Pinholes in copper vent pipe

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Markts30

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How does that explain why only one small section of pipe has the holes?


The condensation tends to form and collect on the horizontal pipes only...
Chances are all the horizontal piping in the home (copper waste piping I mean) has a similar problem... In the vertical piping it would tend to drain...
 

Verdeboy

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The condensation tends to form and collect on the horizontal pipes only...
Chances are all the horizontal piping in the home (copper waste piping I mean) has a similar problem... In the vertical piping it would tend to drain...

Then, wouldn't you expect the holes to be on the bottom of the horizontal pipes, since any droplets that would theoretically form, should pool up on the bottom, rather than the top.
 

Kordts

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It's the gas. Towns with sulphur in the water are notorious for this. Usually it's the top of the drain lines, but sometimes the vents.
 

Chel_in_IL

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That type of corrosion is common in Illinois. The gas from the effluent eats away the top of the pipes. I would check your horizontal drain lines. I make a lot of money doing repipes on copper dwv systems.

I checked all the other copper piping in the house, and they all look fine. It's a small house, and all the piping is confined to one area in the basement, which is accessible near the furnace (nothing in the walls, except for the upstairs bathroom that I am remodeling).

As you guys found this interesting, here's a pic of what the inside of the pipe looked like. There was about 1/2" of powdered corrosion sitting in the bottom of the pipe... (but the bottom of the pipe didn't have -any- holes).

223318158-M.jpg
 

Raucina

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scrap as much copper as you can saw out and it will pay for the new plastic pipe and maybe a short vacation.
 

Chel_in_IL

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12 years later and I’m searching the ‘net after I found a couple of pinholes in a vertical vent/drain pipe in the basement. I started reading this post and thought, “Wait, that sounds familiar...” (Yah duh because you wrote it.) Most everything plumbing related has been replaced in this house besides the drain/vent pipes.

Looking back, while it would have been a lot of work, I should have ripped out all that copper while I had the walls down to the studs.

Last week I discovered a puddle on the floor at a copper vent pipe where it connects to the cast iron fitting leading to the septic line. I thought the joint was leaking... no, two little pinholes about 2” and 8” off the floor. Ugh. (Odd that it’s leaking from these points so consistently as this pipe serves as a vent and the drain for the lower level bathroom sink, which isn’t often used. It was a pretty steady but not easily visible to older eyes stream down the pipe.)

For now I sanded and patched with plumbers putty. Inspected the rest of the pipes and didn’t see any further issues. I’m working on remodeling the downstairs bath so the piping will be getting replaced.

Could the condensation and septic gas cause this to leak like this?

(String to wick water away from wall.)

Michelle
 

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