Kink in copper service line

[Rock/Lex]

I'm a contractor. A new 3/4" copper line was just run from meter to basement of a house via a boring machine. During the looping of the pipe into a wall, the pipe was kinked, similar to the attached recreation photo.
My question is this: is the lesser evil to live with the kink buried or a soldered joint buried?
Plumber thinks the kink is the lesser. I think the soldered joint is. What say you?
Thanks.
Rock

 

[Sluggo]

I'm a contractor. A new 3/4" copper line was just run from meter to basement of a house via a boring machine. During the looping of the pipe into a wall, the pipe was kinked, similar to the attached recreation photo.
My question is this: is the lesser evil to live with the kink buried or a soldered joint buried?
Plumber thinks the kink is the lesser. I think the soldered joint is. What say you?
Thanks.
Rock

I'd cut it out and solder on a 3/4" slip coupling; you might need to use two couplings with a short length of copper line connecting them if you have a lot to cut out because of existing damage/distortion. However, I'm not a plumber and I don't know if code would require brazed joints. Is the location of the kink something that would be buried or not?

In any case I can understand why the plumber likes the option of no more work...

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Terry]

Unless the joint is under concrete, it can be soldered.
I've never seen a Lead Free joint fail unless it just wasn't done right to begin with.
I've seen 50/50 joints fail.

 

[Rock/Lex]

Unless the joint is under concrete, it can be soldered.
I've never seen a Lead Free joint fail unless it just wasn't done right to begin with.
I've seen 50/50 joints fail.

 

[Rock/Lex]

Thanks for your (pl.) responses...appreciate it. The kinked portion of the pipe would be in the dirt under a concrete patched and tiled portion of a basement floor.

 

[hj]

If that is INSIDE the building, then solder joints are NOT allowed there. A cold water kinked pipe should not have any problem, but that depends on how badly it is kinked. Good practice would dictate it either be pulled and replaced or the joint be made outside the building.

 

[Bluebinky]

If that is INSIDE the building, then solder joints are NOT allowed there. A cold water kinked pipe should not have any problem, but that depends on how badly it is kinked. Good practice would dictate it either be pulled and replaced or the joint be made outside the building.

Are you talking about under a slab?

 

[Terry]

Are you talking about under a slab?

Code wants a silver solder under a concrete slab.
If it's between the meter and the home, with only dirt for cover, then you can solder.
Within the foundation, under the concrete slab, silver solder.

 

[hj]

And since "silver soldering" weakens/detempers the tubing and the fitting, it creates a potential failure point.

 

[Plumber69]

Code wants a silver solder under a concrete slab.
If it's between the meter and the home, with only dirt for cover, then you can solder.
Within the foundation, under the concrete slab, silver solder.

Our code must be diff, anything buried here must be silver soldered. Unless i was misinformed

 

[Terry]

Our code must be diff, anything buried here must be silver soldered. Unless i was misinformed

It may be. In Washington State, I'm using UPC
Uniform Plumbing Code

Some of your venting requirements are also different.

 

[hj]

We are the same way here. Under concrete silver solder, outdoors soft solder. One of the grocery stores here had the entire 2" overhead copper line silver soldered. There was a water hammer situation and since the tee was weakened by the heat of silver soldering, the 1/2" branch broke off the tee, and flooded the store.