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Transmission Fluid Keeps Plastic Pipe In Good Shape
“The rust inhibitor chemicals in my outdoor wood burning stove were too harsh and caused a plastic pipe that delivers water underground to my house to become brittle and disintegrate. I switched to automatic transmission fluid and that solved the problem,” says Gary Schmitt, Croghan, N.Y.
  Schmitt adds the transmission fluid to the water jacket in his 8-year-old wood stove.
  “The heated water runs through 1-in. dia. plastic pipe that runs 90 ft. from the stove to our house and back,” says Schmitt. “About 4 years ago I started to notice we weren’t getting enough heat in the house, so I went out to the stove and found the exposed pipe where it comes out of the stove was very brittle. In fact, when I pinched it between my finger and thumb it crumbled away like a cracker.
  “I thought maybe the pipe wouldn’t be as brittle underground so I dug up about 6 ft. but found the same problem there, too. I ended up draining all the water and replacing the entire 90 ft. of pipe. I knew that transmission fluid is a good lubricant and I happened to have 7 quarts on hand, so when I refilled the water jacket I added the transmission oil in. I haven’t had any problems since.
  “The replacement pipe I installed is made with a layer of aluminum sandwiched between 2 layers of plastic and is guaranteed for 30 years. I bought it from my local plumbing dealer.”
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gary Schmitt, 11286 State Route 812, Croghan, N.Y. 13327 (ph 315 767-6070; vgschmitt@gmail.com).



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2015 - Volume #39, Issue #3