Texas plumbing questions. How to repair plumbing leaks

[Terry]

Texas plumbing questions. How to repair plumbing leaks.
Where is a main shutoff?
Questions about my well
Water heater questions

Can I use Sharkbites to repair leaks, and is PEX a good repair pipe?
What kind of pipe cutter is good for cutting out sections of pipe has split.

You can check the links here and fee free to ask your questions on the forums here. We like to help homeowners with their plumbing questions and hope to get you all back on line with your water issues.
Terry Love

 

[Jeff H Young]

God bless Texas ! hope you get up and running soon

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Guzak]

Texas plumbing questions. How to repair plumbing leaks.
Where is a main shutoff?
Questions about my well
Water heater questions

Can I use Sharkbites to repair leaks, and is PEX a good repair pipe?
What kind of pipe cutter is good for cutting out sections of pipe has split.

You can check the links here and fee free to ask your questions on the forums here. We like to help homeowners with their plumbing questions and hope to get you all back on line with your water issues.
Terry Love

I appreciate the creation of this forum. I live in Houston and can say not only was the prolonged freeze incredibly rare, losing power for 30+ hours in 10 degree weather was a new life experience for me millions of others. I came out better than expected but have been replacing broken copper for 3 days. It is quite the party here now, and fittings or pipes have been stripped off the shelves. At least one DIY guy I know has raided the auto parts stores for radiator hoses and hose clamps to make do. I have some fittings and pipes and have been able to share and help 3 other houses get their water back. Plumbers here are GODS and incredibly appreciated.

My questions - I have a Bosch 1600h tankless (no longer available) in a small rental house. The heater has been maintained and has worked really well for almost 10 years. It froze and is leaking badly internally. I haven't opened it up to try to figure out where or whether it might be worth trying to fix myself. Is it worth it or should I just replace at this point?

If I replace, does anyone have recommendations for a similar unit, or a good replacement for it? I liked the Bosch because it didn't require electric to operate, was easy to install and used a 6" type B vent. I can do whatever it takes to get a new unit installed but am looking for easiest and quickest so my tenant can get her house back.

I called Bosch and they recommended the 830 ES NG. Any thoughts on that are very welcome.

One other question - there is also a shower valve, American Standard "Symphony" that now will not shut off completely. I am thinking this is probably from the valve itself freezing solid, and perhaps something expanded which is letting water through. I am hoping this might have a cartridge that I can change out from the front by removing the front plate. Is that the case? Or will I have to replace the entire valve unit? Pretty limited access from behind, so I might have to tear out tile to do that.

Many thanks

 

[Jeff H Young]

I appreciate the creation of this forum. I live in Houston and can say not only was the prolonged freeze incredibly rare, losing power for 30+ hours in 10 degree weather was a new life experience for me millions of others. I came out better than expected but have been replacing broken copper for 3 days. It is quite the party here now, and fittings or pipes have been stripped off the shelves. At least one DIY guy I know has raided the auto parts stores for radiator hoses and hose clamps to make do. I have some fittings and pipes and have been able to share and help 3 other houses get their water back. Plumbers here are GODS and incredibly appreciated.

My questions - I have a Bosch 1600h tankless (no longer available) in a small rental house. The heater has been maintained and has worked really well for almost 10 years. It froze and is leaking badly internally. I haven't opened it up to try to figure out where or whether it might be worth trying to fix myself. Is it worth it or should I just replace at this point?

If I replace, does anyone have recommendations for a similar unit, or a good replacement for it? I liked the Bosch because it didn't require electric to operate, was easy to install and used a 6" type B vent. I can do whatever it takes to get a new unit installed but am looking for easiest and quickest so my tenant can get her house back.

I called Bosch and they recommended the 830 ES NG. Any thoughts on that are very welcome.

One other question - there is also a shower valve, American Standard "Symphony" that now will not shut off completely. I am thinking this is probably from the valve itself freezing solid, and perhaps something expanded which is letting water through. I am hoping this might have a cartridge that I can change out from the front by removing the front plate. Is that the case? Or will I have to replace the entire valve unit? Pretty limited access from behind, so I might have to tear out tile to do that.

Many thanks

hopefully just the cartridge but don't know If I would mess with it for fear of parts availability try to be sure its not leaking in wall.

 

[Guzak]

The Bosch 1600 tankless turned out to be an easy fix. The hot water outlet pipe had been pushed out when the unit froze up. I pushed it back in, held by an o-ring and a clip. It held and the water heater is firing right up.

