Dideased copper?

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davidl

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Good morning all,

Although this is more of a plumbing question I wonder if the cause is electrical so I hope no-one minds it going here.

Had to go back to a customer the other day as he said water was leaking somewhere in his kitchen into the flat below, I was a bit worried as I had fitted a new shower room a few months ago, bit nowhere near the kitchen, but water can travel.

No it was nothing I had done, but on a section of approx 25 year old copper, the water main to the kitchen sink there were blemishes all along it, small blobs that looked like hard water calcium (we are in a very hard water area) and one was leaking, when I scaped them of the copper was soft and apeared to hole easily, just by digging it with a key or blunt metal.

Electrolysis comes to mind but can't think how.

Can bonding have any effect?

Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks in advance

Kind regards

David

 
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Sounds very interesting!

For electrolysis to be an issue we'd need a very long term fault current going through the pipes. Was there an RCD protecting the board?

 
Or a bad batch of piping not sure when it was but remember hearing about a lot that was poor quality.Batty
Yes I remember a load of cheap chinese stuff came over a few years ago that where not up to a standard.

The plumbers amongs us may be able to fill us in on that, but I do remember something about it.

 
copper does pin hole, its quicker to replace it than to figure out why its done it . :)

(its because i dont have the answer that i dont give 1)

 
copper does pin hole, its quicker to replace it than to figure out why its done it . :) (its because i dont have the answer that i dont give 1)
and you're the resident plumber!

You could print out GH's post and laminate it for next time ;)

 
Most common causes of pin hole is excess flux used, apparently the reaction whilst chemically cleaning for a good joint has adverse effects if not cleaned off.

I did a chemistry thingy with my electrical thingy and sometimes get mixed up which thingy I am talking about.

 
Thanks for all the replies, maybe a combination of poor quality copper and excess flux, there were a lot of soldered joints on that leg.

thanks again

David

 
Most common causes of pin hole is excess flux used, apparently the reaction whilst chemically cleaning for a good joint has adverse effects if not cleaned off.I did a chemistry thingy with my electrical thingy and sometimes get mixed up which thingy I am talking about.
:^O

 
it would not be excessive flux in a cold main,

i could be in a heating circuit though laco is the worse i have seen rads pin hole in 3 years were the system has not been thoroughly flushed

 
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