One of the (half inch?) copper pipes that connects to the hot waterradiator in my bathroom has a VERY SLIGHTLY leaking join, probablycreating one drip of water every two hours or so (I'm thankful it'ssuch a small amount!).On looking at it closely it must have been like that for some time asthere is patchy blue surface corrosion below the join, I've just nevernoticed it before (never looked either).Short of calling out the plumber to repair it, is there anything I cando? Perhaps there is something that I can put on the join to seal it?I don't have any plumbing skills, but am okay at fixing things.Thanks

How good is "okay"? You could take the opportunity to learn a bit of plumbing.What sort of joint is it - soldered or compression?If soldered, I'd guess you'll have to take the thing apart and remake it - which for me would involve draining the system :-(If compression, you might get away with something else.cheers,clive

Leaking copper pipe join - repair?

Dec 06, 2007 21 Replies

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newshound 18 years ago

Agree with that, but in this case the leak is observable. I would think about going with the plumbers' epoxy, or if it is definitely a low pressure then perhaps with self-adhesive PVC tape (NOT ptfe!).

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The Natural Philosopher 18 years ago

IME epoxy and sticky tape dont work because the joint is wet..you end up with a pinhole in teh epoxy or a a line bubble in teh tape.

Trust me, Ive tried the lot.

The ONLY thigk that ever worked on a wet system was that PTFE, done as a last resort because I had nothing else with me, and it actually worked. I don't know why. I didn't expect it to do more than stem the flow a bit, but the bugger actually held up for a few months.

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