My hot water line to the kitchen & deep sink has a pin hole leak in a longish run in my basement shop. I usually ask my BIL these questions but he is literally on his way to surgery. He is a retired plumber.
It is a very slow leak but seems a bit worse than it was 4 months ago.
I know one way to fix it is to cut out the bad section and sweat in a replacement with 2 couplings. But I’m hoping there is a modern simpler fix. I don’t trust my ability to sweat pipes anymore being far out of practice and never great at it.
I’m thinking some of the Push to Connect fittings might work well. They are rated for hot water lines.
Would a push to connect valve work where you could go from that to the faucet via a flex hose?
Also is the pin hole near and downstream of a sweated joint? If so that is most likely the cause of the pin hole (incorrectly sweated), if not then the pipe itself may be failing ad
Shark Bit push-to-connect fittings are really easy. You do need to be sure that you cut the pipe straight across, and properly shape the end of the pipe with something like this:
But you probably want a split coupling, not flex pipe:
I’m not sure I follow. The pinhole is in something like a 6’ stretch of 1/2" pipe. Nowhere near a valve.
The pin hole isn’t near a sweated joint, but there is some odd discoloration not far from the pin hole. That is why I was thinking about removing a full 12" of old pipe.
Yes it does, your hot water isn’t as hot as you think compared to the Flex Seal adhesive effective range. If nothing else it will get you by until you have time to decide on a more permanant fix or your BIL gets better.
Out of curiosity, how come? Is the flex just generally less safe or some other factor? I’m leaning heavily towards the Shark Bit, but just doing some due diligence with the questions.
I don’t actually. Would it work on a pressured copper pipe?
I do have some silicon tape that works well on hoses. That was going to be my temp fix. But I don’t want that to be my permanent fix.
Is there anything that supports that a Shark Bite connection will fail?
I’ve used one so far in the house to add a hose bib to the back of the house.
When I researched then, it appeared they were pretty safe as long as secured.
I understand that if you don’t take care in installing and secure the pipes to minimize vibration that it can be a problem. But what I read was they’re fine if the pipe ends are clean and deburred and the you secure around the fitting.
Part of why I’m researching though. A Push to Connect fitting is so much cheaper than a plumber and I have far less confidence in my pipe sweating. Especially in the rafters of my basement.
I had a hot water line in my attic burst due to a lengthy stretch of sub-freezing weather back in 2009 (long story about how the pipe came to be exposed to the cold with which I won’t bore you). Repaired with a Shark Bite. Still doing fine after all these years.
I had a plumber out to deal with a different issue a couple years ago and asked him if the Shark Bite section should be replaced. He said it was fine as it was, so I haven’t worried about it since.
I don’t know, that was along the lines of a question I had for my BIL. Is silver solder different from solder? I know the pipe could be brazed, but I wasn’t sure if solder was a strong enough fix.
So silver = lead free. That I have. I never heard it called silver solder before.
I haven’t used lead solder since I was soldering wires.
I’m not sure that is a safe fix, solder is good in joints or for drain pipes but I would be nervous about a pipe under pressure and fairly heavy use. Maybe I’m being paranoid. That is a level of soldering I would feel comfortable doing.
My experience with holes in hot-water pressure lines is you’ll need to replace the whole line eventually. That pipe is being eroded from the inside and is likely thin in multiple places. Certainly fix the drip now. Then think about how many drips you’re willing to fix before replacing the whole thing makes sense.
