Sprinkler Tee fitting stripped

Posted by Daniel Prince on October 5, 2009, 10:58 pm

My brother just discovered that one of the Tee fittings on our lawn
sprinkler system is stripped. He says that the new nipple screws in
part way and then just stops. The Tee has glue connections on two
sides with a threaded female fitting on the top where a nipple for a
sprinkler head screws in.

The Tee is about nine inches deep. On one side there is another PVC
pipe less than half an inch away. On the other side, the sidewalk
is about four inches away.

Is there an easy way to repair this Tee without digging up and
replacing the Tee fitting? Replacing the Tee would be difficult
because of the pipe on one side and the sidewalk on the other.

Thank you in advance for all replies.
--
Whenever I hear or think of the song "Great green gobs of greasy
grimey gopher guts" I imagine my cat saying; "That sounds REALLY,
REALLY good. I'll have some of that!"

Posted by Winston on October 6, 2009, 12:11 am

Daniel Prince wrote:

> My brother just discovered that one of the Tee fittings on our lawn
> sprinkler system is stripped. He says that the new nipple screws in
> part way and then just stops.

(...)

Perhaps you can clean up the threads using a pipe tap on an extension:
http://www.plumbingstore.com/pipetaps.html
http://www.waltontools.com/products/styleb.htm

Add tap handle and Bob's your uncle.

--Winston

--

I'm still waiting for another sublime, transcendent flash of adequacy.

Posted by on October 6, 2009, 8:00 am

> Daniel Prince wrote:

> > My brother just discovered that one of the Tee fittings on our lawn
> > sprinkler system is stripped. =A0He says that the new nipple screws in
> > part way and then just stops. =A0

> (...)
> Perhaps you can clean up the threads using a pipe tap on an extension:htt=

p://www.plumbingstore.com/pipetaps.htmlhttp://www.waltontools.com/products/=
styleb.htm

> Add tap handle and Bob's your uncle.
> --Winston
> --
> I'm still waiting for another sublime, transcendent flash of adequacy.

Trying to restore the threads may be worth a shot, but I've never done
it on plastic so don't know if it works. The good news is that it
doesn't have to be perfectly leak proof. Even if a few drops of
water escape it's just a sprinkler head location.

Two other solutions:

1 - If you have enough headroom that you can loose a few inches, get a
plastic male adapter that you can screw in to the existing bad T.
Use PVC glue on the threads going into the stripped one. As long as
it goes in part way, the glue should hold and seal it. Then you can
add another female adaptor to give you the sprinkler connection you
need.

2 - If you can just relocate the sprinkler head a few inches, then do
this. Get a plug that fits the stripped fitting. Use PVC solvent/
glue to permanently seal that fitting. Then get a "snap T fitting"
and attach it next to the failed T. A snap T is a nifty widget made
for old work, where you can't cut and move the existing pipe to put a
regular T in. It's like a regular T, but has only two thirds the
long side. so that it can snap over the pipe that is in place. After
it;s glued, you drill out the opening. They come in unthreaded and
also where the center part of the T has female threads, which is the
one you want. Here in NJ, Lowes has them, HD does not. You can
also find them online.

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