Sharkbite Water Heater Corrugated connection kit LEAKING!

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Charlie Bosco

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To start. Brand new water heater with a powered anode on well water with a softener. Have you ever seen this before? Its leaking from the actual corrugated pipe! This install is less than 2 months old and I just happened to look at the top of the water heater and noticed a water drop stain..

After inspecting its not leaking from the Sharkbite connector. There are a few rust spots on the pipe and water is seeping from one of them!! If I wipe the spot with my finger, water immediately seeps from the pinhole..WTF! Its supposed to be stainless, NOT RUST. I specifically chose the corrugated over the braided rubber for this exact reason.. avoiding a potential burst or blowout.

Here is a picture of the rust spots. Its right after the Sharkbite Connecter goes back into the wall from the hot side. This connection kit was brand new in the package. I guess I am going to have to run to Home Depot and replace this EFFING thing.. Its always something..

pipe.jpg
 

Charlie Bosco

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Poor quality........what else is there to say ?
Exactly! Stainless is not supposed to rust.. of its it does its its superficial stains.. Like a Stainless cleat on a salt water boat. This is clearly a corrosion pinhole. I just want to make sure I did not set up some sort of chemistry experiment and the combination of soft water + Powered Anode = RUST HOLES.
 
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Phog

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Stainless steel is not corrosion proof, it can be an anode (or in other words, corrode) when in a galvanic couple with many materials including (I think) mild steel. This would be the exact situation in your water heater. Even so this should not happen anywhere near as fast as what you're seeing, it should be an extremely slow corrosion. Maybe the powered anode is helping drive this reaction much faster? I would love to see a picture of what the inside of those stainless flex tubes looks like -- like cut in half lengthwise.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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I had a pinhole leak the other day on a stainless corrugated supply line. Even my supplier had never heard of that. Now you're the second one.
They are blaming everything on the corona virus these days
and breakdowns in the chain of production ....

I had one too but they are very rare indeed
 

Terry

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They are blaming everything on the corona virus these days
and breakdowns in the chain of production ....

I had one too but they are very rare indeed


We're up to three now. Woohoo!

One time the threads on an expansion tank weren't cut right. I had to go back for a second tank, and the crummy thing was that when I picked up the water heater I was thinking I should get two expansion tanks, and then I talked myself out of it.
 

Charlie Bosco

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Stainless steel is not corrosion proof, it can be an anode (or in other words, corrode) when in a galvanic couple with many materials including (I think) mild steel. This would be the exact situation in your water heater. Even so this should not happen anywhere near as fast as what you're seeing, it should be an extremely slow corrosion. Maybe the powered anode is helping drive this reaction much faster? I would love to see a picture of what the inside of those stainless flex tubes looks like -- like cut in half lengthwise.


Here is a photo of the inside. Did not have to cut it open to see the situation. If I dumped that part in muriatic acid. It would not have done that. Some effed up stainless steel. I replaced the hose with a new one this morning.

4C023D50-9D45-466E-A739-1831D85DAC89.jpeg
View attachment 70755
 
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Dj2

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Even the conventional copper corrugated flex are leaking now. I had one leak, I didn't even bend it much at all, and it leaked.
They import them from China, where copper is not really copper...
 
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There are many grades of stainless steel. An easy check is for better corrosions resistant stainless steels (300 series SS) is to see if a magnet is attracted to it or not. Most 300 series SS are not magnetic and have good corrosions resistance. If a magnet is attracted to it like most steel it's going to rust like most steels too.

Care should be taken when connecting difference metals. Galvanic corrosion can easily occur. There are tables that list the galvanic potential of difference metal. https://l-36.com/corrosion.php. A good practice is make sure that galvanic potential of components in a system are of the same or similar potential. If for some reason metals of different galvanic potential are in the same system they are they should be isolated from each other electrically (if it's plumbing system, assume that water conductive). So don't use aluminum and stainless together.
 

Charlie Bosco

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There are many grades of stainless steel. An easy check is for better corrosions resistant stainless steels (300 series SS) is to see if a magnet is attracted to it or not. Most 300 series SS are not magnetic and have good corrosions resistance. If a magnet is attracted to it like most steel it's going to rust like most steels too.

Care should be taken when connecting difference metals. Galvanic corrosion can easily occur. There are tables that list the galvanic potential of difference metal. https://l-36.com/corrosion.php. A good practice is make sure that galvanic potential of components in a system are of the same or similar potential. If for some reason metals of different galvanic potential are in the same system they are they should be isolated from each other electrically (if it's plumbing system, assume that water conductive). So don't use aluminum and stainless together.
Considering I was using a purpose built pipe for a water heater, I should not have to worry about galvanic reactions.. This pipe was only installed for 2 weeks before I noticed what was happening. This pipe was facked up right out of the package.. The new replacement pipe is still perfect..
 

Paulypfunk

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Could you have bad electrical grounding? You might have a tiny bit of loose electrical current across that section of piping, which can accelerate rust. Maybe the powered anode is contributing? I would check the piping and the heater with a multimeter to see if you have any spark on any combination of metal.
 

Charlie Bosco

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Could you have bad electrical grounding? You might have a tiny bit of loose electrical current across that section of piping, which can accelerate rust. Maybe the powered anode is contributing? I would check the piping and the heater with a multimeter to see if you have any spark on any combination of metal.
Actually nothing changed between the first defective pipe and the replacement. As I said, I may have never even noticed the rust stains on the pipe when I installed it. I only noticed it when I saw water dripping. The new pipe has been fine for a month now.. Maybe will try a meter on them them just for the hell of it..
 

Jeff H Young

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Actually nothing changed between the first defective pipe and the replacement. As I said, I may have never even noticed the rust stains on the pipe when I installed it. I only noticed it when I saw water dripping. The new pipe has been fine for a month now.. Maybe will try a meter on them them just for the hell of it..
Sharkbite brand name or just referring to that type of connection
 

Reach4

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Here is a picture of the rust spots. Its right after the Sharkbite Connecter goes back into the wall from the hot side. This connection kit was brand new in the package. I guess I am going to have to run to Home Depot and replace this EFFING thing..
HD replaced it free with the same model, but not the flaws?
 

Jadnashua

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I wonder if there may be counterfeit parts rumbling around the system. Generally, Sharkbite products seem to work when used and installed per instructions.
 
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