Springing Leaks!

[Daniel Vale]

Seasonal Greetings!

In 2008 I built a bathroom as part of my finished basement, including copper pipe water supply from my water heater to a shower, sink & toilet. Several days ago I found a significant pinhole leak in a straight run ( close to the tank ), on the hot water side. Fixed it. 2 hours later, an elbow failed upstream of the first leak ( minor leak ). Fixed it. 4 days later - yup - another leak - an elbow, downstream of the first leak and I'm just about to fix it. Yeesh! My Bro said that there was once a bunch of copper pipe from China that had wall-thickness issues; I've also read that hard water deposits can rot the wall of the pipe. Naturally, I'm very concerned about leaks behind the drywall.

Questions:
> Should I rip it out & start again? If so, how far should I go?
> If I do rip it out, should I replace with copper, or go with pex and adapt at the end with a Shark bite?

Thanks in advance.

Dan

 

[dmmsr]

I'm assuming you did not have any issues with the existing copper through out the house?

What grade did you put in? M or L type? Did you set it from a supplier or big box store?

Are you on well water or city and have you had the water tested?

Most likely it would be best to replace especially if it is isolated to just that one area.

 

[Geofd]

So there are pin holes in the pipe and failed soldered joints?????,
1 do you have a well.
Is your water being treated/ maintained
Is any part of your copper touch a dissimilar metal (duct work,conduit,Galvin pipe, blk pipe,) what grade is your pipe were I'm from
There is a blue line a red line and a green line blue most common red we only use for heat, green is the thickest but not used very much anymore

 

[Daniel Vale]

> No issues in any other part of the home
> Home Depot purchase - not sure if it's "M" or "L" ( how do you tell? )
> Municipal water supply / reasonably hard water ( never tested ) - no home water treatment system
> No leaks at solder joints - 1st leak was a small split on the side of a horizontal run; 2nd leak was a tiny hole at the turn of the elbow; 3rd leak similar to #2 but even smaller )
> none of the piping touches a dissimilar metal
> no coloured markings on any of the pipe

 

[Geofd]

> No issues in any other part of the home
> Home Depot purchase - not sure if it's "M" or "L" ( how do you tell? )
> Municipal water supply / reasonably hard water ( never tested ) - no home water treatment system
> No leaks at solder joints - 1st leak was a small split; 2nd leak was a tiny hole in the turn of the elbow; 3rd leak similar to #2 but even smaller )
> none of the piping touches a dissimilar metal
> no coloured markings on any of the pipe

You could see blue or red line or writing on the pipe

 

[dmmsr]

I always tell customers never to purchase from big box stores other than hardware and lumber. Even that is questionable.

There are different racks that have l and m copper. M is lighter and cheaper. It is marked every so many feet with red or blue lettering. Red is m and l is blue. M is thinner copper. Use to be mainly for heat. Now plumbers use it for water consistently. I always used l. M always seem to fail and pit easier with uncondiotoned hard water. Sometimes the red does blend in with the copper color too much.you would notice the blue easier.

You mentioned it splitting. That usually happens when pipes freeze. If it did not freeze then it could very well be a manufacturer defect. I would most certainly replace it all or just continue to replace as it happens if having to open walls.

Should have a softener installed for your hard water. That little bit can help save pipes, fixtures and cost of repairs and replacements.

 

[Daniel Vale]

Aha - I have the cursed "Red" marked pipe!

3rd fix is in & no leaks.

This latest fix was close to the joists; from there, the hot water line T's off to head upstairs & to the bathroom fixtures.

Any more issues and I'll remove it up to that point & replace it with "Blue" pipe.

Thanks for your help, gentlemen.

 

[havasu]

You mentioned a "small split" in your pipes. Was this due to the frozen pipes?

 

[Twowaxhack]

Well water water that’s not treated in my area doesn’t play well with copper pipe no matter what you use, M L or K. It’ll eat it up in a few years.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Found this today on a well water system. The fitting is 12 years old. It use to be a brass pex tee.