Copper pipe pinhole leak. Trouble ahead?

[JoeWras]

So yesterday I happen to look up at the garage ceiling and I see a water/mold spot. Uh oh.

It is under the dishwasher, figured that was it. Nope. D/W is dry.

Opened up the drywall, and I'm presented with a drip on the 1/2" copper pipe that runs horizontally to the wall feeding our very frequently used kitchen sink. It's right in the middle of a span, not a joint. I've got a pinhole leak.

I really didn't want to sweat a fix, so I did a fast repair with a sharkbite. It's fine, should hold.

But now I'm wondering if armageddon awaits? Will I start seeing numerous leaks in the next year? Or was I just unlucky this one time? A weak spot? Some debris causing turbulent scrubbing? The city has fixed the acid water problem decades ago. The pipe section I cut out looks generally good.

Question: anyone have a copper leak like this and NOT end up going down the path of full replacement a few years later? Did you just have one pinhole and nothing for years after?

House is 40 years old. Things seem to be going to hell on a monthly basis.

 

[Palmtree]

I've not experienced it (yet) but I've read that copper pipe can start to pinhole after many years. The two causes I know of is reaction to water deposits and reaction to tiny bits of solder left over from the initial installation. Both take years to show up.

I don't worry about the water but the idiots who did our plumbing globbed on flux and left ugly green solder joints everywhere. I fear it's just a matter of time before I start getting leaks.

 

[Car-Guy]

I've always had really good luck sweat soldering copper... A little sandpaper, flux, solder and a small torch... Sometimes even adding a copper patch when needed. Cheap, quick and easy.

 

[LOL!]

Years ago, I stepped out of bed in the morning and my feet stepped into soaking wet carpet from a pinhole leak. I did the sharkbite thing and no subsequent leaks in more than 5 years. However, more than one neighbor has several such leaks in their copper pipes in this 25-year-old neighborhood.

So who can say whether there is trouble ahead or not?

 

[Walt34]

Question: anyone have a copper leak like this and NOT end up going down the path of full replacement a few years later?

That's about what happened with DW's father's house, and at about that age point with the copper pipes. We didn't replace all of the pipes but significant parts were, maybe 1/4 to 1/3 were replaced. He went into nursing care and the house was sold before any more was needed but it looked like that was where things were headed. The house was on a well and he did have both a water softener and some other type of water treatment system installed, I'm fuzzy on exactly what that one did.

When we bought this house it has plastic piping, which was initially annoying to me, but now I'm thinking maybe that was premature. We did have one leak from an incorrectly done joint but that has so far been the only problem.

 

[REWahoo]

22 year old house with copper pipes. First pinhole leak a few months ago. While repairing, discovered a second leak in another pipe. Upping the budget for future plumbing repairs.

 

[JoeWras]

The two causes I know of is reaction to water deposits and reaction to tiny bits of solder left over from the initial installation.

The city has balanced the pH to avoid this. On aquatopsy, I saw what appeared to be flux or a solder bit at the point. I'm hoping it is a one off.

I've always had really good luck sweat soldering copper... A little sandpaper, flux, solder and a small torch... Sometimes even adding a copper patch when needed. Cheap, quick and easy.

I've sweated a few valve replacements and what not. I had no patience today as I didn't want to open the ceiling more, dry the pipe and put flame up there. And it is a tight space, with A/C ducting close by. (Hmmm, wonder if the metalized shell of the flex duct is causing a galvanic effect?)

Years ago, I stepped out of bed in the morning and my feet stepped into soaking wet carpet from a pinhole leak. I did the sharkbite thing and no subsequent leaks in more than 5 years. However, more than one neighbor has several such leaks in their copper pipes in this 25-year-old neighborhood.

So who can say whether there is trouble ahead or not?

Yeah. I'm going to have to wait and see, keep a look out. I'm just taking a survey.

Too bad Trombone Al is not online much anymore. He had a thread from 2008 regarding copper pipe leaks, and I wonder how it turned out for him since then.

 

[JoeWras]

22 year old house with copper pipes. First pinhole leak a few months ago. While repairing, discovered a second leak in another pipe. Upping the budget for future plumbing repairs.

Roof is 25, HVAC is 20. Now this.

We're upping our budget.

A few pics from today's fun below.

 

[davebarnes]

House is 40 years old. Things seem to be going to hell on a monthly basis.

You must be cursed.
I have never hear/read of a 40-year-old house having problems.

 

[aja8888]

You must be cursed.
I have never hear/read of a 40-year-old house having problems.

The homes around here with galvanized piping all start to leak around 30 years old. I know of at least a dozen nearby. Copper should last much longer before leaks appear, if at all.

 

[euro]

You must be cursed.
I have never hear/read of a 40-year-old house having problems.

This!

 

[Sunset]

We have a 40 yr old house.
About 10 yrs ago, I saw a pinhole in the copper pipe in the basement (no finished ceiling).
I soldered a new one in, and have not found/seen any other ones since.

