Solder question (on household copper pipe)
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LouNY
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Looks like you have it under control,
I still have some copper laying in my rack in the basement but I am switching over to mostly pex the last couple of years,
and even some of the shark bite fittings this last one.
I still have some copper laying in my rack in the basement but I am switching over to mostly pex the last couple of years,
and even some of the shark bite fittings this last one.
RoyKing
Platinum Member
Look at using pex pipe to fix it, they make a slip on connector to the copper, so no soldering in the walls.
kenmac
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Not sure about every state. But here, to work in the plumbing trade legally, you must at least hold a journeyman's plumbing card issued by the state
A master plumber is responsible for the work a Journeyman performs.
You must have at least two years as an plumber apprentice to be able to sit for state journeyman's exam
To qualify to sit for a master plumber exam. you must work another year as a journeyman for a total of three years experience in the trade
So, by that time, a plumber should have an idea of how to perform the work of the trade correctly.
It doesn't mean that you will get quality work, but it's better than Hiring someone standing on the corner with a I work for food sign.
And if any issues arise, You have the option of reporting substandard work the state plumbing board for an investigation
A master plumber is responsible for the work a Journeyman performs.
You must have at least two years as an plumber apprentice to be able to sit for state journeyman's exam
To qualify to sit for a master plumber exam. you must work another year as a journeyman for a total of three years experience in the trade
So, by that time, a plumber should have an idea of how to perform the work of the trade correctly.
It doesn't mean that you will get quality work, but it's better than Hiring someone standing on the corner with a I work for food sign.
And if any issues arise, You have the option of reporting substandard work the state plumbing board for an investigation
Frankenkubota
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Has nothing to do with your problem but......I owned a coffee shop that had copper everywhere. I decided to move the kitchen, in a 100 year old building, mistake. I was on the ground floor with a tenate above and below.
Long story short, it's 3am Sunday morning. I had been at it since 7 pm closing the previous nite. I had a horizontal copper pipe that needed a right angle sweated on, no big deal except. I could not get the water out of the pipe. All the valves were closed etc etc. I could not get the pipe to stop draining!
The coffee shop opened at 6am so i had 3 hours. A coffee shop with no water is not good. In a panic, i called my brother. Receiving a call at 3 am is never good but he gave me a pretty good tip.
He suggested jamming some white bread in the pipe to stop the drain. He said, use the cheapest Wonder bread kinda thing i had so it would disintegrate under pressure.
It worked. Hate plumbing.
Long story short, it's 3am Sunday morning. I had been at it since 7 pm closing the previous nite. I had a horizontal copper pipe that needed a right angle sweated on, no big deal except. I could not get the water out of the pipe. All the valves were closed etc etc. I could not get the pipe to stop draining!
The coffee shop opened at 6am so i had 3 hours. A coffee shop with no water is not good. In a panic, i called my brother. Receiving a call at 3 am is never good but he gave me a pretty good tip.
He suggested jamming some white bread in the pipe to stop the drain. He said, use the cheapest Wonder bread kinda thing i had so it would disintegrate under pressure.
It worked. Hate plumbing.
OP
Richard
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So I got the copper parts last night that I think will take care of my needs. Being "one of those people" who always tries to have a plan B, I also bought a 5' stick (couldn't find any shorter) of RED Pex. I was initially presuming red would be for hot and blue for cold....then looked at the pipe and they both seem to have similar rating so then realized it's probably just to make it an easy visual as you follow the path of the supply you can differentiate between hot/cold lines. (might have prevented my toilet from being plumbed with hot water, which I had to fix a couple years ago)
Anyway... got the stick of PEX. Got what I THINK is a Shark Bite union. I'm going to make a statement but it's actually a question to see if I understand PEX correctly (I've never used it and in fact....never even held it in my hands until last night)
I think I shorted myself on a part. Forgetting all about the copper fittings I bought, I bought a single PEX union. I was thinking (and still am) that I can insert the copper supply line into the union and put the plastic pex on the outlet side and now, I have some wiggle room for my 90 degree with ears that the nipple mounts into.
Except...
I think I should have bought a second union. One to convert from supply copper to pex… then my tubing, then another union to convert from the tubing back to the copper, hard mounted fitting.
Sound correct or am I missing something? (I don't yet KNOW that I can go from copper into the pex union, I'm suspecting I can because of how it's titled on the package....something like "Copper/pex/something other" if I recall my quick scan of it last night.
Won't get time to look at it until later today. If I DO need a second union, then I've got to make a road trip 15 miles back into town.
Love it when that happens.
Anyway... got the stick of PEX. Got what I THINK is a Shark Bite union. I'm going to make a statement but it's actually a question to see if I understand PEX correctly (I've never used it and in fact....never even held it in my hands until last night)
I think I shorted myself on a part. Forgetting all about the copper fittings I bought, I bought a single PEX union. I was thinking (and still am) that I can insert the copper supply line into the union and put the plastic pex on the outlet side and now, I have some wiggle room for my 90 degree with ears that the nipple mounts into.
Except...
I think I should have bought a second union. One to convert from supply copper to pex… then my tubing, then another union to convert from the tubing back to the copper, hard mounted fitting.
Sound correct or am I missing something? (I don't yet KNOW that I can go from copper into the pex union, I'm suspecting I can because of how it's titled on the package....something like "Copper/pex/something other" if I recall my quick scan of it last night.
