[altitudeandy]

I know what Fernco's AKA " Rubber Couplings" and no Hub coupling's are... But are these accepted as " Code in Many States. A plumber once told me No they are not. The only correct way is to solder a male threaded coupling to the cast iron and then thread that to the PVC female coupling.

Your reply is appreciated. Thanks

[massplumber2008]

Hi AA...

Here's a basic breakdown of how it works in most states...

The rubber type fernco clamps are primarily used for repair work. These clamps are NOT accepted by code for anything that will be inspected. These are primarily designed to be used underground as repair clamps only!

No-hub clamps are to be used to join no-hub cast iron piping. They are also used to join same size pipes such as PVC to galvanized metal, but they are also not acceptable in terms of code for repair work.

To join dissimilar pipes most states will allow you to use SHIELDED CLAMPS (see images... also called mission or proflex shielded clamps). These are used to transition between two different pipe types such as copper to PVC but you can use only one to change over from the copper to PVC, for example, and then must continue with PVC to the result. These transition clamps are accepted by plumbing codes in every state that I know of.

Finally, in my opinion, if you have the skills you are always best to make transitions between dissimilar pipes using male and female threaded adapters. In your example, however, you would use an copper FEMALE adapter and a PVC male adapter... female fitting is always the stronger material... ;) This method of transition will always pass code!

Hope that all made sense...

MARK