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
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