Last Joint


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Old 04-22-09, 09:48 AM
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Last Joint

I installed a new shower valve as part of my bathroom remodel last night. It involved cutting out the existing copper pipes to remove the existing valve, soldering nipples to the threaded male adaptors, screwing the threaded ends into the new vave body, and coupling the other ends of the nipples to the existing pipe. For some reason I came up short on the last joint and only inserted 1/4" for the soldered connection. It was 11:00 and I wanted to be done and get the water on! Now I am having slackers remorse. Will this joint fail? Is there anything I can do retroactively to strengthen the joint? Any advice would help. Thanks!
 
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Old 04-22-09, 02:20 PM
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Solder Joint

Sorry for a negative but I think that could a major prob. You will have to cut it out and do it over.
 
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Old 04-22-09, 09:06 PM
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it may or may not be a problem but since it was most likely a 1/2" fitting that means it is only seated 1/2 way in the fitting and as stated couble be a problem especially if it isnt a 100% perfect soldring job. the best thing would be to do that joint over
 
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Old 04-23-09, 11:49 AM
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Thanks guys!
I was really hoping there was some kind of sleeve or epoxy or something I could apply to the outside.

Its on the cold water line. See picture. The front elbow to the horizontal pipe in front of ABS drain vent was the last joint.

Its going to be difficult for my skill level. I would make a cut just left of the valve and just left of the elbow, remake the elbows, nipples and coupling each end.

Problems are:
1. I dont want to toast the teflon and dope out of the threaded joint in the valve,
2. Dont want to set fire to the stud


The last joint should have been the first joint but my brain was soft!

[IMG]C:\Documents and Settings\Nick\Desktop\New Folder\picture001.jpg[/IMG]
 
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Old 04-23-09, 11:52 AM
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Hmm. Inserting a photo is even harder than plumbing.
 
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Old 04-23-09, 01:05 PM
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post the picture to a free hosting site such as photobucket.com and then paste the [img] url back here
 
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Old 04-23-09, 04:03 PM
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Since it is 1/2 inch pipe, and not something like 4 inch pipe, then you are dealing with static pressure in that pipe that is only 1/5th of the rated psi of your water pressure (.1925 of a square inch). So if you are on a well and have 60 psi, then all that joint has to hold is 12 pounds (as if you tied 12 pounds of weight around the pipe trying to pull it from it's coupling). And if you are on city pressure that gets up to 80 psi, it be 16total pounds it has to withstand.

I suppose you could try to plumbers epoxy it liberally if you are in fear, since there are no leaks at this time. I have a rental that has some epoxy around some copper fitting, where it comes out of the wall under the sink - and it has been that way since I owned the rental and before (18+ years). I would not risk band clamping anything around that area though, as you could possibly distort the pipe and break the solder bond.
 
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Old 04-24-09, 09:38 AM
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Originally Posted by plumbermandan
post the picture to a free hosting site such as photobucket.com and then paste the [img] url back here
Thanks Dan:

shower valve picture by nickbee_2009 - Photobucket

Also note that the cover plate is smaller than the existing plate was. Although it is not yet properly installed in the picture and is just hanging off the screws, it will finally lap over the hole by a mere 1/8th inch right and left. Another problem to deal with.
 
 

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