Is a 1 in. Cold Water pipe that looks black really a copper pipe? Is the black color age on the pipe but its really a copper pipe? Can it be soldered? Can it be connected to copper fittings snd other pipes?
- posted
15 years ago
Cold Water pipe that looks black
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- posted
15 years ago
could be iron, if it's really old. Are the fittings threaded? Copper tends to go green when it's old/oxidized, or brown if it's in a dry climate, but I haven't seen black.
nate
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- posted
15 years ago
Could be. Scrape the pipe and see if it's copper colored. Hold a magnet to it.
R- Vote on answer
- posted
15 years ago
It is most likely a "black iron" pipe, i.e., not galvanised. The magnet or scraping will tell you.
Harry K
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- posted
15 years ago
Mebbe so, but I have some copper pipes in the laundry room that have turned black. There was also that thing about the killer Chinese drywall turning copper black. It happens.
What's happened to education in this country when people don't automatically think "magnet" when they're trying to determine if a metal is iron/steel or not?
R- Vote on answer
- posted
15 years ago
The way I interpreted the original post was that the OP hadn't even considered the possibility that the pipe was iron/steel. I agree a magnet is a good test if he can't see a fitting.
nate
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- posted
15 years ago
Probably, probably, probably, and yes, in that order.
If the pipe is really old, I'd say it's tarnished copper. Any black iron pipe used for domestic water purposes would certainly not last to become
*very* old and problems would have manifested themselves by now. If it's not very old, but is copper turning black, then you have a shale gas issue. If that's the case, you need to lok into it and also get a Radon test kit. You may have to seal the slab. sump crock, ventilate, etc. Are we talking in a basement??
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- posted
15 years ago
*You reminded me of my youth working for my contractor father. He had a steady customer that built laundromats and some of them were not in the best of neighborhoods. The plumber would always paint his pipes black so that they would not look like copper thereby reducing the street value.
Take some sandpaper and buff a small area. You'll know right away what it is.
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- posted
15 years ago
what's a magnet? ;)
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15 years ago
Are you sure it's not a gas supply pipe? They're black.
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15 years ago
If it's around Chinese sheetrock (that hasn't been properly treated with three coats of sealer).
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15 years ago
Someone who owns a lot of real estate.
TDD