Austin83
New Member
Pictures below) I recently found a hole in the drain pan under my hot water heater. My hot water heater has rigid copper piping for the water lines which would seem to make it difficult to disconnect and allow me to lift the hot water heater to put the new pan under it. Some friends suggested to cut the existing copper tubing add in the corrugated flexible copper tubing with compression connections. I also know I need to add a shut off valve. There are limited locations on the rigid copper lines for me to cut and try a compression fitting due to slight kinks/crimps in the existing tubing which would make it difficult to get a good seal with the compression fittings. Plus, my lines are only about 17.5 inches from the wall to the heater with a gentle curve, I'm afraid that the 12-18" flexible copper sections would be too long and require some nasty bends to make the connection with the cut locations I have, and I don't know how I would tie in a shut off valve with the limited space. Should I just heat up the existing soldered connection and remove the copper piping there in order to maximize my space? Would the two inches of copper piping coming out of the wall be enough to use a compression fitting? What precautions should I take when using a torch that close to a wall? I have never worked with copper tubing so any help or advice is greatly appreciated. I hate to call a plumber for something this silly, but I'm open to suggestions. Thanks in advance.
Austin
Austin
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