I have 3/4" copper hot and cold pipes running through the basement. 1/2"
copper pipes run off them to below sinks and then run up to the sinks.
The problem is one that is a 3' run from the 3/4" line to below the sink.
It is now attached to a 3/4" board attached to floor joists. I want to move
the 1/2" lines so they are even with the joists; that means moving them up
about 1.5". There is no problem with the sink as it is connected to the
1/2" pipe with a flexible connector. I am concerned about stressing the
1/2" pipe or the connection to the 3/4" pipe.

Seems to me that copper ought to have enough flex to accomodate moving 1.5"
over a length of 3', but I don't want to find out the hard way that I was
wrong. Anyone with experience here? The pipes are about 25 years old, if
the matters.

I want to put in a dust collector that requires 91", and I now have only
90"! Any place I can put it has problems with heating ducts or worse.

Toller wrote:
I have 3/4" copper hot and cold pipes running through the basement. 1/2"
copper pipes run off them to below sinks and then run up to the sinks.
The problem is one that is a 3' run from the 3/4" line to below the sink.
It is now attached to a 3/4" board attached to floor joists. I want to move
the 1/2" lines so they are even with the joists; that means moving them up
about 1.5". There is no problem with the sink as it is connected to the
1/2" pipe with a flexible connector. I am concerned about stressing the
1/2" pipe or the connection to the 3/4" pipe.

Seems to me that copper ought to have enough flex to accomodate moving 1.5"
over a length of 3', but I don't want to find out the hard way that I was
wrong. Anyone with experience here? The pipes are about 25 years old, if
the matters.

I want to put in a dust collector that requires 91", and I now have only
90"! Any place I can put it has problems with heating ducts or worse.



There is Soft copper and there is Hard copper.
Yours is the latter.

If you try to put a bend in, the tube will buckle
or a soldered joint will likely fail. Wanna risk it??

Cut the pipe and solder in an offset section.
Jim

Toller wrote:
I have 3/4" copper hot and cold pipes running through the basement. 1/2"
copper pipes run off them to below sinks and then run up to the sinks.
The problem is one that is a 3' run from the 3/4" line to below the sink.
It is now attached to a 3/4" board attached to floor joists. I want to move
the 1/2" lines so they are even with the joists; that means moving them up
about 1.5". There is no problem with the sink as it is connected to the
1/2" pipe with a flexible connector. I am concerned about stressing the
1/2" pipe or the connection to the 3/4" pipe.

Seems to me that copper ought to have enough flex to accomodate moving 1.5"
over a length of 3', but I don't want to find out the hard way that I was
wrong. Anyone with experience here? The pipes are about 25 years old, if
the matters.

I want to put in a dust collector that requires 91", and I now have only
90"! Any place I can put it has problems with heating ducts or worse.

Just for reference, you're talking "tubing", not "pipe." Pipe, whether
steel, brass,
stainless, whatever, has much thicker wall, size spec based on ID, and
can
be threaded with std pipe thread on the outside. Tubing is made such
that the OD
is a close fit into std tubing fittings for reliable sweating of joint.

Copper can be annealed (soft) or un-annealed work-hardened. Note that
some
arrives as straight sections, some as coil. Guess which is annealed,
and which
is not.

J

"Toller" wrote in message
...
I have 3/4" copper hot and cold pipes running through the basement. 1/2"
copper pipes run off them to below sinks and then run up to the sinks.
The problem is one that is a 3' run from the 3/4" line to below the sink.
It is now attached to a 3/4" board attached to floor joists. I want to
move the 1/2" lines so they are even with the joists; that means moving
them up about 1.5". There is no problem with the sink as it is connected
to the 1/2" pipe with a flexible connector. I am concerned about
stressing the 1/2" pipe or the connection to the 3/4" pipe.

Seems to me that copper ought to have enough flex to accomodate moving
1.5" over a length of 3', but I don't want to find out the hard way that I
was wrong. Anyone with experience here? The pipes are about 25 years
old, if the matters.

I can't guarantee it, but 1.5" over that length should be OK.

