Hi,
I have fantastic existing access to my shower drain. It’s pictured below.
It’s modern, installed in the last ten years. Bunch of sweated copper. I’m wondering if it’s to code
in this somewhat exposed location to transition from this copper to ABS using a coupling, so that
I can go into an ABS diverter , backwater valve, and branched drain system? Where would you suggest
cutting into this? There isn’t much room to work with between the copper elbows and cleanout. I’m assuming
I need to have a backwater valve (?).
Best Regards,
Marshall
- Marshall Taylor asked 4 years ago
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Hi Marshall,
There are transition bands made to transition between materials (copper to ABS). You’ll need a band that goes from the size and material of one pipe, to the size and material of the other (for example, 2″ copper to 2″ ABS)
https://www.fernco.com/plumbing/shielded-couplings/proflex-couplings
If you’re seeking a permit, you’d want to talk to your regulator about what they will accept. I would propose adapting your plumbing to detour to the side, from the short section of copper in your image, to fit your diverter valve and backwater valve (which has to be installed in the horizontal position), before returning to the sewer drain. Hope that makes sense!
Best,
Laura
- Laura answered 4 years ago
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Hi Laura,
I love your book!
There’s not much horizontal distance (~8″) between the vertical copper drain pipe exiting beneath the siding and the vertical iron pipe going to the main sewer line. What I see doing is sweating off the copper 45 that’s right at the siding, transitioning to ABS there, putting in a tee (cleanout to the right) to go horizontal for the diverter (and maybe backwater) valves. The area I’d like to irrigate is to the left looking at the annotated picture. Would losing the vertical cleanout be a code violation?
Also, looking on the Jandy website, at their valve PDFs, I can find no engineering diagrams for their products, so I don’t know their dimensions. Do you happen to know where to find that?
Thanks,
Marshall
- Marshall Taylor answered 4 years ago
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Hi Marshall,
If you can sweat off the 45 you could use a transition band and drop right into the 3-way valve, which should make it easy to fit everything (I think!). On the sewer side of the valve, you could use go almost directly into the backwater valve installed horizontally, then drop into a combo, so you keep the clean-out on top, and reconnect to the sewer. I don’t believe there are any code requirements for the type of clean-out you need though, you just need them after making an aggregate of 135 degrees turn. Having them on top like you do I think is just often convenient. I’ll see if I can get Christina to pop on here and look at your set-up, she is a real plumber 🙂
I prefer Pentair over Jandy, but they are about the same size. (A little over 7 inches wide)
Good luck with your system!
- Laura answered 4 years ago
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