Originally Posted By: cbartlett This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Does any one have any information of defective copper piping. Inspected four plex with copper piping built 1978. Was informed of many past water leaks from the copper piping. Found a major water leak at time of inspection. Reinspected and found section that the plumbers had replaced. the interior is very pitted. My thoughts are the pipe is defective and it would be likely that future leaks will occour. Any information would be appreciated.
Originally Posted By: dvalley This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Chris,
Corrosion problems that continue to corrode pipes usually relates to the quality of water in that house. Copper tubing is susceptible to high rates of corrosion to certain poor qualities of water. Water quality is normally related to a number of factors. You just can?t identify one factor. Most areas of the country experiencing water quality corrosion problems know their water is bad.
Pitting is also caused as a direct result of too high a velocity in many cases. Another example would be the pitting of the pipe just downstream of an elbow or a tee fitting. Again, the high velocity probably was responsible for eroding the pipe wall. In most cases, the plumber simply makes the repair. However, the same repair may be necessary in a few years. What should be included in the repair is an increase in the pipe size to reduce the velocity, or the installation of flow restrictors to limit the pipe velocity.
Originally Posted By: dsmith1 This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Copper pipe can be affected by the ph of the water. Around here manganese caused high ph levels and many houses dated in the 70s have pipes rotting out. In fact I am about to help a friend replace all the copper pipe in his bungalow. The problem was eliminated when the town built a filtration plant that removes the manganese. For a time hot water tanks only lasted about 5 years, just over the guarantee period.
Originally Posted By: smyers This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I’ve seen a company that comes out and literally sand blasts the inside of old galvanized pipes by running water with grit through the plumbing. Then they pump in a ceramic liquid so theres a coating that will not rust and it also fixes holes. Maybe the coating would be appropriate for this situation as opposed to re-plumbing the entire residence. Also a problem I’ve seen is the thinner copper pipes used which tend to have way more leaks.
Originally Posted By: dsmith1 This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I can see the sandblasting working for steel pipe because even with some rust they are still pretty solid, the copper pipe here is literally disintegrating, it will crush when you put a pipe cutter on it to do a repair.
The sandblasting and sealing is an interesting idea especially for large multiunit buildings. I will have to check out if anyone does it in this area.