What to use to remove dry well diverter pipe cap


  #1  
Old 06-16-15, 02:54 PM
J
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: USA
Posts: 345
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
What to use to remove dry well diverter pipe cap

Our house has a septic tank that drains into a diverter. One branch connects to a single dry well and the other branch connects to a series of 2 dry wells. I can't locate anything around my house/tools that will fit the large slot on this cap to turn it to remove it. What is usually used for these?

Name:  dry well diverter cap.jpg
Views: 2632
Size:  51.4 KB
 
  #2  
Old 06-16-15, 03:48 PM
P
Temporarily Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: NY
Posts: 10,265
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
It appears to be a large flat screw head but can we be sure that it's threaded? If we assume that it is, I would use an ice chopper & a small sledge hammer. Place the ice chopper, in a position that will spin the top counter clockwise when hit with the hammer.

If it doesn't turn the top, dig around it & try to pry it opened. Get ready for the odor.
 
  #3  
Old 06-16-15, 08:44 PM
J
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: USA
Posts: 345
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I neglected to mention in my post that I had the cap removed a couple of months ago for the first time since we moved in 3.5 years ago. That time I used the wide edge of a pry bar as a screwdriver, but in the process it started to chip away at the edges of the slot. Tried that again today but no success.

After seeing your post (thank you!) I found a few things to use in place of the ice chipper, since I don't have one of those. First I used a screwdriver - that worked, but after a few taps it started to chip into the side of the slot. Anyway, I'll spare you the rest of the details, except that with a piece of wood and a hammer I was able to hammer it out. No odor - thankfully!

Name:  dry well diverter with cap removed.jpg
Views: 2883
Size:  50.7 KB

Underneath the cap is a ~3' pipe with the diverter control at the bottom. Turning it alters the path of the septic drain. See picture below.

Name:  dry well diverter.jpg
Views: 731
Size:  22.2 KB

Any ideas where I would find a replacement cap? This one is starting to crumble in places. Is this something most plumbing stores would carry? Anything I can do to make it less difficult to remove the cap in the future? Add some type of grease to the threads maybe?
 
  #4  
Old 06-17-15, 04:13 AM
P
Temporarily Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: NY
Posts: 10,265
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: