Don't cut it out. It's only going to be connected 1 of 2 ways, either threaded or soldered. If it's threaded that can sometimes be a bigger problem to get loose than soldered or sweated fittings.
If the pipes are copper, it will most likely be soldered together. You'll have to turn off the water to that point, open up a tap somewhere to let the pressure off and then heat the sides with a torch. It's probably best to go back and forth across the shut off, or waste gate, to heat both sides together. Much easier since it's coming apart. Just heat until you can grab the stem with a wet rag or glove or even a small pipe wrench and make it twist. I say small pipe wrench so you don't put a ton of torque on it to break it loose. You can twist the copper pipes easier than the shut off and then you have a whole new problem. Once the shut off breaks loose, it gets tricky. You have to get it moving and work it loose from the pipe. Once one end comes out, just keep going back and forth to take it off the other pipe. I'd say just reverse that to install the new one but there's a bit more to it than twisting and heating. See past articles on how to solder copper pipes. If the shut off is threaded, you will need to find a connection in the line, away from the shut off itself. It will probably look like a large nut on the pipe you can't explain... Break that connection loose first then you'll be able to back the shut off apart from the other pipe leading to the water heater. Just take your time and plan on a bit of a mess before you start. That way there won't be that oh crap feeling when water starts running everywhere. ----- Original Message ----- From: Scott Howell To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 5:54 AM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Bathroom Shut-off valves Hey I got a question and it may seem to be a silly question, but well I'm going to ask. I have a couple of gate valves in the house that have gotten so they no longer function. I might be able to get them working, but it is not worth it since they are quite old and likely will just leak when shut off. So, I am thinking about replacing them and the question is they are in the middle of a pipe. An example is the shut off for the waterheater. Cutting it off would not be a problem, but just for the discussion, lets say the body of the valve is 2 inches long. So, you cut this out and now you have a two inch gap and you will replace the old valve with a new one. If this new valve body was two inches long, you would be a little pressed for having room to reconnect either side of the pipes to the valve. Now I hope that isn't confusing and that might seem like a silly question, but how do you make the two halves meet? tnx [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
