i’m trying to add a water line and the old valve doesn’t close all the way. i tried a sharkbite and it still leaks. so how do i sweet a wet copper pipe?
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i perfer my copper without sugar..............................
oh,you mean sweat. get everything ready,ends cleaned and fluxed,solder and torch ready. take some white bread and pack down the pipe and hurry up and solder. be sure to take your areators out before you turn on the water.
YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'T
MOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THE
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"be sure to take your areators out before you turn on the water"
Thems the parts around the nipples right? I always ask for the wrong things at HD, that last lady that worked there gave me her phone number when I asked about nipples.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
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That was no Lady;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
First, shut off the main. Then open any hose bibs that are as low or lower to give water in the system a way out, and open the highest faucet or hose bib so that all the water in the system will drain. Give it some time. (You probably did all that, but start at the start, right?)
Then, if there's still a drip, get some soft white bread, and jamb it in the pipe. It'll absorb the drip long enough to sweat a fitting fast, but will dissolve in the pipe.
k
edit- alwaysoverbudget beat me to it... oh well.
Edited 3/2/2009 11:53 pm ET by KFC
I'm wondering why the Sharkbite was leaking.
Good question.
k
"sweet a wet pipe"
that's what she said.
k
if the sharkbite was leaking ...
all the internet advice in the world ain't gonna help sweat that wet pipe.
time to call a plumber or reread the sharkbite instructions.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I ran into a couple of problems with Sharkbite fittings leaking. The problem was that I had not pushed the fittings fully onto the pipe. While it initially "felt" seated, it was not. Working at it a little more was all it took to seat them correctly.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
yeah ... sometime they slip right in ... others it's a fight to get them close.
had a "slip over" that I thot was gonna get the best of me and my helper. Thinking they can make the removal tool, which ya need to work the slip over ... a little less sharp.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Yep - just because you're not sweatin', doesn't mean that blood and tears aren't still involved.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
If the SharkBite leaked then you didn't prep the pipe properly, or it's undersized. After cutting the pipe you need to carefully clean and deburr it before installing the SharkBite. I suppose you might be able to install a SharkBite on a pipe end that has been previously soldered, but the end needs to be heated and wiped clean of solder with a damp rag, then have any remaining solder lumps filed off.
If the pipe is undersized you may need to use a compression fitting.
I agree, pipe was not cleaned/preped properly. Sharkbite fittings rule!
If he wants to try the bread trick, a hotter flame than a hand propane torch would help, mapp or aceteyle. Get in and get got quicker.
To answer your question directly, you *can't" sweat a wet (or even damp, or steam-filled) pipe. The bread trick might work, if there isn't much pressure and flow from downstream. A Sharkbite is a good option but, like the other posters, I'm puzzled why it's not working for you. A bit more detail in your explaination might be helpful.
In cases where the main shutoff is shot (or where it's a gate valve, so it was never any good to begin with), here's what I've done. Close the main valve before the water meter. Disconnect the outflow from the meter and let it drip/run onto the floor, into a bucket, whatever, so any water getting through the main valve simply drains instead of filling the downstream pipes. Drain the pipes downstream of the meter. Sweat a new ball valve on to the now-dry outflow side of the line -- that's your new main shutoff. (As an alternative, use a valve with compression fittings so you don't have to worry about taking a lot of time getting a good solder joint while there's water pouring onto your floor. But make sure the pipes are clean so you get a good seal.) Reconnect the meter.
Note that you may need to alert the water company before disconnecting the meter if the meter is sealed -- they like to know these things.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
the sharkbite diddn't leak. i shut off the main, and tried to dry the pipe with map gas. what i diddn't know was when i heated it up another sodder joint failed. the bread worked and i fixed all the joints. thank u all.
SS17
Click on this link pictures & instructions should get you through it
http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/how-to/departments/building-skills/soldering-copper-pipe.aspx?nterms=93304
Zeeya
View Image
Edited 3/3/2009 12:14 pm ET by ZEEYA
use dry bread a poke quite a bit in and use MAP gas torch. After using MAP gas recently for wet lines I wouldn't use anything else.
Cant sweat a wet pipe. How about a crimp on fitting, or is that what a shark bite is?
Can you get to the main? Worst case, have the city shut off the curbstop.
Family.....They're always there when they need you.
Or have a plumber freeze the pipe.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
Forgot about that. My plumber has done that before. Thats kind of cool (no oun intended).
Family.....They're always there when they need you.
I use the shop vac to suck any water out. Open up everything so it all drains. and then hook up the vac and let it suck for a while. I take a rag and make a reducer so the shop vac hose fits the pipe. Go have a cup of coffee.
If there is any dampness near the place you are soldering you can heat up the pipe back a few feet to dry it out.
If you aren't thourough you will have to do it again. And maybe some more. So do it once.