Botched Water Heater installation? Slow leak at joint. Pics

[FixingThings]

Hello,

I had a water heater tank installed in December 2017 after the old one went bad.

There is now a slow drip at the top joint for the hot water pipe (joint coming out of the tank).

To repair the slow drip can I just use JB Weld Epoxy putty and wrap it around the side of the joint that's leaking and be done with this?

Just by looking at hot water pipe, you can can see that the plumber did not take the time to make this pipe go flush with the wall and it pulls away and separates a good 4 inches from the wall at the top.
The bottom joint at the wall may be under stress from being extended more than 90 degrees? This does not look good, but I am not sure if this can be acceptable and I should just not worry about it.

Should I be concerned about the way the hot water pipe is being pulled away from the wall or just repair the leak at the top joint and be done?

Any advise is much appreciated.

Here are some pics

 

[Terry]

JB Weld will do nothing for that joint. That joint seals with an O-Ring inside the fitting.
You can replace the fitting and see if that works. At the same time, you can pick up a coupling and a length of pipe and extend it so that the pipe near the wall is vertical. Those are SharkBite type fittings which just push on. There is a tool that allows you to remove them too.

The tool looks like this, but you will need the 1/2" version. It pushes the sleeve inward which releases the bite on the pipe.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[FixingThings]

Hi Terry, thanks for replying.

If I try to lengthen the horizontal pipe at the top with a coupling then I would have to cut the vertical pipe a bit to shorten it or it will be too high when it gets flush with the wall and then the horizontal pipe will come into the joint that is currently leaking at an angle right? Please correct me if I am wrong.

I presume this is why the plumber just pulled the pipe away from the wall so he didn't have to shorten the horizontal pipe.

Is this pipe at risk due to being pulled away this much?

Thanks

 

[Reach4]

It leaks. It needs fixing. Can you see any writing on that leaking elbow?

Soldering will be a better fix. I see an elbow, short piece of pipe, and a repair coupling as making for a nice fix.

Alternatively, you could put a corrugated water heater connector on the water heater nipple, and adapt the other end to your pipe.

 

[Plumber69]

PEX and sharkbites temputure rating are almost the same. So wouldn't you need 18inches of copper before a shark

 

[Reach4]

Pex and sharkbites temputure rating are almost the same. So wouldn't you need 18inches of copper before a shark

Some places let you run PEX all of the way to the WH. Others don't.


How about a copper street elbow with a 1/2" x 12" Sweat Full-Slip Copper Repair Coupling (cut to size). 3 solder joints. Minimum stress. No critical measurement.

It's no way on J B Weld for this.

 

[Terry]

PEX and sharkbites temputure rating are almost the same. So wouldn't you need 18inches of copper before a shark

Regardless, I'm not a fan of PEX or Sharkbites that close to a water heater. Heat does bad things to thin rubber O-Rings.

 

[Treeman]

It's o.k. to wire it that way??

 

[FixingThings]

I will attempt this repair myself doing with your suggestions.

I was looking at those water heater installation kits at lowes that come with 2 stainless steel flex lines that connect direct to the nipples coming out of the water heater and go to the copper pipes.

This seems to be the easiest way for a DIY guy with little experience and no soldering exp or torch to fix this, am I correct?
and would this flex lines be up to code in TN though?

Also, how much of the copper pipes should I cut to accommodate the length of the steel flex lines? I assume the straighter the flex line the better?

Thanks

 

[Reach4]

2 stainless steel flex lines that connect direct to the nipples

Corrugated stainless would be fine functionally, but avoid braided stainless. The braid is over a rubber-like hose and those can decompose.

I would guess those are permitted in TN, but I am not sure.

With a hot torch and some new soldering materials including Oatey No. 95 tinning flux, soldering can be easier than it was in the old days with lead-containing solder. Surprisingly.

You have to drop the water level, and let the pipe dry, before soldering.

 

[FixingThings]

I see what you are saying. You guys are pros. I guess these flex lines are marketed so heavily for the DIY people and to sell more product?
Or these flex lines are good for lines under faucets and things like that and not water heaters in particular?

If they will last at least a few years in my water heater without decomposing it might do the trick as I am up to my neck in things I need to fix in this home at this moment. I made the mistake of renting out for a few years and I just moved back in. They tore my place up.

Also, it seems that the water pressure in my home is very high according to the plumber who installed this water heater. I need to buy a pressure gage to measure it. there is no PRV in this home. So maybe that is why the shark bite type joint he installed may be leaking on the hot water side + the angle the copper pipe comes into the fitting?

 

[Plumber69]

I see what you are saying. You guys are pros. I guess these flex lines are marketed so heavily for the DIY people and to sell more product?
Or these flex lines are good for lines under faucets and things like that and not water heaters in particular?

If they will last at least a few years in my water heater without decomposing it might do the trick as I am up to my neck in things I need to fix in this home at this moment. I made the mistake of renting out for a few years and I just moved back in. They tore my place up.

Also, it seems that the water pressure in my home is very high according to the plumber who installed this water heater. I need to buy a pressure gage to measure it. there is no PRV in this home. So maybe that is why the shark bite type joint he installed may be leaking on the hot water side + the angle the copper pipe comes into the fitting?

It's possible it's not pushed on all the way. it's possible he damage the o ring when installing

 

[Plumber69]

It's possible it's not pushed on all the way. it's possible he damage the o ring when installing

its possible the pipe wasnt smooth enough for the o ring to seal

 

[Reach4]

I see what you are saying. You guys are pros. I guess these flex lines are marketed so heavily for the DIY people and to sell more product?
Or these flex lines are good for lines under faucets and things like that and not water heaters in particular?

I am not a pro, but I have learned from the pro's posts.

I think there is a difference in quality for those. When people get black bits in the tub or aerators, think braided supply lines.

A water heater is a bit different in that the water there is hotter than elsewhere. The correlated metal lines are not going to have the problem. Corrugated copper is readily available and trusted. A lot of the stainless is trusted.

 

[FixingThings]

If I use a stainless steel corrugated connector from sharkbite (one side has the sharkbite into the copper pipe and the other connects to the nipple), where is best to cut the copper pipe? Below the elbow close to the wall like in this picture?

Are these sharkbite brand corrugated connectors good vs a corrugated steel connector with a compression fitting on the copper pipe end?

Sharkbite connector

Compression connector

thanks for all the input.

 

[Dj2]

I only use copper corrugated flex connectors, which is acceptable in my city.
In your case a solid copper pipe seems to be to code, so just replace this elbow with a new sweat elbow.
Soldering is required.