Copper pipe sprung pinhole leak--need help to fix

Well this has been a wonderful week for home repairs. Anyways, a copper pipe in the basement sprung a pinhole size leak a few minutes ago. It is a hot water pipe. I shut off the water. I was wondering if there is anything I can do to repair the pipe myself. It is in a fairly hard to reach section, but I can get my hand on the pinhole break. Am I out of luck and have to call a plumber? We have a family friend that is a plumber, yet I will still be charge a good $100-$150 and I just don't want to fork over the money. Thanks for any help.

 

Man I am sorry, I thought this was in the "water cooler" forum. Could someone please move it? Thank you.

 

Two suggestions Brett, they both require you to solder though. Do you know how to solder copper? Do you have a torch, flux, and wire brushes or sand paper?

The first is to simply cut the pipe at the pin hole and then splice the pipe back together using a copper coupling. Once you make the cut, use either the sand paper or wire brush to clean inside the coupling and around both ends of the pipe (where you made the cut). Flux the parts being fitted back together-inside of coupling and around the outside of pipe. Place the coupling over one pipe end and then insert the second end. Once you have completed this begin to heat with your torch. The solder will chase the heat so heat the coupling to draw solder inward-outside to inside the coupling. You may need to use bread (yes Bread) on the inside of the pipe if water is still present. The bread acts like a spong while you're heating the pipe and keeps water from coming into contact with the joint (sometimes it's hard to drain all the water off). When the pipe is solder the bread turns to mush...to be flushed out later.

Suggestion two can be use if the pipe and pin hole are in a spot where they cannot be cut. Take a piece of 12 gauge copper wire. Clean and flux the area around the hole. Now, wrap the copper wire around the pipe in a coil fashion. Slide the coil over the hole and apply heat. Remember the solder chases heat. If the coil is wrapped tight enough, the solder will flow and stick to both the pipe and all parts of the coil. This is a quick fix for tight, difficult to get at spots.

Hope this helps.

If you can put a pail under it and wait until deer season, I'll come fix it for free!

 

I think Will covered it pretty good.

 

Will NAILED it......

Now if you're talking about one of those "flexible" copper pipes though, you just need to replace it. I can't believe a "family friend" would charge $100 for something so simple, unless it's REALLY a tough spot to get into. Hell for $150, I'll drive over to VA and fix it.....:D

 

Thank you guys for taking the time to help me out. I guess I am out of luck on this one as I have no tourch, don't know how to solder, and the pipe is in one heck of a tight spot.

I hear you guys on my family friend charging me that amount..this is Northern Virginia, where prices are TERRIBLE. Just this week I had a huge section of aluminum siding rip/sheer off my garage from wind storm, an electrical fire start in my laundry room, my propane tank go dry, and now this...I mean this is absolutely friggin crazy. It is making me want to grab a bottle..

 

Awesome idea Josh!

 

Brett,
The torch and porpane at your local Home Depot shouldn't be too much. They will even show you how to solder if you ask. It's time to teach an old dog a new trick!

 

Will, I get the basic understanding of how to cut a pipe and do what you explained in your post. Here is the big problem...I have never done it(it doesn't really intimidate me), and the pipe section is in an absolute god awful spot about 10 feet high,and is tucked up behind some main beams....I can't even get a torch into that area unless I was a dang expert. It is just really frustrating to say the least and I am about ready to just through my hands up into the air with all this crap going on.

I appreciate everyone's suggestions.

 

I appreciate that Josh. Our pipes are older pipes and we have some hard water coming into our pipes. They are degrading fast and I have to make a plan within the next year or so, on what I need to do to replace all the pipes. I really wish the pipe was more exposed and I would go purchase the necessary tools to fix it...but it is right inside of a main beam at about 10 feet high. Frick.

 

Hey Brett, by "main beam" do you mean wall or ceiling? If you can, cut the pipe in an easier to reach spot above and below the leak, and replace a ten foot run (or whatever length).You will have two splices but easier access.

