Fixing pinhole leak in copper pipe without re-sodering?
We have radiant heat. 1/4″ copper pipe to baseboard radiators. Our upstairs circuit froze yesterday (We’re in MN). In trying to find the area I’ve been heating up the pipe in the attic space. Found where it froze and, subsequently, is now leaking. A very slow drip. Is there any way to fix this without shutting down the system? I I need to cut pipe and re-sodder fittings, I need to shut down and drain the entire system. Given the -10 degree weather this week, that’s a bad time to be doing that. Even if it’s a ‘quick fix’ to last until spring, that’d be great. Otherwise, it looks like I’m paying a lot of money to bring in a plumber tomorrow. [as an aside, this is sad to see these forums in this new incarnation. The site is slow and where we used to count the new posts by the minute, it now looks like we count the new posts by the days. š ]
Replies
darrel,
Sharkbite coupling should work.
http://www.pexsupply.com/Cash-Acme-U004-1-4-x-1-4-Sharkbite-Coupling-8046000-p
This new BT is horrible!
KK
Hmm...$4!? That's a tad
Hmm...$4!? That's a tad cheaper than a service call. Do those need any special tools?
No tools required to put ON the pipe, but to get it off you need a special C clip that presses the ring all at once to release. It costs about $.50 IIRC.
don't bother with the
don't bother with the sharkbite removal tool. A pair of pliers loosely held behind the fitting and press in. The sharkbite will release easily.
If it's just a pinhole leak,
If it's just a pinhole leak, and it's relatively well exposed, use a compression patch. Sometimes you can find a purpose-made patch at the hardware store or plumbing supply, but you can make a simple one with a few inches of rubber hose and one or two small spiral "radiator" clamps. Slit the hose and fit it over the hole, then apply the clamps -- either a single clamp directly over the hole or two clamps snugged up right next to each other (offset the clamp screws so they don't interfere with each other).
A bit of tin between the clamps and hose makes it a little more robust, but isn't an absolute necessity.
I second the compression patch idea. We had a guy turn the radiant floor on a slab job over a crawl on during construction to warm the crew on a remote job. Ice storm came and trees down killed power and truck access to his site for a week. when we got the call later he had two places pipe burst in the slab. We chipped the concret away from the pipe from the edge of the slab in one place and up through the subfloor in another and slipped some rubber dishwasher hose over the leak and clamped it down and have never been called back to do anything more. been running like that for twelve years probably.
heck, have a hot water supply pipe in the basement that the kid threw a dart into 25 years ago (they liked to throw from 40 feet!), still has a piece of inner tube held against the pipe with small SS band clamp, no leaks yet.
The compression patch has the additional advantage in that you won't have to cut into the system and lose water.
If you start having other pinhole leaks, you might have a problem with internal erosion of the copper lines. This happens when you have combination of high temperature and high velocity. You can minimize the problem by slowing down the flow velocity. Probably, lowering the temperature would not be a practical option.