Won't get time to look at it until later today. If I DO need a second union, then I've got to make a road trip 15 miles back into town.
Love it when that happens.
Well if you are going to put Pex in place of a piece of copper you would need 2 connectors one for each end so I would say yes you need 1 more!
OP
Richard
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Quasi Update:
I'm not done yet...can't get the (shower side) wall sconce as flat on the wall as I want....and darn work is getting in the way so it's sitting there.
None the less, looks like with a couple elbows and a street fitting I can go from the copper supply side to the sconce side. Looks like I don't have room for two PEX fittings and some tubing. It will make it very impractical if not impossible (at least for my skills)
Turns out I DID get two fittings!!! Got a straight and a 90 under the logic of "what if I need it??" I can always take them back! So bought them and doesn't look like I'll be able to use them so wife returned those yesterday and of course, kept the cash.
Right now everything is fitted (not soldered) but I need to adjust something to change the angle the nipple protrudes from the wall so the base can fit more square. I've managed to take (let's call it) a 1/4" gap and narrowed it down to probably less than a 1/16" but it still looks a bit cockeyed when you look at it. So the wife unscrewed it a turn or three and said how about THIS?????
Well.... it was floppy and not snug at all so that's not going to work. I think I'll end up having to take the block of 2x4 that the ears are screwed into and either sand it or take it to the table saw and slightly change the angle that is on the face in the hopes changing the angle will help persuade the fittings to change their angle to a more desired angle.
Truth be told.... had the plumber did this right and the current "angle" was there, we'd simply moan about the work he did. Since we're doing it, we try to get it "right" since we don't care how long it takes (already have two other full baths so this shower isn't needed)
One reason I didn't want to use the PEX if I didn't have to was the smaller interior diameter. I didn't want that to constrict the water flow.
I'm on a well.... the well is over 100 gallons/minute. I'm on septic. What water we pull out of the ground, we put back into the ground! I want all of my showers to be as free flowing as they can be. To the point that the basement shower..... I yanked out ALL the 1/2" copper (that I formerly installed) going to it and replaced it all with 3/4" copper.... and then spent way too much money on buying shower valves that were also 3/4" valves. So I'm 3/4" hot and cold supply to the shower, 3/4" at the mixers all the way to the heads.
When I was buying the parts, the sales gal laughed and asked if I was building a car wash.
I'm here to tell you though.... jump in that shower and you will immediately fall in love with it!!! Large shower head, 3 body sprays and a hand held. Turn them all on at your own peril!! You'll smile for a week.
I'm not done yet...can't get the (shower side) wall sconce as flat on the wall as I want....and darn work is getting in the way so it's sitting there.
None the less, looks like with a couple elbows and a street fitting I can go from the copper supply side to the sconce side. Looks like I don't have room for two PEX fittings and some tubing. It will make it very impractical if not impossible (at least for my skills)
Turns out I DID get two fittings!!! Got a straight and a 90 under the logic of "what if I need it??" I can always take them back! So bought them and doesn't look like I'll be able to use them so wife returned those yesterday and of course, kept the cash.
Right now everything is fitted (not soldered) but I need to adjust something to change the angle the nipple protrudes from the wall so the base can fit more square. I've managed to take (let's call it) a 1/4" gap and narrowed it down to probably less than a 1/16" but it still looks a bit cockeyed when you look at it. So the wife unscrewed it a turn or three and said how about THIS?????
Well.... it was floppy and not snug at all so that's not going to work. I think I'll end up having to take the block of 2x4 that the ears are screwed into and either sand it or take it to the table saw and slightly change the angle that is on the face in the hopes changing the angle will help persuade the fittings to change their angle to a more desired angle.
Truth be told.... had the plumber did this right and the current "angle" was there, we'd simply moan about the work he did. Since we're doing it, we try to get it "right" since we don't care how long it takes (already have two other full baths so this shower isn't needed)
One reason I didn't want to use the PEX if I didn't have to was the smaller interior diameter. I didn't want that to constrict the water flow.
I'm on a well.... the well is over 100 gallons/minute. I'm on septic. What water we pull out of the ground, we put back into the ground! I want all of my showers to be as free flowing as they can be. To the point that the basement shower..... I yanked out ALL the 1/2" copper (that I formerly installed) going to it and replaced it all with 3/4" copper.... and then spent way too much money on buying shower valves that were also 3/4" valves. So I'm 3/4" hot and cold supply to the shower, 3/4" at the mixers all the way to the heads.
When I was buying the parts, the sales gal laughed and asked if I was building a car wash.
I'm here to tell you though.... jump in that shower and you will immediately fall in love with it!!! Large shower head, 3 body sprays and a hand held. Turn them all on at your own peril!! You'll smile for a week.
Alien
Elite Member
I am surprised you use solder. All plumbers I know here use silver solder. Stronger I guess.
radios1
Elite Member
. the problem is, you'll starve the other faucets, that's the reason that the main supply is 3/4" and the faucets etc. coming off that are 1/2".. or maybe you have 1" supply lines or larger?.. there's nothing like being in a shower, and someone uses a faucet or whatever, and all of a sudden, you get cold or hot water in the shower!!.. likewise, if someone is using that shower, other faucets will be very low volume.. your taps need to be a smaller diameter than the feed to prevent that!..