Leaky Heating Pipe

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Bedford, NH
Hello! I have a pipe in my basement that has a very, very slow drip leak. It is a forced hot water heating pipe. It is leaking at the connection from Copper to Pex. The heat has been off for the last few days, and I'm assuming the temperature change in the connection/pipe has caused it? The heating system is a closed loop system filled with water/antifreeze. If this were just a regular water connection I would feel more comfortable fixing it myself. I have my plumber/heating guy coming out to do our annual boiler service, but would like to save the money if something easy to fix. Thanks for the feedback.
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Are you sure that's not PEX? If it is, I'm pretty sure there are unions intended to transition from PEX to rigid copper. I've never messed with PEX myself though.

If you just want a band-aid fix you could try wrapping it tightly with silicone tape and see if that takes care of it.
 
SharkBite fitting. If there is some slack you can take the fitting off and inspect the pipe ends and more importantly the distance between them. A new fitting is less than 10 bucks. I've never seen one do this unless the cuts weren't square and/or fully inserted.
 
Im sorry it might be pex. I don't know anything about plumbing, but I consider myself relatively handy.
 
You will have to drain down the heating system to a level below the pipe. Afterwards you will have to re-fill the system. If there is an automatic water feeder on the boiler you need to shut it off or it will keep injecting water into the system as you try to drain it. If you are not comfortable with this consider getting a heat guy in to do it.
 
Thanks for all the feedback! I have no idea how to drain the system, or anything to do with that. My heating guy is coming for the annual boiler service, and I'm sure they can take care of it for me.
 
Originally Posted by Mangos86
Thanks for all the feedback! I have no idea how to drain the system, or anything to do with that. My heating guy is coming for the annual boiler service, and I'm sure they can take care of it for me.


i would have him take out the sharkbite and do a permanant fix
 
That looks like a shark bite fitting.. I would replace the shark bite with a compression union or compression to pex... on the copper side if that's 1/2" a 5/8" compression will fit.

Get yourself a small tube pipe thread compound the union will thread together with less effort and seal better.
 
Make sure he knows you have antifreeze,so he doesn t dump it on ground or drain.. have some extra buckets, put it back in. Plumber might use a propress setup,better connection.
 
Originally Posted by Oildudeny
Good call hopefully there's shutoff valves to isolate the repair..

Good point. Maybe he could add valves if it needs them.
 
Thats a sharkbite, not a huge fan of those on hot water but they usually are ok.

The alternative is brazing on a fitting to the copper pipe then using either a compression ring or cinch ring on the pex.

I would probably remove the sharkbite, clean the ends of both pipes if needed, and replace with same thing.. it will last another 10+ years.

Sharkbite lasts better on lower temp lines, but is rated to 200F and 25 year warranty.
 
That is called uponor, guys use it as pex,cause they can. It is supposed to be used with expansion rings that shrink back to original size creating a clamplike grip. FWWebb sells it along with a few others,probably why there is a sharkbite on there. Your plumber will have it on truck to fix it. This was either emergency fix,or handyman job. Putting in antifreeze means problem area. When you fix cover pipe and pex with insulation,fiberglass if possible,retains heat better,rubber keeps wind from getting in, not much r factor per se.
 
Little update. Plumber came today. Serviced the boiler and fixed the pipe. Only $73 for the pipe fixing. Pretty decent I think. However, apparently someone decided to fill the boiler with antifreeze years ago, and his test strip told him it could be acidic and might need to come out. He is getting back to me. Thanks for all the responses.
 
Those fittings use pressure to positively seal the pipe. If the system is not pressurized it will leak much more easily than if it had pressure. Its worth a try to replace the fitting and get a new sealing surface in there.
 
Originally Posted by Mangos86
Little update. Plumber came today. Serviced the boiler and fixed the pipe. Only $73 for the pipe fixing. Pretty decent I think. However, apparently someone decided to fill the boiler with antifreeze years ago, and his test strip told him it could be acidic and might need to come out. He is getting back to me. Thanks for all the responses.

Pics? I would really like to see the kind of repair he did. I would have either put a union and/or a ball valve.
 
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