Sorry about your luck.
Jim

 

Just go to your local hardware store. They make a type of puddy/epoxy for those leaks. All you need is a piece of sandpaper. Clean the hole and apply the epoxy/puddy. I have one thats been on the pipe 10 years now.

 

yep yep.... chase it back as far as you can until you reach 2 easy spots to work at. Cut it there and simply replace the whole piece with 2 couplings. Even if you have to replace 10 feet of it and buy a torch, you're still way ahead of the game. Soldering is very easy bro (until it drips on your hand lol). Seriously you can have the whole thing done in 15 minutes.

 

Another cheap temporary way to repair pipe is to cut at the pinhole and slide a piece of hose/tubing over pipe and use hose clamps to seal. If you do decide to solder make sure you use a piece of sheet metal as a heat shield if there is anything combustible around the pipe.

 

If I'm not too late there is a new technology and very simple fix for that for around 5-8 dollars.

If it's a straight line, see if you can find what's called a Sharks Bite. http://www.sharkbiteplumbing.com/?gclid=CJ3f55X_gKACFQ1N5QodQya0lg You'll just need a coupling. http://www.sharkbiteplumbing.com/fittings/couplings

These things are miracle workers and work on everything. Cut the pipe, push it on and your done. You can even get two, cut the section out and add a section with plastic, copper whatever. NO SOLDERING!

My entire house is done in Pex tubing with a Manabloc but I've work a lot of copper to Pex, Copper to plastic with these and they are flawless!

If I'm too late, this is good info for everyone and for you in the future.

VS, if you have questions, PM me your number and we'll talk.

 

I'm with Rob. I'd use a compression fitting and call it a day.

 

I'm with Rob as well. Since my sister had her house built and had Pex throughout, we know have a Pex crimper, and whenever we do any plumbing work, we use pex to replace it, although we still used 3/4" to 1/2" copper adapters to slide the Pex on which requires soldering. That's the first I've seen those sharkbites, though. That's neat.

As for the soldering, not sure if it was mentioned, but make ABSOLUTLEY sure you don't have any residual water in the line near the joint when you're soldering. It will just cause the solder to ball up and not flow around the joint. An old plumber's trick is to take a piece of bread, ball it up, and shove in the line (past where you will be applying heat). It will absorb any extra moisture that might be sitting in the line. Once the joing is soldered, and water is turned back on, the pressure will force the bread on through.

 

worst case....mighty putty?!?!?! LOL
IMO shark couplers are the shizz man. My dad has used them on all his plumbing retrofits.
Hope the water works are under control man

 

Rob, I really appreciate your advice. I ran down to ACE hardware and picked up the correct shark connector. I also bought a small pipe cutter. I went downstairs and removed a huge section of duct system just to get to this little pipe. I for the life of me could not create enough torque with that pipe cutter to get anywhere. The space is so dang small. I did what I could until my forearms almost ripped off and I realized that I was getting nowhere. I am going to keep those cool little shark connectors and purchase a better pipe cutter for the future. But my buddy Richard is coming over and is only going to charge me about half of what I originally thought last night. Still, I hate forking over $75 for something I coud fix myself. It is almost like he will need some kind of speciality cutting tool to cut that little hot water pipe. It is crazy how it was laid down in my basement, almost impenetrable because it is surrounded by main beams, drywall, and air ducts. Worst freakin place in the world for me to attempt my first pipe fix.

Again, THANK you guys so much for taking the time to help me out. It might not pay off today, but the next time I will be prepared and thats what counts.

Brett

 

If you haven't fixed it yet, I have a very simple fix for you. Take a small piece of rubber hose, and a hose clamp. Put the piece of rubber over the hole, then tighten the clamp over the rubber. I have used these types of patchs on old drain backs than needed to be fixed, and they hold over 100psi of pressure. Hope you get if fixed.