(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best faucet parts

Aight, fair warning though, some of this stuff is currently out of stock and I don't know when they'll be restocked and it's been a while since I ordered some of these parts, but I'm pretty sure they're all sitting in my gun at the moment.

​

Also, if you need help installing anything or have any questions, feel free to hit me up.

​

Let's preface this with some general stuff that you should have on you:

A set of O-rings won't hurt to have, even if you only need the smallest ones

Superglue also doesn't hurt to have, I had to use some

​

Starting from the Magazine:

Extended mags are always nice to have

Nine Ball high flow valves

\^ For these, you're gonna want to replace the O-ring on the moving piston of these with smaller ones from that box, then glue it in place. I had an issue where the standard sized one would shift on me when I fired, which really hampered the amount of gas released then kept the valve from closing all the way, leading to the magazine leaking out after one anemic shot. Replacing the O-ring and gluing it in place fixes that

​

Going to the actual gun:

Poseidon ICE Breaker Piston Head

\^ Installation's a bit funky, you're gonna want to take the screw from your factory piston head and use that with this piston head without the factory cup looking thing that comes with it

DP Enhanced Rocket Valve

\^ This one's pretty simple, just a drop-in piece

Action 150% Enhanced Hammer Spring

\^ I Think this is what I ordered, it looks pretty similar and if memory serves you should install it with the tapered end down

A+ 6.01 Precision Inner Barrel & Rubber Set

\^ Really just a simple drop-in, don't lose your gun's hop-up bead!

RA-Tech Steel threaded outer barrel

\^ This one is kind of weird, and will need three O-rings to get working to its greatest potential. When I first dropped this part in, my gun was literally chewing up BBs and spitting plastic chunks out. To remedy this, use two more O-rings from that box and put them around the inner barrel, this fixed the problem for me. The last O-ring is a real steel part and goes into the groove on the outside of the barrel and is there mainly to improve accuracy. Plus, the barrel doesn't come with a thread protector so you'll want to pick one up separately, the barrel uses 16mm CW threading

​

Bonuses; stuff that you could pick up and use, but I haven't for whatever reason:

Sights: I use the standard sights because pretty early on I poked out the little white plastic dots and replaced them with glow paint, as well as custom mounting a fiber optic holder for the front sight (PM me and I'll send you the STL) but you could give the tactical sights a try

USP Tactical Front Sight

USP Tactical Adjustable Rear Sights

USP Comp-Tac Front Sight

USP Comp-Tac Rear Sights

\^ The compact tactical sights look like they'll fit on the standard slide, but I don't know. Front sights are held in by friction and should be glued down, Read sights are held in by a hex screw that goes in through the BBU

​

Recoil Springs; I bought these, then realized that since I live in Massachusetts, it's too cold most of the year to actually use them to their greatest potential

Enhanced Recoil Springs

\^ Only the big one on the outside actually does anything, so you only need to worry about installing that one

Wish I could take mine out and measure it for you, but knowing my luck (and without having a spare myself), I'm almost certain I'd either break it or lose it. Maybe just email Jason at Prometheus (support@darksucks.com) and ask him what size he'd recommend for an aftermarket o-ring? Personally, I'd probably just buy a multi-size o-ring kit at Amazon (LINK) and hope for the best, lol (no idea if the OEM gasket is nitrile or silicon, or if it's SAE or metric.. probably under 0.8", though). Good luck!

Ok, so first thing you need to do is fix the flange. You need to buy a closet flange floor support kit. It is two metal plates that will help steady the flange. If the flange isn't supported and you put the toilet down if might not even be smashing the wax down enough or you might cause a problem in the piping.

If the flange is a compression style make sure it is level to the floor as best as you can. Then secure the floor flange support kit down. After you do that do a dry fit of the toilet with shims to level it out. Take a pencil and mark where the shims and toilet should be. Then put the jumbo wax on the flange and then set the toilet. The horns work well but you need to see how the sit in your flange. If the flange is too shallow and not sloped on the edges the horn can press up and cause issues. You don't need it, but they do help if you have a toilet that has a flange over the pipe.

Here is a link to what the support kit looks like.
https://www.amazon.com/Sioux-Chief-490-11322-Closet-Support/dp/B000K13TL6

Only about 90% certain this is the exact one I have in my 3-compartment (would also like in my pre-rinse machine sink), but a Chicago Faucet pre-rinse sprayer. It seems very water-conservative with a jet nozzle end that tapers to a slower end - not like a shower head. Think of a single wave of spray with the top end stronger than the bottom end. Very useful, IMO. Easy to clean, too.

