Pinhole in Copper Joint

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BillK

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I am an amateur, who has done quite a bit of re-modeling over the years, so I have some plumbing experience, but I am by no means any kind of expert.

I got a pinhole in a sweated connection last week. I have never had this type of problem before, and I find it disturbing because it makes me wonder if this is the start of a trend.

My house is 33 years old, with supply water plumbed with copper.
I am the original owner of the house.
The house was professionally plumbed, including the failed joint.
The failure was in a horizontal cold line that runs to an outside faucet.
The failure point was in a sweated joint of a shutoff valve.
The failure was a pinhole that caused a spray of water.
The line and joint were not disturbed in any way.
My house has never had a plumbing failure in the copper.
The water in this line is not conditioned.
I know of no general problems in my area with pinholes.

The excess solder on both connections to the shutoff valve has a whitish look to it, rather than being shiny. This does not seem to be the case on other exposed joints I have looked at, and I am not sure what it means, if anything, relative to the failure.

I have done searches on the internet to try to learn about this kind of failure. One stated reason for this kind of failure of a sweated joint is due to "poor workmanship" with flux. I really don't understand this, as it would seem to me to have been very hard for a professional plumber of the time to have use flux improperly. I don't even know what it means to use flux improperly, when it comes to causing a pinhole leak after 33 years.

I would appreciate your assistance in helping me understand the cause of this failure, as it is beyond anything I have experienced. If I can diagnose the cause, maybe I can understand what level of risk I have for future occurrences.

BillK
 

Jimbo

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33 years and now it leaked? Go back to bed. It's too earyl to be losing sleep over this !!!
 

hj

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It was probably a bad joint that finally failed. I had a customer who hit a 25 year old solder joint when he slid a can of peas into the cabinet and the elbow fell off the copper, because it had not been slid all the way onto the tubing when it was soldered.
 

Gary Slusser

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There are many causes of pinhole leaks. Too much flux is one. Not reaming the inside of tubing after it has been cut with tubing cutters is another and IIRC the primary cause of pinholes at/in fittings. The other causes range from low pH to electrical grounds to bacteria to high TDS, DO and CO2.

You say the outside water is not "conditioned", if the other water is, what type of conditioning?
 

BillK

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There are many causes of pinhole leaks. Too much flux is one. Not reaming the inside of tubing after it has been cut with tubing cutters is another and IIRC the primary cause of pinholes at/in fittings. The other causes range from low pH to electrical grounds to bacteria to high TDS, DO and CO2.

You say the outside water is not "conditioned", if the other water is, what type of conditioning?

Maybe I used the wrong term. I have a water softener, but the water that goes outside does not get softened.

I have the valve and stubbed pipe. I will un-solder it and see what the inside edges of the tubing look like when I get a chance.

Any significance to the whitish look of the excess solder around the joints, or would I see that if I looked at enough old solder joints?
 

hj

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You will probably find a joint which is not completely coated with solder inside the fitting or on the outside of the tubing. The white coating is usually caused by a miniscule leak which evaporates and leaves the minerals behind.
 

BillK

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You probably have lead based solder, and in most cases it gets a white powdery substance on it, as all solder can, from the air in the environment around it and condensation from cold water in the pipe causing sweating in humid air.

How about the water analysis data?


I'm sure the solder is lead/tin.

I have never had any analysis done on my water. What would I want done? How might it help me understand my prpblem?
 

killavolt

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I'm sure the solder is lead/tin.

I have never had any analysis done on my water. What would I want done? How might it help me understand my problem?

If you're on a well, low PH can cause pinholes, especially in cold, horizontal runs. A water analysis could point you in the right direction. You would need an ionizer to neutralize the PH. I have seen water from wells with a PH as low as 4.7 which is pretty acidic. If you're not on a well, and water analysis confirms your PH is more in the neutral range (around 7.2) then you can rest easy and repair the bad joint.
 

Gary Slusser

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I'm sure the solder is lead/tin.

I have never had any analysis done on my water. What would I want done? How might it help me understand my prpblem?
There are many causes of pinhole leaks. Too much flux is one. Not reaming the inside of tubing after it has been cut with tubing cutters is another and IIRC the primary cause of pinholes at/in fittings. The other causes range from low pH to electrical grounds to bacteria to high TDS, DO and CO2.
 
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