Weeping elbow joint

Jan 28, 2009 11 Replies

The low pressure hot water pipe to the kitchen tap has a weeping elbow joint in an awkward position at the bottom of the kitchen unit. It is a soldered joint and it takes about 2 days to fill a shallow drip tray.



Is there any way to fix it without having to dismantle all the unit around the sink?



Thanks



Do you have enough length to:

- cut out the elbow joint plus some pipe

- form a new (longer) elbow out of some sort of elbow + pipe

- fit new elbow with two straight push-fit or compression joints? eg

and/or:

formatting link
possibly work out something with a bit of flexy?

Wrap some plumbers mait around the joint? Only a temporary repair mind you.

None of the above without dismantling the kitchen units. Typical - the plumbing was done first, the units assembled afterwards. The elbow joint is right against the bottom, fixed, shelf of the sink unit.

Would something like this do?

formatting link
in mind it is the low pressure side of things.

Or maybe some sort of bandage ( like scrim) plastered with LSX

I made up a bandage with plumber's mait and cable ties for slight leak at a mains stopcock as a "temporary" measure until I can persuade the water company to turn off the jammed stopcock in the street (they say they don't do that any more, and there isn't enough exposed pipe to freeze). That was at least 2 years ago, and it's still holding.

Chris

Can you cut out the elbow and then gently bend the pipe to get clearance for connecting a flexible pushfit pipe repair section e.g.

formatting link
easy and quick if you can get the clearance.

Turn off the hot water supply and drain the system as much as possible and open the tap to release any pressure . Dry the joint and clean with degreaser. Smear quick setting araldite around it and wait a couple of hours. turn water back on.

Or

I've never tried this stuff but it may work

formatting link

Clean it with wire wool etc, then a smear of Fernox LS-X

What I did with a burst pipe was to get a jubilee clip and a piece of old inner tube, then I wrapped the piece of inner tube around the burst, opened up the jubilee clip to get it around the pipe, then tightened it around the pipe and inner tube, so if you have the room, you could try this.

I made up a bandage with plumber's mait and cable ties for slight leak at a mains stopcock as a "temporary" measure until I can persuade the water company to turn off the jammed stopcock in the street (they say they don't do that any more, and there isn't enough exposed pipe to freeze). That was at least 2 years ago, and it's still holding.

Chris

That is not acceptable. Start off with a nice polite but strongly worded letter to the water company telling them you have a problem and that they need to fix it.

If the water company will not fix the street mains stop tap then contact your local councillor. If that fails then contact your MP. The local rag or radio station love these sort of things but only try them as a last resort.

My street stop tap was dug out and replaced free of charge within a week of me complaining that it did not work.

Adam

Cut it out with a pipe slice & replace it with a flexible

formatting link

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required