Copper Flex Water Heater Pipes

[Vee]

I had a neighbor who recently had a copper flex line spring a leak at her rental home at the beach. Water was gushing for days causing a major mess. Even after insurance, there were plenty of bills.

The flex pipe did not fail at the connections, but somewhere along the body itself! The house was built in 1985, but I don't believe the copper flex pipe could have been original to the house, could it? I didn't think these kinds of pipes were in use back then.

How long are these things supposed to last? I'd rather get ahead of something simple like this. If the copper flex gets brittle over time, it's much easier to replace it for a few bucks than to have to deal with it. Does anyone have any idea what the recommended lifespan is for this?

Thanks

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[Cliffyk]

Is the photo you attached of the failed pipe? A closeup of the failed section would be worth 1000 words...

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

When we install new water heaters we always replace the flex lines at the same time. Your water heater appears to be fairly new, definitely not original, but the flex lines look to me to have been re-used. I would swap them out. Metals become more brittle as they flex and soft copper becomes less flexible every time it is flexed.

 

[Terry]

The copper flex connectors could easily be from 1985. Normally those get replaced when the water heater is being replaced.
I never reuse flex connectors. New tanks get new flex connectors.

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

Also, looking more closely at your particular installation. Your male threaded adapters have plastic threads which are notorious for becoming cross threaded. Either replace those with new metallic male threaded adapters or be Very careful about threading on new water heater flexes... and be Very gentle with the CPVC.. the older it is the more brittle it becomes.. When you tighten anything, make sure you have a "backing" wrench/plier on the CPVC so that you are not transferring tightening energy into the CPVC.

 

[Vee]

Thank you for the responses. Working on seeing if I can get a better picture of the point of leak.

 

[Cliffyk]

Like most any "generic" manufactured product copper flex conectors come in a wide spectrum of overall quality--I have seen many that were absolute crap.

They are also quite susceptable to careless and sloppy installation, and physical damage--even when located in low/no "traffic" locations. I don't like them!

In replacing them one thing to aways consider is that "When you buy the cheapest there is, there is a good chance you will get 'the cheapest there is'.

This is not always so, however it happens often enough to be wary when comparing purchasing options.

 

[Reach4]

I think Terry posted that he routinely changes those for each WH install.
Edit: https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/water-heater-supply-line.83011/#post-598517