Plumbing help

[zx3chris]

ok diy gods -- i need some help --

long story short -- i hae a leak in the ceiling -- found it by cutting some holes. galvanied pipe to copper, massive corrosing -- leak. Piping here is very old, no shutoff valve for that line, so therefore i have no water in the entire house and no heat -- cold night..

Whats the best fix here -- replace the galvanied pipe entirely and resolder a new copper connection? I am not experienced with plumbing but i think this is simple enough for me to take on. I have a butane torch, and a rotozip saw to cut pipe.

here are some pix


close up1


close up 2 -- how does the copper hooked up to the gal pipe? i know it is gal to reducer to copper - but does the copper solder or is it screw in as well?

tia guys

-chris

[jleaman]

well you may have no water. But prince Rupert island in Canada B.C has no gas the entire island is with out natural gas because of a land slide just out side of town witch has knocked off all gas to the rupert area : O(

HAHAHAH glad i don't live there any more...

[Netlist]

If you don't have the right tools to fix this I suggest you try with plastic pipes and connectors. Cut out the bad pieces and replace with above mentioned.
Something like this: http://www.islandwaterworld.com/pdf/137.pdf

/Hugo

[Schaef]

Okay, a couple of things here. First, where does the galvanized go? Is it the main feed to the house or is it an end point that connects to something in the house?

If its an end-point, then I'd say replace the entire galvanized run with copper (or plastic, your choice) If its the main feed to the house, then I'd say call a plumber and have them do the work. (hate to say it, but that's the way I'd approach it)

As to the galvanized to copper connection, if its done right, there are connectors for this that work to reduce the problem you're seeing. It will solder onto the copper and be a screw on, onto the galvanized pipe. Translation, if you're looking to just replace the joint, you'll need some way to cut new threads on the galvanized pipe. (not cheap)

Personally, I'd look at replacing the entire run of galvanized with copper, you'll more than likely find that the galvanized is almost completely blocked with gunk inside.

[JOE DIRT®]

cheap route:

1. cut back the galv. pipe a foot back and buy a brass sweat coupling....you will need silver solder or sylfoss to braze on the the Galv. pipe

make sure place a valve on to isolate the rest of the system because you will have to drain it


2. expensive route: tear the Galv. pipe right out and replace with copper
The Galv. pipe will have so much crud in it that you will probably want to go this route.


DIRT®

[Peter Daniel]

Take this picture to Home Depot and they will advise you what you need. Make some measurements of the pipe sizes as well.

[sully]

I believe you are having the problem because of galvanic corrosion..

Call in a plumber..you have code issues as well as long term corrosion issues to contend with..

Sometimes, the right person for the job is another person..I would not undertake that project myself, even though I do a lot of diy plumbing..

Cheers, good luck...John

[zx3chris]

thanks guys, from the advice here and other forums i am going to replace the entire length of the pipe with copper - and use a dieletric union this time -- this is what caused the corrosion last time.. the help from forums is the best, thanks ;D

-chris

[zx3chris]

while i was doing this research my parents called a plumber -- he came and wanted $780 to fix it! so they turned to me and i went to home depot, spent $13 on parts and fixed it in 3 hrs -- thanks for the help guys

-chris

[li_gangyi]

crazy plumber...$780?? I could redo the almost the whole house with that...haha....but seriously did he really ask for 780 just for that section or for more??