Something I've done with more or less success. Cut the
coupling length wise (think hot dog bun) with a pair of tin
shears. Pry it open (think clam on the beach opening its
mouth). Sand and flux the pipe, where it's leaking. Turn off
the water, of course. Drain the pipe if possible. Sand the
inside of the fitting. Squeeze the fitting around the pipe.
Might need pliers. More flux. Heat the fitting, and be
generous with the solder. If you're lucky, you just soldered
copper over the pinhole, and you won't have a leak for the
next umpteen years.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Bert Byfield" wrote in message
. 97.131...
Bert Byfield wrote:
But my primary leak right now is where a water pipe has
been
touching the conduit for the main house power for fifty
years or
so, and the contact has caused a pinhole leak, of 5 or 6
gallons
a day. I'm looking at inserting a "universal pipe repair
clamp"
between the pipe and the conduit, before I think about
replacing
sections of pipe.

All you need is a slip over coupling (one w/o the ridge in
the
middle) expressly for the purpose.
Cut the pipe at the location of the pinhole, clean the
ends
(remember to also ream the inside of the cut to get rid of
burs),
then slip the fitting over, flux and solder. Done.
Then, as somebody else noted, fix the contact point so the
two
don't touch in some fashion and it'll probably outlast
you.

I had never before understood why some of the couplings had
ridges and
some did not. But also this pipe is only half an inch from
the ceiling
so I can't get a regular pipe cutter to roll around it, and
would have
to use that saw like a hacksaw blade with a handle at only
one end.
I've had trouble doing this before, because the soft copper
bends a bit
and is then hard to fit to the coupling. Is there a better
way to cut
this pipe, or do I just have to go slowly and ream out the
result?