DIY Network

I am replacing an old leaking value on my cast iron radiator. I disconnected the valve and the nipple piece from the rad and got replacement parts from the plumbing supply store. I have re-attached the valve to the vertical section of pipe coming from the floor, but I am not sure how to attach the nipple piece which is about 1/2 inch longer than the old nipple piece. Since there isn't any "play' in the verical assembly how do I line up the nipple with the rad and the valve to be able to. Obviously the rad is unmoveable unless I disconnect the nipple from the drain portion of the rad.

i am not sure what your asking . i think you are trying to hook up a nipple in the middle of the pipe. to do this, you can either use a union, or if you dont have the room
go to a plumbing supply abd ask for a right/left
nipple and coupling. the length of the nipple , you will have to measure and tell them

I hope you still have the old nipple and the other old fittings. You will have to put the new parts together so that the end to end measurements match. If lthe new nipple is a half inch longer than the old one and the half inch has to go, I'd look at running the pipe threads onto the nipple an extra 1/2" and then cutting the extra half inch off the nipple. The part of the pipe threads that do the work of sealing the joint is the tapered part. The extra threaded end sticking out is straight thread and can be cut off.

even with the exact dimensions of the nipple it is tight squeeze to get the nipple set between the rad and the valve to start tightening it. With no wiggle room with the vertical pipe, I am not sure how they put this on in the first place, unless they attached both pipes (coming into the rad and exiting the rad) at the same time, i.e. they slid the rad into positon and tightened both pipes at the same time.

installtng a nipple in the middle of a train can be a witch.. but can be done. are you using a union? then put all to gather then put in
union last, then twist the last 90 or fitting in the loose direction [right] tighten the union then twist it back.
buckle it in. plumbing 101, 1st year apprentice school
jdn your answer makes no sence to me at all.
if your going thru the trouble to cut longer threads on a nipple why don't you just cut the right size nipple. and you can not cut the
starting threads off of a nipple, the nipple will not start. it will just cross thread.
also the code says that you cannot moddifey
nipples or fittings
the end of a nipple is tapered or "chamfored"
that was not put on the niple, because the
company had nothing else to do. it serves a purpose. thats to allow the nipple to start and to help it seat
if a nipple is to long, go buy a shorter nipple
they come in 1/2 inch increments
1/2 by allthread
1/2 x shoulder
1/2 x 1 1/2 inch
1/2 x 2 inch and so on

This message has been edited. Last edited by: frodo,