If you’re a DIYer trying to solder some plumbing, you’ve probably found the most difficult part is getting the system drained. If you leave any water in there, it turns to steam and makes a pinhole in your joint, which you won’t find till the system’s pressurized. To prevent that frustration, Clean-Fit’s Water-Gate will seal off any pipe from 1/2″ to 4″ diameter.
The Water-Gate’s expanding rubber plug works on copper, steel, or PVC lines and can hold pressures up to 65 PSI. Rated for temperatures from -20F to 250F, it’s suitable for refrigeration and boiler applications.
You could also go the low-tech route and stuff a piece of bread in the pipe to block it off — this old standby usually does the trick, but can clog faucet aerators if it’s not removed. I found this out the hard way. Street pricing on the Water-Gate is around $37.
Water-Gate [Clean-Fit]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
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9 Responses to A Non-Political Water-Gate
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Looks just like the “Jet Swet” you reviewed previously.
When we can’t use freeze-plugs we use a Wassi-Stopper:
http://www.plumbingworld.com/wassi_water_stopper.html
Just a note: the $37 is per tool, not for the set of tools. A Water-Gate for 1/2″ pipe is $37. One for 3/4″ pipe is $40. And so on, upwards in pipe sizes and prices. It’s also worth noting that you’ve got to have a straight shot at the pipe on the other side of the valve (or whatever fixture) you’re changing for about a foot or so, which may not actually be all that common a situation. So it may not be entirely clear that the tool is worth the money.
I’ve used bread as a way to stop a trickle of water coming down the water main into my house. Just wad up the slices of bread, stuff it into the pipe, solder the last fitting into place, turn water back on and let a couple of sinks run for a few minutes to flush out the mushy bread.
bah i prefer a sharkbite over soldering. Or course i dont hace alot of pipes to work on.
Rob Retter Says:
October 21st, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Just a note: the $37 is per tool, not for the set of tools. A Water-Gate for 1/2″ pipe is $37. One for 3/4″ pipe is $40. And so on, upwards in pipe sizes and prices. It’s also worth noting that you’ve got to have a straight shot at the pipe on the other side of the valve (or whatever fixture) you’re changing for about a foot or so, which may not actually be all that common a situation. So it may not be entirely clear that the tool is worth the money.
True, and for the price, yu can buy and imperial crap ton of bread…..
like hundreds of those cheapy loaves………
A little help for the dense, please.
While I understand how to deal with the bread-dam (just leave it in during the soldering, and flush it out after), how would you use the water-gate? It seems to me that if you block a pipe with it, then solder on more stuff, you won’t be able to get it out. Is the only use for it to solder on a full diameter valve? A lot of times I just want to splice in straight pipe (like for repairing an ice-rupture).
Regarding some of the prior notes:
The Wassi stoppers that we use have a flexible cable – so it can work around moderate elbows etc.
The idea is that once you have a valve soldered in place – then you can stop off the residual water with the valve and then continue sweating the rest of the connections downstream of the valve.
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