Toller wrote:

I have 3/4" copper hot and cold pipes running through the basement. 1/2"
copper pipes run off them to below sinks and then run up to the sinks.
The problem is one that is a 3' run from the 3/4" line to below the sink.
It is now attached to a 3/4" board attached to floor joists. I want to move
the 1/2" lines so they are even with the joists; that means moving them up
about 1.5". There is no problem with the sink as it is connected to the
1/2" pipe with a flexible connector. I am concerned about stressing the
1/2" pipe or the connection to the 3/4" pipe.

Seems to me that copper ought to have enough flex to accomodate moving 1.5"
over a length of 3', but I don't want to find out the hard way that I was
wrong. Anyone with experience here? The pipes are about 25 years old, if
the matters.

I want to put in a dust collector that requires 91", and I now have only
90"! Any place I can put it has problems with heating ducts or worse.

Cut and re-fit. When I replumbed my mother's house years ago it got the
usual trunks parallel to the main beam. Each T off the trunk angled up
at 45 degrees with a short stub to a 45 degree fitting to bring it
parallel and then a short stub to a ball valve. Gets the branch line and
valve within the joist cavity and does it with a little less bend and
loss of water flow.

Pete C.

"Toller" wrote in message
...
I have 3/4" copper hot and cold pipes running through the basement. 1/2"
copper pipes run off them to below sinks and then run up to the sinks.
The problem is one that is a 3' run from the 3/4" line to below the sink.
It is now attached to a 3/4" board attached to floor joists. I want to
move
the 1/2" lines so they are even with the joists; that means moving them up
about 1.5". There is no problem with the sink as it is connected to the
1/2" pipe with a flexible connector. I am concerned about stressing the
1/2" pipe or the connection to the 3/4" pipe.

Seems to me that copper ought to have enough flex to accomodate moving
1.5"
over a length of 3', but I don't want to find out the hard way that I was
wrong. Anyone with experience here? The pipes are about 25 years old, if
the matters.

I want to put in a dust collector that requires 91", and I now have only
90"! Any place I can put it has problems with heating ducts or worse.


It might work. It might not. You are going to stress the joints badly.
The damage that would result if they give would be way more than
the cost of a couple fittings and a little soldering

Bob

On Mon, 04 Dec 2006 20:44:03 GMT, "Toller" wrote:

I have 3/4" copper hot and cold pipes running through the basement. 1/2"
copper pipes run off them to below sinks and then run up to the sinks.
The problem is one that is a 3' run from the 3/4" line to below the sink.
It is now attached to a 3/4" board attached to floor joists. I want to move
the 1/2" lines so they are even with the joists; that means moving them up
about 1.5". There is no problem with the sink as it is connected to the
1/2" pipe with a flexible connector. I am concerned about stressing the
1/2" pipe or the connection to the 3/4" pipe.

Seems to me that copper ought to have enough flex to accomodate moving 1.5"

Seems to me that it doesn't.


over a length of 3', but I don't want to find out the hard way that I was
wrong. Anyone with experience here?

Yeah, when I was in college, the hot water was too hot to tolerate, so
I bought a mixer, that attached to the hot and cold and had an outlet
in the middle. But the faucets toed in a bit, and it wouldn't stay
attached if they didn't point straight ahead. So I twisted them 10
degrees, and everything was fine. For a month or two. Then one
started dripping. I cracked the copper pipe.



(It was 7PM when I noticed the leak. First I put a bucket under the
drip, but after I had to empty the bucket in an hour or two, I put a
wastebasket upside down and the bucket on top of it. Then I ran a
piece of tubing from the bucket to the toilet, which was nexst to the
sink. The tubing was too short, so I added a thick soda straw. I
started it siphoning, and when the bucket was near empty, the
siphoning slowed down. When the bucket got more full, the siphoning
sped up. I was able to leave it like this for 2 weeks and didn't have
to do anything to empty the bucket or restart the siphon.

Oh yeah, I tied a wash cloth onto the leaky part so that I wouldn't
hear the water dripping into the bucket.

I'm sure the plumber would have come much sooner if I had told the
landlord it was a real problem. But it wasn't a problem. The sink
worked fine too.

The pipes are about 25 years old, if
the matters.

I want to put in a dust collector that requires 91", and I now have only
90"! Any place I can put it has problems with heating ducts or worse.

