Toxarch
Active Member
My house was built in 2016. Most of the plumbing is pex (or whatever the other similar stuff is). Above the water heater is a hot water recirculator that has copper on both sides including coming out of the wall. There is also a check valve on the water heater side that leads to the cold return.
I have owned the house for 14 months. I had seen some rust looking sediment from the hot water side in faucets that have not been run in a few days or more. I thought that might have been sediment from the well water. There is a water softener that I am not sure works properly since it hardly uses any salt. I tried draining the the sediment out of the well pressure tank and the water heater a few times. Got mostly calcium sediment from the water heater.
I had heard a dripping noise in the past near the water heater but never saw any leak. Thought it might have been the metal in the water heater expanding/contracting. Yesterday I heard a lot of dripping so I went to check it again. Found water dripping from the pipe insulation next to the water recirculator. Pulled back the insulation and there were 2 pin holes spraying water out. Tried to tape it up as a temp fix and that did not work. Pulled the tape off and then there were 3 pin holes. Tried that Flex Tape and it held for 20 seconds and then water sprayed out the sides.
I contacted the home appliance warranty company and they are sending someone sometime in the future. Just thought I'd get in here and see if anyone had seen copper pipe fail like that so quickly.
Is it bad pipe? Is it something in the water corroding the copper? Is this some kind of cheap copper clad steel? I just hope it was only a bad piece of copper and that the copper that runs into the wall does not have to be replaced too.
That's not silicone on top of the pipe, it was a crusty calcium buildup.
The check valve does not stop the water from back flowing so I can not cut the water to the water heater and leave cold water on for the rest of the house. I'm going to have the plumber add another shutoff valve on the cold water pipe.
I have owned the house for 14 months. I had seen some rust looking sediment from the hot water side in faucets that have not been run in a few days or more. I thought that might have been sediment from the well water. There is a water softener that I am not sure works properly since it hardly uses any salt. I tried draining the the sediment out of the well pressure tank and the water heater a few times. Got mostly calcium sediment from the water heater.
I had heard a dripping noise in the past near the water heater but never saw any leak. Thought it might have been the metal in the water heater expanding/contracting. Yesterday I heard a lot of dripping so I went to check it again. Found water dripping from the pipe insulation next to the water recirculator. Pulled back the insulation and there were 2 pin holes spraying water out. Tried to tape it up as a temp fix and that did not work. Pulled the tape off and then there were 3 pin holes. Tried that Flex Tape and it held for 20 seconds and then water sprayed out the sides.
I contacted the home appliance warranty company and they are sending someone sometime in the future. Just thought I'd get in here and see if anyone had seen copper pipe fail like that so quickly.
Is it bad pipe? Is it something in the water corroding the copper? Is this some kind of cheap copper clad steel? I just hope it was only a bad piece of copper and that the copper that runs into the wall does not have to be replaced too.
That's not silicone on top of the pipe, it was a crusty calcium buildup.
The check valve does not stop the water from back flowing so I can not cut the water to the water heater and leave cold water on for the rest of the house. I'm going to have the plumber add another shutoff valve on the cold water pipe.