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MasterPlumbers
I have a water pipe that is connected to my water heater that is dripping water. The pipe has what appears to be corrosion around it. The “stuff” around the pipe looks like baking soda that is green and white. Does that mean I need to replace the pipe? It appears to be a copper pipe.
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Only because these pipes ARE connected to the hot water heater and you honestly dont want this heater firing DRY REPLACE THE pipe ASAP
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Jason: The green colored material that has been collecting on that pipe is probably Calcium Carbonate that has been stained by copper that is slowly disolving from the piping.
If the leak is at a fitting joint due most likley to a poorly soldered fitting. If the leak is on a section of the piping, it may be the emergence of a pin hole leak.
The best thing to do is plan on correcting the leak as soon as possible.
Lots of luck…Bud -
Jason, you need to be careful about these guys. They don’t know that green, like on a car battery coroson comes from sulfer like in sufuric acid on the led terminal in a car battery. Most likely it is extra flux left on the fitting when they soddered it, or they left a pinhole in the sodder. When they don’t ream the tube, like most plummers do, they leve loose chips that stop the sodder from sticking. Then they come back and charge again to do it werong. The schools are better in New Jersey then in New York, then they retire to Florida. Give them the right answer. LOL
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A slow leak over the copper will create the green you are talking about, without flux around. If the leak is on the compression nut to the hot water system, its possible the installing plumber used a nylon olive instead of copper one. The nylon cannot take full time heat and perishes.
If this is the case just carefully cut the olive with a sharpe knife and replace it with a copper one (dont use a hacksaw blade as you can score the copper) -
Bungie, read better. He writes that he has a pipe that is dripping water, not a pipe with water running over it. There is also corosion around it that looks like baking soda that is green and white.
Wet corosion doesnt look like baking soda with green. Lead sulphate is white and copper sulphate is green. The corosion comes from sulphuric acid, like a car battery. We know he’s not drinnking that.
Codes ban lead sodder, so we know this wasn’t done to code or he wouldn’t have the white “baking soda.” Did you see this stuff on lead-free or silver? – no. And since the water doesn’t have sulfuric acid in it, there’s no other source for green is there?
And there is a leak, so the plummer didn’t ream the pipe, clean it with cloth that doesn’t have sand bits in it and then he slobbered flux all over and nerver cleaned it as the good practices book said. Stop covering up for these guys.
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As a rule we use 5% silver solder on copper fittings, without flux.
And using tenacity flux on brass to copper fittings, but that sets almost like glass if over used.If the water is leaking from the service nut right on the compression fitting of the hot water system. Over a period of time you will get a bubbled/crystal effect rising from behind the nut. This will be mainly white, with signs of copper sulphate on the pipe itself.
I didnt realise I was covering up for anybody
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No wonder you can’t get a anser from these guys. They don’t knpw if they are soddering or using compression olives. How do their aprentices lern anything. May as well give up and have the pipe replaced with what ever the next guy uses.
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What if it is the relief valve drain pipe leaking?Not enough info for me to guess at an answer,I’ll wait for a easier question.LOL
Jim
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