Will this solder joint hold?

[Ken Hammond]

My bathroom pipe had a leak, so I called a plumber to fix it for me. While he was soldering he said some of the joints wouldn't take solder. I didn't know what he meant at the time because I don't know anything about plumbing.

But the pipes held when we tested it with water.

What he said kept looming in my mind so I took a mirror to look at the back of some of the solders a day later. Most of them seem to have solder all around, except for this one:

After doing some research, mostly on this forum, I learned that even though the joints are holding now, it might leak when subject to vibration or movement later. When I take showers I'm afraid to adjust the shower-head, fearing it'll jostle the pipe. I tend to be very paranoid. I've been driving myself crazy with the fear that it'll leak again in the future. The restoration process has been a nightmare. Should I be concerned?

 

[Gary Swart]

Sweating (soldering) a copper joint is not really difficult, but there are some things that have to be done correctly. First, the pipe and fitting surfaces to be joined must be clean. Emery or even sandpaper will do this. Second, and this is super critical, there pipe(s) must be totally free of water. When the joint is heated, any water in the pipe will turn to steam and the solder will not flow. Third, the pipe and fitting must be fluxed. Fourth, the joint must be heat to the point that the solder will melt when touched to the joint. The flux causes the melted solder to flow into the joint. No flux, no joint, it's that simple. Finally the joint must be allowed to cool before it is moved. One thing to be aware of is that you can not just add solder to a joint that previously be made. The flux is gone. A joint that has had water run through it, can no be patched. It must be either cut out and new fittings added or heated and taken apart, and recleaned before resoldering. It's often easier just to use new fittings rather than cleaning all the old solder out. In answer to the original question, yes, a bad joint can come apart. Had it happen to me once with my main shut off valve. It had been professionally installed and had lasted several year, but one night I bumped it and I had a major flood before I the city could get here and shut the meter off. One inch copper with 90 plus psi can dump a hell of lot of water in a hurry. I believe the reason this was a bad joint was the meter did not shut off 100%. I had a bit of trouble redoing the connection because water was seeping. I solved the problem, but that's another story.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Plumber69]

My bathroom pipe had a leak, so I called a plumber to fix it for me. While he was soldering he said some of the joints wouldn't take solder. I didn't know what he meant at the time because I don't know anything about plumbing.

But the pipes held when we tested it with water.

What he said kept looming in my mind so I took a mirror to look at the back of some of the solders a day later. Most of them seem to have solder all around, except for this one:

View attachment 33738

View attachment 33736

After doing some research, mostly on this forum, I learned that even though the joints are holding now, it might leak when subject to vibration or movement later. When I take showers I'm afraid to adjust the shower-head, fearing it'll jostle the pipe. I tend to be very paranoid. I've been driving myself crazy with the fear that it'll leak again in the future. The restoration process has been a nightmare. Should I be concerned?

What u got was an apprentice..... and a bad one.. but honest. I've see solder joints hold where the pipe was is only a 1/8th in the joint for 20 years. If your plumber is wery of his work get a new one.

 

[Standardairconditioner]

In the point of view of the photo, that upper elbow is indeed sweated. You can see there the gravity made it pool up towards the bottom. This happens sometimes when you sweat horizontals.

Sweating doesn't have to overflow out from the join, and only very little of it is needed inside there. There is indeed solder all around the I.D. of the elbow, and it is sealed.

Apprentice or not, sweating is not a difficult task. The DIY can get it right after practicing just a couple of times with extra fitting and leftover copper.

 

[Cacher_Chick]

If you can push, pull, bend, and flex the joint and it doesn't leak now, it is not very likely to do so later.

 

[Ken Hammond]

Thank you for your expert opinions.

In the point of view of the photo, that upper elbow is indeed sweated. You can see there the gravity made it pool up towards the bottom. This happens sometimes when you sweat horizontals.

Sweating doesn't have to overflow out from the join, and only very little of it is needed inside there. There is indeed solder all around the I.D. of the elbow, and it is sealed.

Apprentice or not, sweating is not a difficult task. The DIY can get it right after practicing just a couple of times with extra fitting and leftover copper.

How can you tell there is solder all around the I.D. of the elbow even though solder didn't overflow out the joint? Is it based on the fact that there is solder pooled at the bottom, that it is currently not leaking, or something else?

Am I just too paranoid or should I get someone else to redo all the joints? There's 7 joints he soldered and there isn't much space to work with. It would cost a lot but the cost of replacing all the flooring and drywall is 10x more.

 

[Ken Hammond]

If you can push, pull, bend, and flex the joint and it doesn't leak now, it is not very likely to do so later.

I tried to do that a little bit, but wasn't sure how much force to apply.

 

[Jadnashua]

A proper solder joint on a pipe and fitting that size, it should take over 1000# of traction to pull it apart.

 

[Dj2]

Better pics in different angles are needed. A physical inspection would be even better. From the one pic you have here, it looks like the joint is OK, but I can't offer you any guaranty.

Call a seasoned plumber for a second opinion. You can tell by license numbers who has been around and who started yesterday.

 

[DonL]

Looks like Piss Poor prep and cleaning to me.

 

[Jadnashua]

The carbon could be from poor cleaning or overheating and burning the flux. The skill in making a good solder joint is proper prep, and knowing where and how much heat to apply before adding the solder.

 

[Cory Hank]