrench that I use on standard clamps and will release at 60#-in and it looks like this:



This weekend I redid some underground pipes and decided to use the Fernco shielded heavy duty no hub coupling HD-44. It has 4 clamps and is longer than the Proflex.



Here is where I used it to connect to the existing CI on the outside:



and on the inside:



However, these couplings use a 3/8" hex head so I could not use my torque wrench (which is for 5/16). Is there a way to use my torque wrench to tighten these bigger heads to 60#? I have a regular wrench but I can tighten them but I don't know if I am over or under tightening.



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what i do is tighten any old no hub coupling to 60 inch pounds with the torque wrench. then i put the appropriate size nut driver tip into my battery drill. then by trial and error i set the torque rating on the battery drill to click off at 60 inch pounds by alternating between the wrench and the drill. a couple of loosenings and tightenings will get the battery drill to the right setting.

i've done a few bigger jobs that way, tested with water and had no leaks.

sum.....you're over-complicating this one.Tighten them, good and snug, then run some water thru them and test for leaks. If you torqued them to 60 and they still leaked when tested, wouldn't you tighten them some more?

Sum, I hate to tell you this but the regular No-Hub couplings, and the torque wrench, are 5/16" hex, so your torque wrench should have worked. I suppose somewhere there is a "no-hub" style band with something other than a 5/16" hex nut, but I have NEVER seen one. Also, you did not have to use a combo at the cleanout riser, a sanitary tee would have been perfectly adequate.



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yes hj, but he wanted the c/o to be lower than what the sanitary tee would allow.

sum, go with packy's suggestion about setting the torque on a battery operated drill, it works fairly well.

paul, the bands use 60in. lbs of torque to make sure they are tightened to the optimum possible setting for no leaks and to hold the pipes together the best. the only time i have ever had a leak when using a torque wrench is when the pipe had a rough spot or the rubber had somehow gotten messed up

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PLUMBERS "Protecting The Health Of The Nation"

hj my torque wrench is 5/16" and works for coupling clamps from PROFLEX and the other thick rubber ones. But this new couplings I got is also from Fernco:

[www.fernco.com]

The one I have are the heavy duty one HD-33 and HD-44. The heads do not match and I end up tightening them using another wrench with a 3/8". I looked at the specs on the Fernco web site and their specifications said 5/16" size so I am now confused. I hope I did not get a "Chinese knock off".

As for the PVC fitting part, yes I was debating between a san tee or a combo but I end up using a combo because I want the top of the 4" CO to be as low as possible. I was originally planning on leveling it off with a 45 but that raised it too high. Well at least now everything is back together, I fixed the split pipe, lowered the CO, added a test tee for access upstream, added the 3x3x2 combo on the inside, and have a 4" CO for a 4" line. My back hurts.

somebody does make no-hub couplings that require a larger socket wrench.
might be anaco?

Sum-Seekonk makes a 3/8 T-torquer. Do a search and you will find it. The couplings I have seen with the 3/8 head are called MAX or some such silliness and you are supposed to torque them to 80 in lbs

I just called the plumbing store and asked them if what I bought was Fernco brand and they told me no even though it looks exactly like Fernco. What I bought was "PROFLO".

[www.proflo.com]

Quote

* Green
* Includes 4 or 6 clamps per coupling
* 3/8" Hex-head screw
* Designed for installation torque of 80 in.-lbs.
* Used to connect no-hub cast iron pipe
* Application : Commercial
* End Connection 1 : No Hub

So I need to torque them to 80#. I already put all the sand back into the trench...

Anaco makes a 4 band heavy duty coupling that requires 3/8" torque wrench. They are common in the Boston area, because it is a code approved coupling for underground use.

Sum.why is there a combo on it's back in the last picture???your proflex coupling's will be fine.

to catch 2 sinks

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PLUMBERS "Protecting The Health Of The Nation"

we use the husky heavy duty bands ,commerical jobs.they have the 3/8 head they torque out to 80 # have a wrench with green handle, cant think of name it ,but could go to van and look,too lazy right now.

Lemon it is supposed to drain the flow from two lavs, one outside the bath and one inside the bath.



I originally had the drain of that goes nine feet along the wall to meet up with the toilet and shower on the other side of this 12' long bath room, but that makes it real difficult to build out the wall with a 2" pipe going all the way across the wall. So I decided for the shower and toilet be their own bath group and the lavs to drain directly into this line which happens to be passing through. Those lines do merge back together on the outside pass the wall.



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80 inch-pounds is something like 6.666 foot-pounds. You could use a regular car torque wrench if it comes up again.

But please - don't dig it up just to do that. I use a torque wrench, but I've seen plumbers that don't. No-hub couplings are very forgiving.

put a cleanout in that lav drain, sum..
you just flunked inspection.

if he uses a fixture fitting he wont need to

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PLUMBERS "Protecting The Health Of The Nation"

mass code requires a cleanout at the base of EVERY stack.
we are not allowed to use a slip fitting at the outlet of the trap so access to a drain by removing a trap is not an option in mass.
we must have a way to get a wire down to that 2" underground pipe.

To lower the cleanout to the shortest point, I would have glued a piece of pipe into the hub flush with its top and then glued the TopKap cleanout into it. That would make it about 2" lower than using the street cleanout adapter.

What would you want him to use there?

He did, but a cleanout is still a better option, and I would have installed one.

Ideally, you should seldom have to disconnect a fixture to clean the drain, whether the fixture is a toilet, lavatory, tub, or kitchen sink.

What I was planning on doing was this. The fitting needs to stay on the left side because on the right side is a large recessed medicine cabinet above and the vent pipe cannot shoot up from there.

I wanted to replace the sanitary cross with a double fixture fitting if I can find a 2x2x1.5x1.5 anywhere.

Then on top of that fitting I could put in a 2" CO. I am trying to decide whether I put it facing out or facing in. If I have it face in I am not sure it will not be obstructed by the small 32" cabinet that would go in there. If I face out, the concrete wall is already hollowed out I can open a small hole and have a CO on the outside so if I need to snake it I don't even need to do it inside the house making any sort of mess. Of course I will see a SS CO cover on the outside wall.

hj I googled "TOPKAP" cleanout and could not find a fitting by that name. Is that a technical name or a common name?

It is a brand name. It slides INTO a piece of pipe and is glued to it. THis makes a cleanout FLUSH with the end of the pipe. It comes with its own threaded plug.