Brown Water After Installing Tub Filler

[Steelskin]

Hi!

Long nightmarish story short, I ended up breaking off the tub filler pipe BEHIND THE WALL while trying to twist just the chrome filler piece off. 26 years of corrosion won over solder. Gut-wrenching sound...not good. Basically when I cleared a hole to have a look the pipe coming down from the on/off handle was crimped and not happy.

Anyway since then I took the whole assembly down to Home Depot to get replacement parts, consisting of a copper elbow joint and a 6" Galvanized Steel tube to fit onto the new replacement tub filler.

I straightened the pipe and soldered the joint ok, (well it was a messy job but it worked), used plenty of plumbing tape for the twist-on joint, and after double-checking for leaks I just duct-taped over the hole for a week's worth of observation before re-tiling. Better safe than moldy.

When I turn the tub on after an overnight's worth of sitting, I get a nice splash of rusty brown water. I don't have any other brown water coming from any other place in the house, so it seems it's just the little dabble of water that sits overnight in the filler tube.

Will this eventually resolve itself? The original pipe appeared to be galv. steel and never puked rust since we got the house. Plumbing is all copper otherwise. Isn't galvanized steel supposed to resist rust?? If this is going to continue, and I prefer it doesn't, what else should I have used?

Thanks,

-Steelskin

Seriously, if they'd make cars that had joints based on something as tough as corrosion we'd all be safer. Plus, you could just leave it out in the rain to make it stronger. :)

[Speedy Jim]

You're right; a galv nipple should not corrode (readily). Any chance they sold you a Black iron nipple? Sometimes the outside almost looks shiny enough on them to fool you.

I prefer to make the "lookout" nipple out of copper. Solder a male adapter on one end, tape it and screw it in. Cut the copper longer than needed.

Put just a tiny blob of solder on the second male adapter (to hold it in place) and screw the spout on. Carefully measure the space between the back of the spout and the tile. Cut exactly that amount off the copper pipe and then permanently solder the adapter back on. The spout will now fit tightly against the tile. Put some caulk between the spout and the tile.

Jim

[Jeff Wisnia]

Probably not....

The original pipe appeared to be

Can you spell GALVANIC CORROSION?

If there's water puddled up inside there touching both the copper and the steel (galvanized or not.) and the water isn't pure as the Virgin Mary, the zinc galvanizing and then the steel will start to corrode away faster than you can say Jill Robinson.

Here's a picture of half of a galvanized steel nipple that corroded right through on me and started weeping about 6 months after installation. The photo shows it after I scraped out all the thick brown rust that almost blocked it completely:

FWIW this nipple was one of a pair screwed into the top of a replacement electric water heater I installed in our home. Sitting on top of those two nipples were a couple of dielectric unions I slavishly bought and installed because "everybody" said to use them between the steel heater tank and the copper house piping.

After both unions corroded badly I turned on my brain and realized that those dielectric unions weren't doing anything other than making my wallet a little lighter because they were shorted out by the electric ground through the power wiring to the heater and the bonding ground on the copper piping.

I replaced those dielectric unions with all copper unions standing on copper "nipples".

If you dig around the web you can locate a fairly recent technical memorandum by the Rheem water heater people advising AGAINST the use of dielectric unions or dielectric couplings when installing their water heaters, for the very reasons I just mentioned.

A brass nipple of the appropriate length, or as others have suggested, "roll your own" from a length of copper pipe and a couple of male adaptors.

Good Luck,

Jeff

[Steelskin]

Eh.. not real likely. I've worked with an iron nipple adapter once and the thing was beginning to rust on the way home. This was actually labeled as galvanized.

I'll see about giving that a whirl. Maybe you'd like to see the mess I'm in!

just after ripping the tub spout assembly off. Note the lovely hole I've got to work in and the crimpled pipe. Thank goodness for the box of spare tile.

with new joint soldered in place and the new galv pipe sticking out. Hopefully I can still get the damn thing off without breaking something else. This time I'll start to work AFTER I have a shower.

All the fittings have an ungodly amount of space between them and the wall, and previous owners have just caulked the hell out of it. The custom pipe length would definitely solve this. I'm not looking forward to working on this. Plumbing projects make me swear like a sailor! However the wife's not enjoying the duct-tape decor so I must press onward.

Thanks!!

-Steelskin

[PJx]

My guess is that the new fitting opened up the water flow considerably and you are getting sediment from the lines that has built up over the years. It will go away so don't fret.

[jstp]

I've had the exact same problem. Going on 7 years now, still not gone... I don't use the tub much, so I just ignore the problem. I also suspect corrosion in the short filler tube. I'd be interested in finding out what you find and how you fixed it. Please post here. Thanks.

[Dana]

Change the nipple to a brass nipple. End of problem.

[SJF]

Yep! I had the same rusty water problem on my shower. Instructions for the new valve I installed said use a black iron nipple. So I got rusty water. Had to tear into the wall again and replace with a brass nipple.

Problem solved.

SJF

[Steelskin]

OK. Today I went to Home Depot with hopes of doing it the way Jim proposed with the copper pipe & soldering. Well as I stared blankly at the selection of solder-on nipple parts and tried to fit them with the copper tubes, my patience level dropped a few notches, as I was going to be late for work. I went back and forth a dozen times (nobody was handy) and I eventually decided to pick up a brass 5" nipple pipe instead, since brass was mentioned by several people. The nipple it had before was 6" and it stuck out like mad. It cost around $6.

To my delight, the tub filler casing unscrewed politely from the nipple, and the tip of the galvanized steel pipe had a bit of rust on it. It's been not even 2 weeks.

When I unscrewed the end near the elbow and my solder fix (VERY carefully I might add) I was shocked to see this: It's eaten a groove! Naaaasty!! This was definitely not sediment especially since the entire line of pipes aside from the elbow was vertical. So anyway I cleaned out the threads with a paintbrush and wrapped the brass nipple with lots of tape, and lo and behold it's secure and not the slightest bit of water leaking. I'll give it a few days of testing just to make sure though. The tub filler casing screws on securely and without a spacer ring goes and right to the tile. (phew!) The original ring got pretty banged up when I got mad the first time so it's useless anyway. Once I get the tile all fixed up (I'll probably have to replace 4 tiles by the time I'm done) I'll just discretely clear caulk it and that's that.

So anyway, if your problem's been going on 7 years now, it's probably because the water hasn't eaten ALL the way through the pipe yet. I'd look into it. I work in a real estate office and mold is nothing to scoff at.

I'll post pics when I get to the tile part. It'll be my first tile job ever!

-Steelskin

[Dana]

Replace the threaded nipple with a brass nipple.