I would keep away from tankless, given your location in the US north-east. The flow rate depends on the inlet temperature, so if you are trying to raise the temperature from 50F to 120F, your flow rate would be somewhere in the 5GPM range. If your inlet temperature is significantly lower, your flow rate with drop accordingly.
See: http://energy.gov/energysaver/sizing-new-water-heater

You can run your laundry room sink for a few minutes in the winter, and measure the temperature at the fixture. That will give you a rough idea.

The other issue is that some water heaters are actually set too low. 158F will kill Legionella bacteria almost instantly. 140F is a good compromise. You will of course need a tempering valve to bring the temperature back down to 120F at the fixtures. It may not be code in your area, but I prefer a tempering valve as opposed to an anti-scald valve. This is so you can adjust the temperature at the closest fixture to be 120F.
Typically the anti-scald valves reduces the temperature to no more than 120F at the water heater outlet. By the time this reaches the fixtures, the temperature might be down to 115F, which most people find too cool for showers.
The mixing valve I like is:
http://www.amazon.com/AM101-US-1-HONEYWELL-THERMOSTATIC-UNION-SWEAT-100-145F/dp/B002DGEOJC

You might be able to get away with a 40 gallon tank with the combination of a higher temp setting and a thermostatic mixing valve.

This seems to be the best compromise from a safety/cost point of view. Ideally you would have the water heater set to a minimum of 140F and then have anti-scald valves installed at each fixture, but for most consumers that is not practical due to the costs involved. (Sinks are easy, but showers and baths involve pulling out tile)

Hope this helps!

If you can verify that there's pressure behind those caps, i.e. that they're plumbed into the main system but sealed, then it will be very easy to finish. Any plumber could do it in 45 minutes max.

The drain too, just requires a fitting glued on to accept the chrome or plastic P-trap from the sink. That's even easier...like 10 minutes.

If you're wanting to get into this a little, go ahead and do this:

Buy a drain trap, and a suitable adapter for your drain pipe (probably 1.5" PVC, but possibly 2". Can't tell from the photo. Measure the outside, and tell the home labyrinth attendant, he'll get you the right one.). That'll get your drain attached, as long as there's one in the sink. If not, you need a sink drain to attach to as well.

Then get yourself this sink kit. This is what lets you connect your hot and cold supply lines to the faucet. No soldering required, just a clean end, push on, and you're done.

If you want to be sure this is hooked up right: turn off the water to the whole house and relieve pressure by turning on a faucet that runs. Make sure no other faucets run at all. Take a hacksaw and cut off the cap, staying as square as you can. Have a bucket ready, and have someone else SLOWLY turn on the water. If you get water out of both pipes, you're golden, and you're ready to proceed with the sink kit above. If not, slap a couple of these end caps back on the pipes and call a plumber...it needs more work.

"Fernco's", or unshielded rubber couplings, are ABSOLUTELY not acceptable for this application - they have no structure, so with a little bit of shifting, whatever cast iron there is above the plastic could come crashing down someday.

No-hub couplings are for joining no-hub cast iron pipe and fittings. They are not rated for use for joining dissimilar materials (i.e. plastic and metal). They do not meet the ASTM standard.

Mission or Pro-flex couplings are acceptable to use. They have a solid stainless band of acceptable gauge to use to have enough structural support for your purposes (going from cast iron to plastic).

Here is the one you'll need to go from 4" CI to 4" PVC-DWV.

However, if your cast iron is extra-heavy weight, and not standard service weight, you'll want this one.

How do you tell? Measure the diameter of a piece of 4" PVC, and then measure the diameter of the cast iron. If the cast iron is the same as the plastic, it's heavy weight. If it's smaller, it's lightweight.

I highly recommend just removing any cast iron above the new wye you're putting in. It's not great to have a ton of cast iron weight on top of a short vertical section of piping, for obvious reasons (although it IS allowable). It's just something that I personally think is not great, and I'll typically just put in a cast iron wye if I'm leaving the stack above it.

Also, if you're cutting into the stack to add a bathroom, do you know whether or not that stack has vents tying into it below? If it does, then it's against all codes and you really shouldn't make that your tie-in point for a bathroom. Also, if the toilet below the new proposed bathroom location goes straight to the stack and the stack acts as that toilet's primary vent, then it is also against code to add a bathroom above that point and for good reason - you'll siphon out the fixture traps in that bathroom and your house will smell like a sewer and you'll allow pathogens into your home potentially.

Also, to clear up a few things:

-Fernco is a brand that makes all manner of couplings. Buying a fernco rubber unshielded coupling is not advised for this. However, the products I linked are Fernco-made products, but are shielded couplings rated for the purpose. Fernco has a superior elastomeric compound that their "rubber" is made of, and it is resistant to all kinds of chemicals and much more durable than their competitors (primarily Mission Rubber, which is another popular and a little bit cheaper manufacturer of similar couplings). However, Mission Rubber hasn't really had any advances in its product offerings over the years.

