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Any plumbers on here? The pipe I am showing a picture of is leaking from the places where it is joined together. How hard is this to fix? can a novice do it? how do I disconnect the copper line at the top from the pvc pipe? Is there a reason the pipe is spliced 3 different times? How do I separate the splices? I will need to put the new pipe into lower section of the old pipe,so I need to keep it intact and not cut it. Reason for that is because there is a crawl space under the house and I can't fit into it so the repairs will have to be made from the top. Please be specific about parts and supplies needed,I will be working 20 miles from the closest store. Thanks for the help!!
That's 1/2" PVC pipe.
Turn the water off at the main, whether the main is in the house somewhere or at the meter by the road. Make sure it's off before you do anything else.
Cut the PVC as square as you can make it, cut it down low maybe 3 or 4" above the highest coupler.
Buy a a Sharkbite or Gator bite depending on what store you go to, for the 1/2" PVC pipe with a male thread. also get a shut off valve for a supply with a 3/8" male thread, get a faucet supply hose, 20" should be enough, but you can get a 30" to be double sure you have enough length., and a roll of seal tape.
Disassemble that old supply line under there. unthread the PVC coupler off the copper line don't cut the copper line. Use a small wrench on the brass coupler and another wrench on the PVC coupler.
Be careful not to twist the copper line either, or you'll be buying a new faucet too.
You can assemble everything out side the cabinet to make it easier on you.
Wrap the tape around the male threads on the Shark bite at least 3 wraps.
Thread the shut off valve on to the Shark bite, tighten it.
Thread the supply hose on to the shut off valve. Don't need tape here.
Now push the Sharkbite on to the nice square and cleaned cut you made on the PVC pipe. Push it on til it won't go on any further.
Now thread the supply hose on to the copper fitting the threaded part is brass, hanging down from the faucet, don't need tape there either.
Turn on the faucet and go turn the water back on at the main.
Look for leaks, you did it right, so there shouldn't be any leaks
Don't try to fix leaking joints in that pvc line. Replace the whole line so the only joints are at the ends where it meets the copper or whatever else it's hooked up to.
None of those pictures is what you use to join pvc pipe.
If the bottom joint is leaking, it looks like it will be a real b*tch to cut it. You would probably need one of those small hacksaws -- the ones that just clamp in 2 places but leave the end of the blade exposed.
And you do want to cut it as straight as possible. If you had a little more room you could use a tubing cutter to mark a line.
As far as pipe -- you want to be a little careful. Most PVC is NOT suitable for hot water. They used CPVC for a while -- which has a smaller OD I think, but could take the temps Not sure what if they still do that. If you do use PVC, you want to get Oatey cleaner and Oatey PVC cement. Use the cleaner on the inside of the couplings and the outside of the pipe. It's purple so you can see where you put it. It dries quickly and then you use the cement. It dries quickly as well, and they tell you to give the joint a little twist right after you put it together.
But, you might have the best luck if you went straight to PEX -- oops, just looked and couldn't find any adapters.
So, assuming it's cold water, you could just replace the bottom coupler and the use the same type of adapter that you have now -- assuming that the copper pipe is OK. If your hardware place isn't just a big box store, they can help you find the right stuff.
Do look for some youtube vids on gluing PVC. I'd also recommend buying a few extra couplings for practice ( they're cheap). Pipe comes in something like 8 or 10 foot lengths ( can't rember) so you'll have plenty of that. Only things you should need are pipe, couplings, cement, cleaner, copper adapter fitting and a little hacksaw for the bottom joint. I assume that the copper fitting screws apart. If not, you have more issues.
Pipe looks like it could be 3/4 to me -- measure the OD so you can check when you get to the store.
One other thing that shouldn't be an issue. SInce it's a vertical pipe there shouldn't be any water leaking out. If it's not very much it probably wouldn't affect the PVC connection anyway. If you see some (and it worries you)stick some WHITE BREAD in the pipe after you cut it off and it will hold the water back. It will take a little while for it to start up after you get everything together, but it will be fine. You usually only need to do that for soldering copper on horizontal runs because the water cools the joint.
- First time I did it, I only had whole wheat and I thought that I was going to have to rip everything apart because it took so long to start flowing. When it finally did, it spit seeds out of all the faucets for 5 minutes ot so. My neighbor had told me about using the bread and when I told him what happened he laughed his **** off.
Actually, it is CPVC. Regular PVC is pure white. Anyway, it's pretty easy to work with and forgiving to novices. I had to redo all the supply lines in my house due to it freezing up and cracking/splitting in a bunch of spots. Fix one and another area blew open. After the 3rd time, all the old galvanized and copper pipe went into the trash. It was just too much of a PITA to mess with anymore, especially when your woman (now ex) isn't pleased that it's leaking AGAIN. Plus, transitioning from one pipe material to another always has issues. The general rule I learned is that the female threaded fitting has to be harder than the male threaded fitting it connects to, but they really should be the same material to avoid leans from manufacturing differences, insufficient teflon tape, etc. You can get conversion fittings that fit CPVC pipe and have stainless or brass NPT threads. Don't be cheap and try to get away with regular CPVC fittings here, it WILL leak. I found out the hard way and fixing almost 30 of them cost me quite a bit. So learn from my mistake.
After trashing all the old copper/galvanized stuff, I ran fresh CPVC pipe (inside instead of under because mobile home...) and made 'channels' so it fits inside some custom baseboard/crown moulding and matches up perfectly to regular 2x3s and 2x6s throughout the rest of the house. Pretty clever, eh?
Anyway, what I used on the whole project was just a common battery powered jigsaw with a metal blade from Harbor Freight. For difficult locations, a Dremel can do the job too. Cut where you need to cut, it doesn't have to be perfectly straight. There's always some give in the fittings. De-burr the freshly cut stub (fingernails do the job easily), then rough it up with some 80 grit sandpaper. Dab on some CPVC Cement (the yellow stuff from Oatey works well) and spread it over the roughed up area. Shove the pipe into the fitting all the way and hold it in place for 30-40 seconds. Then move onto the next joint to be made. As long as you plan your cuts so each section is fully seated in each fitting, it's a breeze.
Once a joint is cemented, it's permanently solvent welded together. Measure twice, cut once.
It helps to plan out how things will fit together and the order it gets assembled. With all of the bends in my bathroom, I had to do it in three large sections: Washer lines, sink/toilet and then shower/hot water heater. Leaving the Washer-Sink midway joint till last gave me enough flexibility to maneuver the sink plumbing behind the toilet and 'clock' it where needed so the last joint just got pushed together and everything lines up properly no matter what. I goofed on one by not getting it pointed perfectly in the right direction, had to cut the pipe it was on and use a coupler to make the adjustment. Annoying, but could be worse.
Since I didn't want to go through the same ordeal twice (running a second line for hot water through the house), converting to tankless on-demand water heaters was the most logical choice. One for bathroom (in the shower plumbing area) and one under the kitchen sink, bought from a Chinese vendor on Ebay for $28 each. Then run short lines to each device.
System works awesomely now, there are no leaks anywhere and it'll last forever. Plus, going to on-demand heaters is a huge money saver too.
