During the Soviet era, cast iron was very often used in households. Remember the heavy cast-iron baths, weighing 100-150 kg. Cast iron cisterns filled with water under the ceiling and hanging menacingly over the toilets. And finally, cast-iron sewer pipes are ubiquitous in every apartment.
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To understand what cast iron was used for, I previously wrote about each element of the interior of a Soviet apartment, here are the links - About pipes, about the tank, about the bath. But first read the article, and then come back to find out interesting things about cast iron in Soviet apartments.
We all remember very well the cast-iron sewer pipes, some still have them. No wonder, the service life of these products is quite long. But new trends came in the form of plastic pipelines and cast iron "sunk into oblivion"
Recently in the comments I was asked how these pipes are connected? And now the time has come, I report, I explain in detail:
Why are cast iron pipes connected with sockets?
In the USSR, cast iron joints were widely used by the method of pipe joining, it is such an extension of one end of the pipe, into which the same pipe is inserted, but not expanded. I hope clearly explained)
The question arises, why not just weld these pipes with electric arc welding like steel pipes? The fact is that cast iron is very difficult to weld due to its composition and it quickly bursts when overheated.
Therefore, sockets were used; naturally, such a connection requires additional sealing work.
Cabole
Having joined the pipe, they are positioned in such a way that there is the same distance around the circumference of the joint. A plumber using a special tool, a set of chasing, hammer in a special strand made of hemp or flax soaked in a special oily liquid.
Or they immediately take the cable. A rope specially made to seal sewer connections.
Before reaching the end of the socket, cement mortar is poured into the remaining place. Finally sealing and sealing the joint.
Sulfur
The use of Sulfur, the very one that smells disgusting and is used in smoke bombs to disinfect cellars. So, in order to seal the socket joint with sulfur, a special furnace was used.
With this apparatus, sulfur was heated to a liquid state at a temperature of 130 degrees. With the help of a ladle, the collected sulfur was poured into the horizontal joint of the socket, previously sealed with a cable or other thread. After cooling, the compound became monolithic. Compared to cement mortar, sulfur sealed the joint better and stronger.
This is the kind of technology that existed in the days of the Soviets. I did it once and you can forget about the pipes. By the way, instead of sulfur, molten lead was rarely used. This technology was especially widespread abroad.
From SW. Timofey Mikhailov