# Attaching a fernco to copper drain question



## pen (Dec 16, 2013)

My well has acid water, and years of not having a neutralizer in the system have apparently deteriorated my copper drain lines.

The other day I noticed a small puddle of water in the basement and traced it to a pin hole in a 4 inch long horizontal section of 3 inch copper drain (leak is in a small section of pipe between a 90 going up to a toilet and a T).  The easiest solution would be to put a fernco here between the close joints as if I cut enough sections in this tight spot to replace with another small piece of copper, I'm probably going to just keep making more problems since the copper lines are apparently deteriorated.

I picked up two fernco fittings, one is a standard 3 inch one, and the other is a shoulder to shoulder fitting.

By measuring the diameters, It's looking like the standard 3 inch one (which is meant for PVC) is going to be a really tight fit, but the shoulder to shoulder fitting too loose.

Right now, I wrapped the snot out of this short section of pipe with electrical tape and that has stopped the leak.  Once I cut into it, it's an all or nothing deal obviously.

Right now, I'm debating on whether to try it as I'm not sure either fernco will work, but will keep them on hand just in case I'm forced into doing something before I get the chance to tear out all of the copper and put in PVC.

Just curious if anyone has experience putting a fernco OVER a copper socket joint and what the chances are that it will work, or if it's even worth messing with for now as the vinyl tape seems to be doing the job,,,,, for now.

Thanks,

pen


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## Ehouse (Dec 16, 2013)

pen said:


> My well has acid water, and years of not having a neutralizer in the system have apparently deteriorated my copper drain lines.
> 
> The other day I noticed a small puddle of water in the basement and traced it to a pin hole in a 4 inch long horizontal section of 3 inch copper drain (leak is in a small section of pipe between a 90 going up to a toilet and a T).  The easiest solution would be to put a fernco here between the close joints as if I cut enough sections in this tight spot to replace with another small piece of copper, I'm probably going to just keep making more problems since the copper lines are apparently deteriorated.
> 
> ...




Three things I can think of but have not tried;

  A repair kit consisting of a piece of rubber (bike tube) and a 2 piece tube clamp that you bolt together, or same piece of bike tube with 2 tightly adjacent hose clamps.

  A brass screw with a rubber washer.

  Since a drain is not pressurized, you might be able to solder it.  JB weld makes a product for wet application also.

  None of the above involve cutting the pipe.


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## jebatty (Dec 17, 2013)

I vote for a JB weld type product. I have used this on pressurized water lines to seal pinhole leaks, and it works great. It may be a long time before you have another problem, and the fix is quick and easy.


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## Ehouse (Dec 17, 2013)

pen said:


> My well has acid water, and years of not having a neutralizer in the system have apparently deteriorated my copper drain lines.
> 
> The other day I noticed a small puddle of water in the basement and traced it to a pin hole in a 4 inch long horizontal section of 3 inch copper drain (leak is in a small section of pipe between a 90 going up to a toilet and a T).  The easiest solution would be to put a fernco here between the close joints as if I cut enough sections in this tight spot to replace with another small piece of copper, I'm probably going to just keep making more problems since the copper lines are apparently deteriorated.
> 
> ...




Just thought of another one.  Pop rivet with rubber washer.  I successfully repaired the roof on my old Sentra wagon with these after launching  a sheet of 1/2" plywood/roof rack hybrid drone.  Re-entry was a crap shoot as usual but it was headed out over the North Atlantic when I lost it from my RVM tracking device.


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## ironpony (Dec 17, 2013)

all good suggestions, they do make a split boot you could use to seal it similiar to ehouses tube clamp idea


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## Highbeam (Dec 17, 2013)

You can assume that the thinnest part is on the bottom so if you must be rough, do it elsewhere. I too have copper drainlines, kinda cool but I am a little worried about how thin they are.

I would expect that fernco does make the proper boot kit but it is harder to find due to the rarity of being used.


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## granpajohn (Dec 17, 2013)

The low pH of your well may not be the cause of the leak BTW. Our local, (very large), water system has been researching it for years; see their (unsuccessful) results here:
http://www.wsscwater.com/home/jsp/content/pinhole-charts.faces

EDIT: after re-reading the first post, I think my link may not be too relevant. Didn't realize it was drain line...saw "pinhole" and assumed pressure. Read the WSSC link and you'll see why. 

Sorry....I'll just leave it up for the curious.


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## pen (Dec 17, 2013)

granpajohn said:


> The low pH of your well may not be the cause of the leak BTW. Our local, (very large), water system has been researching it for years; see their (unsuccessful) results here:
> http://www.wsscwater.com/home/jsp/content/pinhole-charts.faces



My house is 51 years old, it had the copper feed lines replaced once during that period, and finally, after dealing with leaks yet, I changed things over to pex a few years ago.  The change to pex significantly improved the taste of my water (even though the house has had a neutralizer for over 20 years).

This pin hole in the drain line is at the extreme bottom of the pipe, about 1/32 of an inch from the joint.  Could have been overheated when put in 50 years ago which is why it failed before other spots?  But, eventually it will be replaced.  Just can't do all of the drain lines until summer at the soonest (no time with work unless an emergency arises).

Right now, the electrical tape is working as a bandaide but I wanted to have a back-up ready or in place, hence the fernco idea as the area is sized perfectly for one.


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## rwhite (Dec 18, 2013)

JB weld!


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## woodgeek (Dec 19, 2013)

A lot of copper pipes develop pinholes on their bottom sides.  Usually some small ball of something corrosive, like the acid flux used to solder the whole house together originally, ends up stuck to the inside, and eats its way out after 5-50 years, depending.  Apparently, copper only lasts forever if you are careful with the flux, don't use too much, and flush the whole system with a lot of hot water after the house is built.  And noone does any of those things.

I had a pinhole in my ceiling cavity a couple months ago.  There were about 5 more near it that were getting ready to go, little green icicles.


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