Speedy Jim wrote:
Toller wrote:
I have 3/4" copper hot and cold pipes running through the basement. 1/2"
copper pipes run off them to below sinks and then run up to the
sinks. The problem is one that is a 3' run from the 3/4" line to below
the
sink. It is now attached to a 3/4" board attached to floor joists. I want
to move the 1/2" lines so they are even with the joists; that
means moving them up about 1.5". There is no problem with the sink
as it is connected to the 1/2" pipe with a flexible connector. I am
concerned about stressing the 1/2" pipe or the connection to the
3/4" pipe. Seems to me that copper ought to have enough flex to
accomodate
moving 1.5" over a length of 3', but I don't want to find out the
hard way that I was wrong. Anyone with experience here? The pipes
are about 25 years old, if the matters.

I want to put in a dust collector that requires 91", and I now have
only 90"! Any place I can put it has problems with heating ducts or
worse.

There is Soft copper and there is Hard copper.
Yours is the latter.

If you try to put a bend in, the tube will buckle
or a soldered joint will likely fail. Wanna risk it??

Cut the pipe and solder in an offset section.
Jim

Or compression fittings may begin to leak. However, done properly, it is
feasible to put two back to back bends in the pipe to "move" it as long as
the shortened length due to the bending doesn't hurt anything.

"Toller" wrote in message

Seems to me that copper ought to have enough flex to accomodate moving
1.5" over a length of 3', but I don't want to find out the hard way that I
was wrong. Anyone with experience here? The pipes are about 25 years
old, if the matters.


Not a good idea. Do the job right and add a section and re-solder. That
tubing is more rigid than you think.

Toller wrote:

Seems to me that copper ought to have enough flex to accomodate moving 1.5"
over a length of 3', but I don't want to find out the hard way that I was
wrong. Anyone with experience here? The pipes are about 25 years old, if
the matters.

You're right, just grab a big ole pry bar and have at it. Let us know
how it turns out.

Pop` wrote:
If you try to put a bend in, the tube will buckle
or a soldered joint will likely fail. Wanna risk it??

Cut the pipe and solder in an offset section.
Jim

Or compression fittings may begin to leak. However, done properly, it is
feasible to put two back to back bends in the pipe to "move" it as long as
the shortened length due to the bending doesn't hurt anything.

Most people use solder connections, but I always have a problem with
them on repair work, especially in confined spaces. Are compression
fittings suitable/reliable for exposed pipes?

Bob S.

"Jon G." wrote in message
...
Toller wrote:

Seems to me that copper ought to have enough flex to accomodate moving
1.5" over a length of 3', but I don't want to find out the hard way that
I was wrong. Anyone with experience here? The pipes are about 25 years
old, if the matters.

You're right, just grab a big ole pry bar and have at it. Let us know how
it turns out.

If I needed a pry bar I wouldn't be asking. It will move without much
force.

"Bob F" wrote in
:


"Toller" wrote in message
...
I have 3/4" copper hot and cold pipes running through the basement.
1/2" copper pipes run off them to below sinks and then run up to the
sinks. The problem is one that is a 3' run from the 3/4" line to
below the sink. It is now attached to a 3/4" board attached to floor
joists. I want to
move
the 1/2" lines so they are even with the joists; that means moving
them up about 1.5". There is no problem with the sink as it is
connected to the 1/2" pipe with a flexible connector. I am concerned
about stressing the 1/2" pipe or the connection to the 3/4" pipe.

Seems to me that copper ought to have enough flex to accomodate
moving
1.5"
over a length of 3', but I don't want to find out the hard way that I
was wrong. Anyone with experience here? The pipes are about 25
years old, if the matters.

I want to put in a dust collector that requires 91", and I now have
only 90"! Any place I can put it has problems with heating ducts or
worse.


It might work. It might not. You are going to stress the joints badly.
The damage that would result if they give would be way more than
the cost of a couple fittings and a little soldering

Bob




The damage that would result if they give would be way more than


Correction: ...WHEN they give AND you are not home




Al Murphy Bundy

I don't care about the material, that is just a couple dollars.
I just hate working on old pipes; they take forever to clean.

But it beats the hell out of having something break.