Plumbing leak


  #1  
Old 09-30-02, 06:15 PM
handymike
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Question Plumbing leak

I have a slow drip in the copper pipping in the basement at an elbow joint.
3 questions. A) there is no shut off valve close to the leak, how do I clear the water out of the pipe?
B) do I need to remove the elbow completly from both connecting pipes that create the 90 degree bend or just at the joint where the leak is?
C) How do I clean left over solder from inside the elbow and outside end of pipe?

Thanks for any help
 
  #2  
Old 09-30-02, 06:55 PM
Mike Swearingen's Avatar
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Cool

Cut off the nearest valve that will stop the water flow in that pipe.
(You can't solder a pipe back together well with water in it.)
Open the farthest faucet for air, and it will drain the line down after you sweat it apart.
You only have to sweat the side of the fitting that is leaking.
Clean off the old solder with emory cloth or sand paper.
Re-flux iinside the fitting and on the end of the pipe, and fit them tightly together.
Heat the end of the fitting only, and touch the solder all around the endge of the fitting until the solder is drwan in. Do NOT over-heat, or the solder will flow out.
Good Luck!
Mike
 
 

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