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

Got this from one of my plumbing wholesalers today

February 25, 2021

The extreme cold weather most of the country is currently experiencing has led to multiple refineries and chemical plants being forced to close temporarily. As a result, we anticipate that resin shortages will continue in the short term. Three PVC resin suppliers; Westlake, Formosa & OxyVinyls and three HDPE resin suppliers; Lyondell, INEOS & Chevron Phillips have already declared Force Majeure. Continued winter weather is further impacting resin supply by delaying railcar and trucking deliveries nationwide. These combined circumstances are causing great volatility in price and availability of products containing plastic, most notably PVC, ABS and HDPE pipe and fittings.

We as your supply partners want to be explicit in our communication of the extreme price and availability volatility the supply chain is experiencing. It is crucial during these unsettled times that we work to communicate about upcoming material needs to best limit the financial impact to you our valued customers.

Due to the multiple force majeure declarations and industry-wide resin supply shortages price and availability of plastic pipe and fittings will be determined at the time of shipment.


Thank you for your understanding

 

[Terry]

Another plumber posted this picture of some of the pipe and fittings he's repaired.

Dallas Texas for this one.

 

[Reach4]

Another plumber posted this picture of some of the pipe and fittings he's repaired.

It's interesting that many of those failures were in elbows. I would have expected the pipe to have been the more common failure points.

 

[Terry]

It's interesting that many of those failures were in elbows. I would have expected the pipe to have been the more common failure points.

Most all of the time the repairs in the the pipes. Dusty had commented about this picture that there were five splits in a 15 foot section that he had fixed.
I have fixed many frozen pipes over the years, and yes, very uncommon to have splits in the fittings. It is a nice picture though.

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

Most of my repairs have been in pipe. I cant even recall a fitting exploding like that. Pretty crazy... I should sell all our wrought fittings to Texas.. Right now they're all in the recycle bin.. being replaced by ProPress.

 

[PlumbNuts]

Another plumber posted this picture of some of the pipe and fittings he's repaired.

I wonder if this was fed by a well and the hard water "sanded" the fittings down over the years?

 

[Paulypfunk]

If you get two sections of frozen pipe that converge the pressure can be over 10,000 psi. PVC isn’t as good of a conductor of heat but if it does get cold enough to freeze it’s not going to matter, it will still split. Uponor type PEX, the stretchy kind works pretty well when frozen. It has enough give to stretch and not burst, as long as the ice dam doesn’t form across a fitting.

 

[Texas Water Boy]

I have a carwash and I blew a couple of 1" inch elbows and actually the housing off of a booster pump and have been doing this Carwash Business for 17 yrs . But over all We have been very very Blessed! I will post some pics tomorrow.

 

[Skoronesa]

I wonder if this was fed by a well and the hard water "sanded" the fittings down over the years?

I get just as many bursts in 90's as straight pieces when you factor in where the cold air is coming from.

Cut a 90 in half through the heel, they're thinner than M copper pipe.

 

[Mikha'el]

Got this from one of my plumbing wholesalers today

Due to the multiple force majeure declarations and industry-wide resin supply shortages price and availability of plastic pipe and fittings will be determined at the time of shipment.

I'm in commercial electrical contracting - we saw this in December after a tropical storm (Zeta, I think)... the hits keep coming!

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

Just saw this on the American Standard website:

Volunteer Plumbers Needed!
Overwhelmed with plumbing needs, Texans still need our help. We've partnered with Water Mission and Plumbers Without Borders to help plumbers around the nation who volunteer to come together and help Texas by covering food, lodging and other expenses.

If you can lend a hand, please volunteer.

Sign Up at www.PlumbersWithoutBorders.org/volunteer

 

[LucasRutherford]

I use emergency tape on small leaks, which I call the plumber. Given that plumbers can be pretty costly these days, I thought of going through a plumbing course at https://www.vocationaltraininghq.com/how-to-become/plumber/. I am certain that doing so will save me a lot of money and trouble in the long term. I don't expect to do complicated work, of course. I am sure, though, that elementary tasks will be manageable enough for me.

 

[JohnCT]

I use emergency tape on small leaks, on bigger ones I call the plumber.

On bigger leaks, use Flex Seal...

John

 

[LucasRutherford]

On bigger leaks, use Flex Seal...

John

Thanks for the information.

 

[Terry]

Flex Seal isn't for use on pipes under pressure. I can't even imagine the future damage that could result in.

What Does Flex Seal Spray Not Work On?​

We do not recommend using Flex Seal on foam. Some foams may react poorly with Flex Seal, and may warp or dissolve. We also do not recommend using it in situations where it is subjected to high heat or pressure (such as engine radiators) or gas tanks. We do not recommend the use of Flex Seal spray on vinyl. Always test before use.