Leaky Copper-to-Brass Connection
#1
06-27-16, 11:23 PM
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: New York
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Leaky Copper-to-Brass Connection
Hi All,
A family member of mine has a small leak problem in the basement. From what I see from his picture and from what he told me, there is a leak past the ball valve on that strange horizontal coupler. I think I only seen that type of special brass coupler on a boiler (auto-vent?). Well, this connection is actually going to the sprinkler yard manifold. I am not sure what that brass part is and whether it could be repaired without sweating. I am not a big fan of sweating pipes, I never got the hang of it. It's always an epic fail sweating pipes for me. I was thinking of just removing that brass piece by torching it and use a sharkbite there. What do you guys think?
Please see picture attached. Can someone tell me what the purpose of that special coupler piece is? (Other than joining 2 pipes together).
A family member of mine has a small leak problem in the basement. From what I see from his picture and from what he told me, there is a leak past the ball valve on that strange horizontal coupler. I think I only seen that type of special brass coupler on a boiler (auto-vent?). Well, this connection is actually going to the sprinkler yard manifold. I am not sure what that brass part is and whether it could be repaired without sweating. I am not a big fan of sweating pipes, I never got the hang of it. It's always an epic fail sweating pipes for me. I was thinking of just removing that brass piece by torching it and use a sharkbite there. What do you guys think?
Please see picture attached. Can someone tell me what the purpose of that special coupler piece is? (Other than joining 2 pipes together).
#2
06-28-16, 03:37 AM
Super Moderator
That is a check valve to prevent back-feed into your homes water supply.
It is a needed component.
Did you try carefully tightening the cap?
It should not be too expensive to have replaced by a plumber if you are unable to do it yourself.
It is a needed component.
Did you try carefully tightening the cap?
It should not be too expensive to have replaced by a plumber if you are unable to do it yourself.
#3
06-28-16, 03:37 AM
Member
It's a check valve.
It's more common and may even be code now to have a vacuum breaker there instead.
It's there to help prevent the possiblity of ground water from outside making it's way into your water supply lines.
Tried just snugging up the cap?
Shutting off the valve, removing the cap and adding some Teflon pipe dope to the threads?
(That type cap seals with a gasket, not tapered threads and should not need any sealant, but hay if it stops the leak it's worth a try)
It's more common and may even be code now to have a vacuum breaker there instead.
It's there to help prevent the possiblity of ground water from outside making it's way into your water supply lines.
Tried just snugging up the cap?
Shutting off the valve, removing the cap and adding some Teflon pipe dope to the threads?
(That type cap seals with a gasket, not tapered threads and should not need any sealant, but hay if it stops the leak it's worth a try)
#4
06-30-16, 08:53 AM
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: New York
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Thanks for your replies guys. Tried tightening the cap but it still leaked from the left side where it was sweated perhaps 20 yrs ago. My uncle decided to hire a local plumber to replace that connection properly with sweating on a replacement apparatus. Gave him a good price bc he's a frequent pool/garden maintenance guy. All is good now!
On a side note, I'm going to re-learn sweating and I think the reason for failing at sweating pipes is bc I did not use the hottest torch. I used the blue cans before and apparently they don't reach a proper hot temp for getting the copper hot enough for flux and silver to react properly. Which cans or torch would you recommend? I don't want to be shark-bite dependent, I predict O-ring failures in a decade with them.
On a side note, I'm going to re-learn sweating and I think the reason for failing at sweating pipes is bc I did not use the hottest torch. I used the blue cans before and apparently they don't reach a proper hot temp for getting the copper hot enough for flux and silver to react properly. Which cans or torch would you recommend? I don't want to be shark-bite dependent, I predict O-ring failures in a decade with them.
