plumbing - Fix a copper pipe leak - Home Improvement Stack Exchange
How to fix leaking coupling on copper pipe.
How should I fix the leak in the copper fitting (2”) at this joint? The couplings on the left and upper left connect to steel pipes. Should I remove the couplings, unsweat the upper right joint, and then replace that entire section?
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Last night this pipe started leaking water all down the wall. I believe it is the pipe connecting the furnace to the baseboard heating. I can't get a plumber to come out until Monday, but I'd like to be able to turn the heat and water back on before then because I shut it all off to stop the water. It looks to me like the plastic that was keeping the coupling tight has just come loose or got pushed out. Does anyone know how and what I would use to fix this, if only temporarily? I have 0 plumbing experience, but I'm hoping this might be an easy fix.
Nothing needs to be cut, barring a very strange installation. Unions in soldered copper pipe sytems are extremely rare, and there's good reason for that.
Applying more solder and flux without disassembly (note: not cutting) is unlikley to work.
Assess your ability to use a torch without burning the house down - a plumber is a lot cheaper than even a small fire. If you pass that test, drain the pipe, leaving the nearest taps open (don't want any steam pressure to build up) apply flux, apply heat, and pull on the pipes. There is nearly always enough give in the piping system to allow joint disassembly. If present, a few clamps of the "hold pipe to wall" type may need to be loosened to provide that give.
With the pipes apart, clean the joint surfaces inside and out throughly. Start with a damp rag in a gloved hand to wipe off as much solder as possible when the solder is still molten from heating to pull it apart. It may be worth using a new Tee, but even on new fittings, clean the surfaces throughly - it's essential to getting a good solder joint. Apply flux, reassemble. Apply heat to the joint GENTLY and dab with the solder (not in the flame - to the pipe/socket interface) watching for the point where the pipe/fitting melt the solder and pull it into the joint. Excessive heat is BAD, and can only be solved by disassembling and cleaning again.
If this is soldered copper slip joint fittings there really is no other choice other than cutting out the faulty parts and starting over.
Sometimes when undertaking a repair like this it can be advantageous to incorporate a UNION fitting into the line to permit the last connections to be joined together. A union fitting looks like this.
When assembling the union into the piping system do not forget to slide the brass nut part onto the pipe before soldering the unthreaded coupling part onto the pipe end.