Christmas Surprise! Plumbing Question

[LongWayAround]

So we're in the downstairs living room this morning and I hear tap.tap.tap.tap...

Right over my water heater the mainline of our home water has sprung a leak.

Any plumbers around here? How would you fix this?

At the bottom of the photo is a 90* bend. Then, the line passes through a 2x12, this seems to be where the leak is located. The three grey spots near the 2x12 are mineral deposits, probably from other leaks.

The offending section of pipe is soldered into a joint about a 18 inches from the mineral spot at the top of the photo. Unfortunately, that is over the hallway and out of the utility closet making it much harder to reach.

Do I melt the solder, cut the pipe and use some sort of "shark-bite" to make the connection?

Hire an actual plumber?


It leaked enough that I had to pull up the carpet in our guest bedroom and throw away some of the pad.

 

[go_deep]

Just cut out the small piece that has the leak and replace with a small piece with whatever your comfortable doing, shark bites work fine. You should look at making the hole through the 2x12 a little bigger if that's where the leak is, might be rubbing and caused the damage to the pipe.

 

[Darryle]

Call a plumber, it will be cheaper in the long run.

If you must, here

https://a.co/d/7TTAzNg

Slip a bicycle tube over the area to prevent future wear

 

[Bearwhisky]

That pipe is almost certainly leaking because of rubbing on that joist. Make hole bigger when you repair.


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[mtnobsessed]

That pipe is most likely leaking from being in contact with that galvanized heat duct. Dissimilar metals touching can cause pinholes in copper and can happen anywhere in the copper. Sharkbite fittings probably easiest repair.

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[onlybrowning]

Yup, I’d put some foam insulation around the pipe where it’s contacting the ductwork as well. Definitely enlarge that hole a bit and cut out the offending section.


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[Amos Keeto]

I hate a water leak like a possum hates an axe handle.
Unless the house is flooding, wait and call a plumber tomorrow!

 

[Yoder]

Sharkbite fittings work great. I have some in my house for over 5 years with no problems.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

You can go to Home Depot and buy nylon insert to run the pipes through.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

As others have said, a sharkbite will be the easiest fix for now, get it fixed for good later. Definitely do not allow the copper to touch the duct, galvanic corrosion is very, very real. I dealt with it my entire career.

 

[ETtikka]

Shark bite is easiest quick fix.

If the copper pipe was manufactured in the last 20 years, you will have many more pin hole leaks unfortunately due to poor quality copper, long term best solution would to install PEX, in sectuons

 

[Darryle]

It appears that @ETtikka is correct about the pin holes.

I would leave a fixture open and running slowly to reduce pressure on the system and call in a plumber as soon as possible.

 

[Yoder]

Just cut it out and fix it. Save yourself a ton of cash. I replumbed half my house and I'm not a plumber.

 

[nettereo16]

It’s pretty easy to solder copper pipes. For 20 bucks you could get a section of pipe, couplers, cutter, solder and flux. You’ll need a torch. Turn off water, cut that section out so the cuts are easily accessible and away from anything flammable. Open up the hole in the joist and make sure the pipe isn’t contacting the duct.

It’s also not urgent if it’s just a slow drip so you can wait until a pro is available. I’m pretty basic around the house but this is a simple fix that can be learned on YouTube

 

[HiMtnHntr]

If you have the time, fix it. If you suspect galvanic corrosion I would replace that stretch with another material, pvc or pex. Once you have your parts, make a pot of chili and fill you up a hunting jug of water and turn the house water off…. And go to work.

 

[Weldor]

Pex for sure. you can usually rent a expander or crimp set.

 

[Gobbler36]

Just cut it out and fix it. Save yourself a ton of cash. I replumbed half my house and I'm not a plumber.

Second the labor people are charging these days is nuts

 

[Elmer J. Fudd]

Good opportunity to build up some plumbing skills. Used shark bites and watts push fittings in spots in my house and at work. Some have been in place for 10 years and no issues.

 

[LongWayAround]

Thanks for everyone's input.

This is actually the third time I have had an instance like this.

The first time, we thought it was the water heater itself but turned out to be a pipe behind it. A friend helped me replace the water heater and soldered in a new section of pipe.

The second time, I tried to use a shark-bite but didn't get it on all the way. Ended up calling a plumber who charged me pretty well to just reuse the same fitting.

Today, I cut out a section of the line about 15" long and used an 18" flexible shark-bite. It seems to be holding and not leaking...yet.

Hogging out the hole in the floor joist was the biggest pain of the project. I thought I had a stepped bit but couldn't locate it...

I also added some pipe foam to two locations that were in contact or nearly so with the galvanized duct.

I had heard of galvanic corrosion but didn't make the connection before reading it here.

 

[LongWayAround]

This is the inside of the pipe in that I removed. It seems to me that these little deposits accumulate and corrode through the copper.

Is this galvanic corrosion?