sweating copper pipes

I recently run into a problem sweating a 1/2 valve onto a copper pie. During a test I noticed a pinhole leak. I quickly shut off water, reheated the joint and applied a bit more solder. Now it appears that the leak is fixed. My question for the expert plumbers: can I trust this joint or should I start from scratch? Btw, this is on a hot water side.

Thanks!

When I was learning , the journeyman always told me that If leaks, take it apart and reclean it. I found it a waste of time. I found that you could reheat it , apply more solder and everything was hunky-dori.

Use your best judgement. If you feel uncomfortable about that joint, reclean it .

You can trust the joint...as long as it doesn't start leaking

Not knowing how well you prepped the pipe or if you burned it I would take it apart and look at it. If it was done right you will know and it will go right back together and be fine.

If iit is not right you can make it right.


Soldered with No-Lead Solder

leak

A "pinhole" leak is seldom the tip of a pinhole problem. Usually there is a large area of the joint that did not solder and the pinhole is just the visible manifestation of it. Resoldering will not fill the void. For two reasons;
1. Once water contacts the solder it is oxidized and solder will not adhere to it.
2. Flux will not seep into the joint and clean or protect the unsoldered area.

Your repair only sealed the surface of the joint. There is no way to tell if the rest of the joint is even soldered good enough to stay together. I had one customer who dropped a can of peas onto a copper line in his sink cabinet and it fell apart because of a poor solder joint made 20 years previously.

I can't really add much to what has been said, but think of it this way. Yes, it may appear to be fine...now, but the fact that you have questioned it indicates you have a doubt. You will never be certain if it will hold 50 years, 50 days, or 50 minutes. Several year ago I had a new 1" supply line installed. Three or four years later, I was working around pipe where it entered the house and leaned a ladder against it. The connection, including the shut off valve, suddenly blew apart. 90 psi through a 1" pipe delivers a huge amount of water. Having no way to shut the water off myself, I had to wait for a city water department to dispatch a worker to shut the meter off. It seemingly took forever and all the while my basement was flooding. I found the problem was that the valve at the meter did not 100% stop the water, and there was evidence of faulty soldering due to that small drip. I since have obtained a curb key of my own to shut the meter off, and I also do not mess with trying to fix a leaking solder joint... I redo it 100%.

In an emergency situation like that you would typically crimp the pipe to stop or slow the water.

That would have caused more problems than the flooding since the pipe would have been ruined to the wall. It also assumes that I had something the put a serious crimp on 1" K copper pipe which I didn't have. My point in telling the tale of woe was to point out the folly of not fixing a bad solder joint, not asking what I could have or should have done.

ne0en said:

My question for the expert plumbers: can I trust this joint or should I start from scratch?Thanks!

Click to expand...

I think you've answered your question just by asking it.

I'm not a pro at all but..

Unless you can really easily get to this later, and future leak is no big deal...

I would take it apart, clean if off, reflux, and solder.. This is even more important if you are an amateur (like myself). We have a lot less practice at knowing when we can take a short cut.

Steve