 

[JoeWras]

We have a 40 yr old house.
About 10 yrs ago, I saw a pinhole in the copper pipe in the basement (no finished ceiling).
I soldered a new one in, and have not found/seen any other ones since.

Whew! Thanks for the hope!

When this happened to my SIL, she got more leaks within the year. House was only 25 or so. Acid well water uniformly thinned them.

 

[cathy63]

Our place was built in 1978. We had a pinhole leak in the wall behind the water heater in 2014, but haven't had anything since.

 

[FIREd]

I had a pinhole leak in a copper pipe (in the wall behind a bathroom sink) when my house was ~ 30 years old. It hasn't happened again in the past 12 years.

 

[njhowie]

Had the same thing happen about 10 years ago. Called local plumber we trust, he cut a section out probably 6 inches on each side of the pinhole, inserted a new piece of copper piping with couplers on each end and soldered. I forget exactly how much he charged - might have been $200, but it didn't matter, I wouldn't have done it myself.

I just found something which is simple and easy to do/use, it's called Click Fix, but I haven't been able to find it in US - only Europe:

 

[Souschef]

My leak was not in a copper pipe, but in my bathroom faucet! There was a pinhole leak in the tube that went to the spout from the valves. Solution: replace the faucet, and I called a plumber to do it. I am getting too old to be crawling under sinks.

 

[travelover]

My last house has all copper plumbing including the drain pipes. When it got to about 40 years old the horizontal portions of the drain pipes started leaking. I had to cut out the ceiling of the first floor and put in plastic with rubber couplings to fix it. Nasty job.

 

[ksr]

I had a pinhole leak in my kitchen ceiling 15 or 20 years ago. I had a plumber out and he warned me that I might see more, that it was a problem with copper pipes in the area. I decided not to worry about it unless it happened again. Sure enough, a couple of months later there was another pinhole leak, this time in my unfinished basement ceiling. I did a lot of research and realized another leak might cause significant damage in the kitchen, ceilings, walls, etc.

I couldn’t stand to live through a repipe, so after a lot of reading and research I decided to go with a relatively new process (at the time) where an epoxy is shot through the pipes. The cost was about the same as a repipe, but there was no damage to the walls. Fortunately I haven’t had any problems since then.

 

[CardsFan]

You must be cursed.
I have never hear/read of a 40-year-old house having problems.

Well, in 1982 our first house would have been about 30 years old. Noticed water on the pipes, but it was summer time and we did not have AC, so figured they were sweating. When the problem continued, I finally looked closer. Pin hole leaks in ALL the horizontal runs in the basement. Had to replace all the horizontal runs. Plumber had no explanation except for possibly defective pipes.

 

[Scrapr]

My last house has all copper plumbing including the drain pipes. When it got to about 40 years old the horizontal portions of the drain pipes started leaking. I had to cut out the ceiling of the first floor and put in plastic with rubber couplings to fix it. Nasty job.

I have never heard of copper drain pipes. And i go back to the 70's. How big were the copper drains? Inch & a half? How long did it take for a bath tub to drain? I was right on the transition from cast iron to pvc pipe

Salesman: it's copper drain pipe so it's quality all through the house

copper was cheap then?

 

[JoeWras]

It sounds like we have a mix of experiences here. I'll keep an eagle eye on it. Good news is that I don't have a lot of horizontal runs, and I've read elsewhere too that is the typical problem area.

As for drain pipe... It exists for sure. Not common, but out there. Chicago had (maybe still has?) anti-plastic codes, and you'd see it occasionally in lieu of galvanized. Dad liked those jobs because it was lighter work. Lengths of galvanized drain pipe was murderously heavy. And then the pipe threading was another back breaking job. Copper is cut and sweat. Much easier. So I could see a differential in labor costs. And yes, it was inch and a half. It drained as well or better than galvanized, which tended to get build up very easily.

 

[travelover]

I have never heard of copper drain pipes. And i go back to the 70's. How big were the copper drains? Inch & a half? How long did it take for a bath tub to drain? I was right on the transition from cast iron to pvc pipe

Salesman: it's copper drain pipe so it's quality all through the house

copper was cheap then?

The drains pipes were 1 1/2" feeding into 3" - all copper. I don't know how much copper cost in 1966 when it was built, but I was tempted to rip it out and sell it before I sold the house.

 

[Bamaman]

I've had two pinhole leaks in our lake house built in 1980. Both were easily fixed.

A neighbor has had over 100 pinhole leaks. He just wraps the leak with a bicycle inner tube, and clamps it off with a stainless steel screw clamp. No problems getting them to seal up. In his case, I think I'd be replumbing the house.

I just take it leak by leak. 2 leaks in 40 years is not unreasonable.

 

[Scrapr]

The drains pipes were 1 1/2" feeding into 3" - all copper. I don't know how much copper cost in 1966 when it was built, but I was tempted to rip it out and sell it before I sold the house.

commodity arbitrage