Plumbing Terms - Glossary of Plumbers Terminology
ABS Pipe
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) Pipes are rigid plastic pipes with superior range of performance values used for drain, waste, and vent lines. ABS pipe and fittings were originally developed in the early 1950s for use in oil fields and the chemical industry. In 1959, John F. Long.
ABS pipes and fittings are highly lightweight, only half the weight of aluminum pipes and fittings and one-sixth the weight of steel pipes – reducing transportation, handling, and installation costs. ABS pipe and vent lines are extremly durable with high tensile and high impact strength.
Access Panel
In the plumbing business wit an access panel is a covered opening in a wall or ceiling near a fixture that allows access for servicing a plumbing or electric system. After finishing a wall in your home you might have covered some pipes or valves that you will need access to in the future. The most problematic would be a water shut off valve that should be accessible. This is why you need to install a plumbing access panel. Access Panels come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.
Adapter Fitting
In the plumbing industry an Adapter fitting is a fitting that joins two different types of pipe together, or joins threaded to non-threaded pipe ends, such as ABS to cast-iron, or threaded to non-threaded they come in Aluminium, (Stainless) Steel, Brass, Bronze & Nickel. Male adapter fittings are widely used to connect tubes and pipes to male pipes and tubes and are available in both inch as well as metric designs and specifications.
Air Admittance Valve
an Air admittance valve or AAV is a negative pressure-activated, one-way mechanical vent, used inside a plumbing system to eliminate the need for conventional pipe venting and/or roof penetrations.
A discharge of wastewater causes the Air Admittance Valves to open, releasing the vacuum and allowing air to enter plumbing vent pipe for proper drainage. Since Air Admittance Valve will only function under negative pressure situations they are unsuitable for all venting applications, such as venting a sump, where positive pressures are created when the sump fills.
Air Gap
An Air Gap in the plumbing trade is a device that is mounted to the back of a kitchen sink and connects the drain line between a dishwasher and disposer to allow the dishwasher to discharge freely into the disposer while preventing contaminated water from siphoning back into the dishwasher.
Angle Stop
An angle stop is the angled valve that is located between the fixture and the water pipes, and works as a shutoff valve. This valve is perpendicular to the pipe, positioned next to the fixture, and designed to be an emergency stop for the fixture's water supply.
Anti-Scald Valve
An Anti-Scald Valve is a shower mixing valve that automatically maintains balance between incoming hot and cold water supplies by immediately regulating fluctuations in pressure. As a result, temperature remains constant, though the outlet pressure may drop. Also called pressure-balanced valve.
Backflow Preventers
A Backflow Preventer does just as its name implies, they prevent backflow. Vacuum breakers and other backflow prevention systems are designed to stop gray/dirty water from potentially siphoning back into the water supply and contaminating the fresh water. A typical backflow assembly consists of shut-off valves and test cocks and must be tested each year.
Basin Wrench
A basin wrench is a wrench with a long handle with jaws mounted on a swivel that allows the jaws to reach and handle nuts to fasten faucets to a previously installed sink.
Bleed
In the plumbing trade bleeding means to drain a pipe, tube, or hose of excess air by opening a valve at the end or systematically removing the air by force or suction.To remove the air inside your central heating system that has gotten trapped you need to bleed your radiator. Air in a radiator will rise to the top forming a pocket of air and stopping the hot water from getting to it, when there is too much air inside your system it will prevent it from heating properly.
Blow bag
A blow bag is a device used for drain-cleaning, it is made of a rubber bladder with a hose fitting and a nozzle on the other end. The blow-bag needs to be attached to a water hose and inserted into a clogged drainpipe. When the water is turned on it will fill the blow bag and it expands gripping the pipe. The blowbag releases pulsating bursts of water through the nozzle forcing the water to clear the clog.
Ehow.com: How to Use a Blog Bag
Find Local Plumbers
