Ever seen copper pipe corrode through within 5 years?

[Toxarch]

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.

 

[Toxarch]

When removed, it was a super thin wall copper pipe. Luckily that short segment was the only part with that thin copper. Couldn't save the recirc motor and had to put in a new one.

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

Three types of copper tubing: K, L, M.

K is the thick wall stuff; rarely used today because of co$t.
L is the standard stuff.
M is thin wall; generally not used as much for plumbing as it is for heating systems...

But anything is possible.

Is your pump bronze, or cast iron? Sometimes you can tell by color, but other times not. If you have a cast iron pump you can get some of that rust in there. Personally I prefer SS or bronze.

May just need to replace the bad pipe with thicker walled stuff, and re-do it.

 

[Copymutt]

I’m suspicious you have some galvanic action going on. Dissimilar metals will cause the copper to sacrifice itself. Not noticeably w/ brass, but defiantly w/ cast. Heat and salt accelerates the process. One solution is dielectric fittings. If so thicker copper will just last longer.

 

[johnjh2o]

Three types of copper tubing: K, L, M.

K is the thick wall stuff; rarely used today because of co$t.
L is the standard stuff.
M is thin wall; generally not used as much for plumbing as it is for heating systems...

But anything is possible.

Is your pump bronze, or cast iron? Sometimes you can tell by color, but other times not. If you have a cast iron pump you can get some of that rust in there. Personally I prefer SS or bronze.

May just need to replace the bad pipe with thicker walled stuff, and re-do it.

There was at one time a thinner grade copper. It was called disperbrution tubing. ( real junk)

 

[Twowaxhack]

Cast iron circulators are not allowed in potable water systems any longer.

The pump pictured is bronze.

The corrosion you see is likely left over flux. Looks like the plumber didn’t clean that off snd it caused a little corrosion. That’s actually what could’ve caused the pinholes......flux corrosion.

Another likely cause would be acidic well water. Very common.

The pump could be oversized for the system as well, pumping too fast causing erosion near the outlet of the pump.

Some pumps have a speed control so it can better be matched to the system.

Type M copper is being used in some areas for plumbing. My supply house sells it. We don’t hydro heat here.

Pro tip......

 

[Twowaxhack]

There was at one time a thinner grade copper. It was called disperbrution tubing. ( real junk)

Utility grade copper and it’s still available.