What do you want to know?

I will give you 3 pointers if you buy this particular unit, though. I only bought this because it's the cheapest 4 stage you can get, and I know I don't need all the bells and whistles (in-line TDS, etc -except one that I will mention in part 2 below) that come with the ones that cost way more.

1. If you want to make serious quantities of water, and you don't have the patience of a saint, get THIS MEMBRANE and just keep the included 50gpd membrane as a spare. The dow filmtec membranes are the best you can get. They're the only ones that really produce anywhere close to their stated GPD rating. The 75GPD membrane is great too. Honestly it's just a more convenient, and longer lasting membrane either way. I've gone through a shitload of RO membranes. Whenever I need a replacement, the filmtec 75 is what I buy.
   
   
2. If you're installing it on a bathroom sink that has easily accessible male threading (after you remove the aerator), then get one of THESE. It's much easier to just divert the faucet water to your 1/4" tubing than having to detach and reattach the included plastic faucet adapter every time you want to make water. If you want to cut the faucet out of the picture altogether (my preferred method) then install a SADDLE VALVE straight to your 1/2" copper pipe (cold water pipe ONLY - never connect an RO/DI to hot water) and a SHUTOFF VALVE in-line between the pipe and your RO/DI's supply port. That's what I did today. Tapped into the copper pipe behind my bathroom sink; drilled a hole in the wall just above the sink and ran the tubing into the bathroom; installed shutoff valve there; drilled holes in undersink cabinet to accommodate supply, waste, and clean tubes; mounted the filter unit inside the undersink cabinet. Now I have a convenient on/off switch just above my bathroom sink. The tubing for waste and clean are coiled up between the cabinet and my tub. When I want to make water I just snake the waste line down my bathtub drain, pop my water sprayer in the tub and fill her up. No worries of spills/overflow. No hassle of connecting/disconnecting plastic fittings that are prone to thread strip.
   
   
3. Doesn't hurt to install a BACKFLUSH. This is the one 'bell and whistle' that I think is actually really useful. Especially if you have really hard water, It's good to flush heavy solids out of your membrane occasionally.

Good call! So something like this:?

EDIT: I can see there's lots of stem extension options online, I'm going to deep dive into this, looks like this shower stall faucet will work after all if I can rig up something.

EDIT 2: I am pretty sure I need 2 of these:

I can't justify the $70 on a $20 faucet. Can you buy these parts individually and save a ton?

https://www.amazon.com/Pfister-974-3750-Extension-Sleeve-Screw/dp/B005UNNFD6/ref=pd_sbs_60_5?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B005UNNFD6&pd_rd_r=2174c86d-b443-11e8-a8ea-092258445276&pd_rd_w=QbQ6D&pd_rd_wg=mWZsW&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=0bb14103-7f67-4c21-9b0b-31f42dc047e7&pf_rd_r=YXVGC355V7NNMT0PMP5Z&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=YXVGC355V7NNMT0PMP5Z#customerReviews

You can insulate pex just as easy as copper, just an FYI. But more to the point, it sounds like you're being energy conscious which I think is awesome.

What's the flow rate of your sinks faucets?

If you're remodeling maybe it's time to reduce the pipe size to a minimum for the flow rate and run separate home runs from each device to a manifold.

Take a read through this.

http://www.garykleinassociates.com/PDFs/15%20-%20Efficient%20Hot-Water%20Piping-JLC.pdf

Another alternative, if you're using really low flow faucets, might be able to put in faucet aerators with a switchable flow rate, such as this.

https://www.amazon.ca/Niagara-Conservation-N3610CH-Water-Saving-Standard/dp/B0096C2IVC/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538264957&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Niagara+faucet+aerators&dpPl=1&dpID=418PdF5l0XL&ref=plSrch

I wish they made one of these for the kitchen that would go down to 0.5gpm and up to say 5gpm for things like pot filling.

Thanks for all the helps guys. I ended up buying an adapter which fit a 1 inch pipe. It was the easiest thing to work with in my situation and worked out perfectly. It only works with screw on spouts.
Here's the link to the product: https://www.amazon.com/LASCO-08-1061-Bathtub-Adapter-Copper/dp/B00HYWE95O

Thanks. I fixed it today. I went to the local hardware shop, instead of Lowes, and I found one that fit.

http://www.amazon.com/LASCO-S-764-3-Posi-Temp-Cartridge/dp/B000FHBH1Y

It fit perfectly, and now no leaks.

