"How the heck to you remove a compression fitting?" Topic

My air conditioner pump died or got clogged up & started pouring water out onto my basement floor.

Looking at the pump, it seems like somthing I could replace myself… IF COULD REMOVE A STUPID COMPRESSION FITTING.

There's a copper pipe that runs into the pump that I'm guessing is what brings the water into the pump. & there's compression fitting that connects the pipe to the pump.

But try as I might, I can't get it unscrewed. Even with WD40. Of course, the pump could easily be 20+ or even 30+ years old, so the fitting could just be stuck on from age.

So, after that long story, to remove the fitting, should I be able to just unscrew one of the outer nuts while holding the inner nut?

Thanks,
Hot & Sweaty in California

a blow torch is your friend in this situation

Two wrenches should do the trick. A little heat might be a good thing.

Need to be careful you don't twist the tubing.

Show us a picture of the compression fitting?

Jovian1, here's a picture of the thing

a pair of stilosn wrenches and a blow torch . warning! parts get hot, do not handle imediatly, and ensure you have replacment washers and o rings just in case.
I was with a plumber who had to do somthing simaler, things were going ok till one of the parts slipped and hit floor, then it was a ( hot) pig to handle.

Stop by your hardware store and look into Sharkbite brand fittings. You can just cut out the entire coupling with a cheap cutter and then replace with a couple of slip on no tool Sharkbite pieces.

Heat the outer part of the coulper with the torch, not the middle section.

If that doesn't work, you can cut the copper pipe and buy a short section and replacement fittings at the local big box store.

Well, hopefully those suggestions should help. They should work. The Sharkbite stuff is new and fairly cool to work with and it is fairly easy. The blow torch and wrenches option will work, but unless you are somewhat cognizant of where the heat is going, you could cause other problems!

Cutting the fitting out and replacing the coupling is probably the simpler method, and it guarantees that you will be able to replace the pump AND put in a new pump where it will fit because you can essentially re-plumb it in wherever you need it to go.

Best of luck on the repair, but remember, it's plumbing, so keep your curse-word vocabulary handy because there is likely going to be something else wrong somewhere else which you haven't been able to see yet! It's just my experience with plumbing that when one thing fails, there is a cascading failure from that point in one direction or another! Again, good luck!

Thanks all for the help & info. While the Sharkbite fittings sound cool, I've already dug out the heating system installer & will be calling them this morning.

$340 USD later, it's allegedly fixed. Instead of trying to reconnect back to the copper pipe, the repairman cheated & connected soft plastic piping to the pump. He also changed changed it so it dumps out now right against my house in the back yard.

But the old copper pipe may have dumped the water against my house some place else & I just didn't know it. & I figure (hope) the amount of water coming out isn't any worse than when it rains, so I'm telling myself it won't be a problem.