Mineral build up on water pipe

[fool28back]

Hi everyone, I am remodeling my dining room. In doing so, I had to pull down parts of the plaster ceiling that were cracking badly to replace with drywall. Anyways, in doing this, I exposed the water lines going to our second floor tub. One of the lines is covered in white/blueish mineral deposits. I have seen varying reports about this. Some say to just clean it up and forget about it and some say that it may be a slow leak and that I should replace the joint. What do you all think?

A picture can be found here: https://imgur.com/0FGpBpv

 

[Diehard]

I may be wrong but when I zoom in on that pipe and fitting it almost looks like the old fine threaded brass pipe that was common here in the Boston area, many years ago.
It was common, back in the day, to see these joints develop a leak.
Myself, I would consider replacing as much of it that is accessible.

 

[fool28back]

I may be wrong but when I zoom in on that pipe and fitting it almost looks like the old fine threaded brass pipe that was common here in the Boston area, many years ago.
It was common, back in the day, to see these joints develop a leak.
Myself, I would consider replacing as much of it that is accessible.

Thank you for the reply. The house is 101 years old. The pipe itself appears to be copper. I am not sure about the elbow... I have decided to replace both hot and cold, since I currently have access from the bottom and I also found a trap door behind the tub itself, so I have complete access.

I am running into some sizing issues though. My thought is replacing everything to PEX while also using SharkBite PTC couplings. The original copper pipe is 1". That's fine, however, I can't seem to find SharkBite shutoff valves with a 1" opening (at the two big box stores near me). So, I want to reduce to 1/2", since that seems to be the most common. HOWEVER (lol), I cannot find a reducer that will drop from 1' to 1/2", there is only a drop to 3/4"... I assume this has something to do with water pressure being too much for such a great drop off.

So my next issue is, how in the heck do I accomplish the conversion from copper without having a million different couplings lol. I am new to this forum, but I frequent several subs on Reddit, r/plumbing being one of them. I have seen hate posts relating to what I am about to do here (with the several conversions).

Do you have any advice as to my best plan of action? Should I just use CPVC or even stick with copper?

 

[fool28back]

I may be wrong but when I zoom in on that pipe and fitting it almost looks like the old fine threaded brass pipe that was common here in the Boston area, many years ago.
It was common, back in the day, to see these joints develop a leak.
Myself, I would consider replacing as much of it that is accessible.

Also also, it appears the braided fitting that connects the shut off to the "T intersection" for the faucets seems to be leaking. So that all needed replaced anyway. I apologize for my terminology. I am a new homeowner, but I was raised in a family of carpenters/DIYers. Thanks again!

 

[Diehard]

I'm sure there are a lot of plumbers on this forum that have a lot of experience with PEX transitions that can help you.
I am not a plumber and retired from plumbing engineering before I had any exposure to PEX. A quick search shows that much of the larger size PEX valves and fittings in brass are not approved for potable water. I didn't look at plastic fittings. However, I did find some brass ball valves in 3/4" and 1" that are approved.
Don't know where your using with 1" copper piping. That's larger than the average water service.

 

[fool28back]

I'm sure there are a lot of plumbers on this forum that have a lot of experience with PEX transitions that can help you.
I am not a plumber and retired from plumbing engineering before I had any exposure to PEX. A quick search shows that much of the larger size PEX valves and fittings in brass are not approved for potable water. I didn't look at plastic fittings. However, I did find some brass ball valves in 3/4" and 1" that are approved.
Don't know where your using with 1" copper piping. That's larger than the average water service.

The house is over 100 years old and all of the water lines in it are 1" copper pipe. That is why I am in this predicament lol.