Looking around online a bit more--this one is the exact same one I pulled out:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B483JQ4/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687602&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000FHBH1Y&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=07AFF96MDNF2485H425R

What I'm thinking is that the original shower was probable some off-brand in the first place, and that's why the Moen part didn't fit.

Use a push-tite closet flange. (make sure it's a 3" one)

1. Yes pour concrete on top, but get concrete that sticks to concrete. Sometimes new and old stuff doesn't bond.
   
   
2. Don't know why not, but double check. I don't want to lead you in the wrong direction.
   
   
3. I've used both without any problems. I wouldn't sweat using either one.
   
   Pro-tip- Pour the cement and install the flange right away while it's wet. You can just stick in the bolts and let the concrete dry around them for a great holding seal and you save time later by not needing to use a hammer drill to drill for the bolts later on.

This is the one we got: https://www.amazon.com/Grohflex-Cosmopolitan-Function-Thermostatic-Trimwith/dp/B006K8HUF4

I also had to buy this to install it: https://www.amazon.com/GROHE-35026000-Grohflex-Universal-Rough/dp/B006K8HXNI

There are probably less expensive ones but we're happy with this one. Note that some valves which cost less and look similar are "pressure balancing" valves. They're definitely an improvement but not as good as temperature regulating valves.

So, not cheap. But the 50-year-old shower valves in my bathroom were beyond repairing and I would have had to replace them anyway.

Thanks for the recommendations. Coleman's has 4 for $99 used which is pretty good.

Here are some links and reviews of No-Spill.

• Amazon 5 Gallon
  
• Amazon 2.5 Gallon
  
• Amazon 1.25 Gallon
  
• Home Depot 5 Gallon
  
• Home Depot 2.5 Gallon
  
• Home Depot 1.25 Gallon
  
  There are always some negative reviews, but like Is said I have the 1.25 and the can swells up in the heat as it truly is vapor leak proof for me. If I go with these I will get the flexible spout extension and the DOT approved cap.
  
  The cheapest I could find was around $27 shipped no tax.
  
  
  

This. Plus, you need to figure out what kind of hose bib to install. In cold areas, these are typically code:
http://www.amazon.com/Prier-P-164D14-Quarter-Turn-Anti-Siphon-Outdoor/dp/B00519RLQ6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459284896&sr=8-1&keywords=freeze+proof+hose+bib

They prevent the pipe/valve from bursting if you forget to turn off the water in the winter. However, if you leave the hose hooked up to it when it freezes, it will burst anyway. I typically use these:

http://www.amazon.com/American-Valve-M76QT-Quarter-4-Inch/dp/B0052EKFAE

I always shut off my water in the winter, so I'm not worried about forgetting and bursting a pipe. The nice thing about these is that they are full 3/4" ball valves and have amazing flow. And, they don't wear out and leak like a saddle valve eventually will. You just need to make sure you shut off your water in the winter, and leave this valve OPEN. If you leave it closed, the water trapped inside the ball will burst the sides of the valve.

Since you've got hot water nearby, it might be nice to have it on the deck. In which case, you could get something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Woodford-22CP-12-MH-Frostfree-Horizontal-Mount-Faucet/dp/B001R2CXLY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1459285207&sr=8-3&keywords=outside+hot+cold+faucet

Thanks for pointing me in this direction! Does something like this work the same as a fix-a-flange but just cover the entire flange?

Do I need to worry about the extra flange height with this approach? Or does the wax take care of that. Thanks!

Why don't you throw the water down the kitchen sink instead of the toilet? That might make it easier. You can also just install like a 1/2 inch drain on it? Or use a cheap 20$ fountain pump maybe?

As far as filling it, just get a diverter valve for the sink. So you can keep it next to the kitchen faucet, where you can fill it, and drain it. (That was the first picture i found when i googled i'm sure u could get a cheaper one...).

Yes, but out of both taps in the kitchen. For instance:

Only hot valve on: hot comes out of both hot and cold tap in kitchen

This valve is what's installed at this point: amazon.com/gp/product/B001AI1VMW

This trim and cartridge will be installed after the tile goes in: amazon.com/gp/product/B06XHR3Y4W


( just want to be sure the water mixing and coming from both taps is normal before I do the tile )

So I've been trying to find something similar to https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012BFNCJ2/ but that would accomidate my bottle washer & wort chiller so I wouldn't have to lose access my sink during washing & chilling. Does anyone know of a similar product or other option?

You also need to buy this too

Try a brass hose bib:

https://www.amazon.com/American-Valve-M76QT-Quarter-4-Inch/dp/B0052EKFAE