Stopping a SLOW Seepage Leak at Pipe Joint

[Chris.J.Caruso]

I had a new hot water heater installed yesterday with a auto-shutoff valve for the water heater installed on the cold water piping. The valve had a female threaded end for the incoming water and a mail threaded end for the exiting water of the valve. The plumber had to cut the cold water pipe back to make room and then he soldered on the proper threaded pipe ends to that he could connect the valve to the pipe. The end where the water goes in is fine but the other end has a very very slow seepage leak. It is so slow that it barely creates a water bead and when it does drip, the water droplet dries before another one has a chance to drop.

Since the valve is now threaded on both ends with peices of soldered piping, I can't remove it to check the seal created by the teflon tape on the threads. Is there anyway to stop the leaking while it is in its stationary position on the pipe? Will the mineral deposits from the water seal the slow seepage on its own (I Have seen this occur on other types of copper piping thread joints) ?

[Speedy Jim]

Leave well enough alone.

Jim

[kellyj00]

I had the same thing happen on my cold water supply for my washing machine. some moron tried to seal the problem with a bunch of glue or caulk or something...all it did was leak around it. I had to replace that section of pipe to stop the leak.

You're leak sounds minimal... I wouldn't touch it...especially if it's leaking slow enough that the water evaporates before it goes anywhere.

Makes me think though, that maybe the plumber screwed up other stuff along the line and that's all you can see. Might be best to look at anything else he did.

[Chris.J.Caruso]

Wow - the vote is 2 to leave alone - sound easy enough :-)

The elbow joints the plumber put in appear to be soldered well. It is just the threaded joint where the stop valve was installed. Luckily, the seepage is on the exiting side of the valve so if the leak should ever worsen, the water detector will automatically shut the water off to the heater.

Interestingly, there were hard mineral deposits on the hot water exit pipe joint on the copper flex-tube. There must have been a seepage when the older water heater was installed and it sealed itself with the mineral deposits. The seepage returned there last night as well but after a few hours, it was bone dry. I am hoping that the same occurs with the joint that is currently seeping.

[barry]

And ... that's why you want a pipe-union in both lines at the heater.

J

[Marilyn & Bob]

Since so far everyone has told you it's not a big deal, I'd feel confident in calling the plumber and asking his opinion. Can't hurt. And if he says don't worry about it, you might just want to send him a note confirming your conversation if the leak gets worse instead of self healing from the mineral deposits.

[maradcliff]

I will also agree you can safely leave it alone and minerals will "heal" it. Of course if you want the job done right, it probably just needs to be a little tighter or more teflon tape or pipe dope. I found over the years that using BOTH teflon tape and pipe dope (on troublesome fittings) cures the problem. If there is a union above the valve (should be), it would not be that tough to remove that section and re-dope and tighten.

[Bob F]

Just call the plumber and ask him to fix it. You already paid for it.

Bob