Solder joint had slight bind - is this a problem?

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Guy Merritt

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I'm a complete amateur when it comes to plumbing but I've had pretty good luck, generally, with most home repairs. Last night I was replacing an ancient, corroded gate valve with a ball valve. I was low on pipe, didn't wanna run to the store, and I didn't push my pipe all the way into the ball valve - so I got a slight angle on the pipe and a bind in the fitting where it meets some old pipe. The pipe is pushed way into the coupling, on both ends, and (obviously) there's plenty off solder. Anyway: I've never sweat pipes and had them come apart, later. This doesn't leak, a bit, and I know it's messy as hell (I didn't even wipe the pipes off) - but is this something that absolutely should be corrected or will it hold - pretty much - forever? My wife is, like, "just leave it alone - how can it come apart....?". On the other hand, she knows a lot less than me - and that's bad. This is ugly, but I've got a LOT to fix in this house....... If it's just ugly, we can live with it... If there's a real danger that it could ever come apart, I'll just fix it. Personally, I don't think it can come apart just because it has this slight bind. But I'd rather get an opinion from someone who knows more than me (which is just about everybody - except, maybe, my wife).

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Guy Merritt

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That implies the pipe is just bent. I would side with your wife.
And this is a hard area to work in - and something you would never see. It's in a tiny closet where the water heater sits... It sure as hell seems as if it would never leak - but it sure looks bad.....! I'd rather move on - thanks for the input.
 

hj

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I once had a customer with a 20 year old "bad joint" and it fell apart when he hit it with a can of peas, so age is NOT a good variable as to how long a "bad joint" would last. I will say, however, the it is unusual to see a coupling with the tubing "all the way into the socket" that could be bent that much.
 

Gary Swart

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Other than being close to a wall, that isn't a difficult area in which to work. You just need a shield to protect the wall then redo the work. The pipe on the left is not plumb and that is what is causing the problem. You will have to adjust the length of the pieces, and while you are at it, why not eliminate the coupler and just use a longer pipe from the valve to the elbow?
 

Jadnashua

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There's only a few thousandths clearance between the OD of the pipe and the ID of the fitting, so, as HJ said, it's kind of hard to have the pipe seated well into the socket of the fitting and still have it at an angle. Is that a repair coupling (i.e., one without a stop)? IF so, it may not be centered around the two pipe ends.
 
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