On 7/7/2016 1:54 PM, Cindy Hamilton wrote:
On Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 1:39:15 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Mon, 4 Jul 2016 16:11:54 -0400, Bob wrote:

Hello,

Have a pinhole size leak in a 1/2" Cu cold water line in house.
At a 90 deg. elbow.

Too old now to do the re-soldering myself, and would like if possible
to avoid a plumber. Really a very small leak.

Are there any putty or epoxy, or... products out there that can
be molded around the pipe, and stand a good chance of actually working ?

If so, brands, etc. ?

Much thanks,
B.

How can you be "too old" to solder a copper fitting? Unless you're in a
wheelchair, anyone who knows how to solder a fitting can do it. I'm
elderly myself, and wont even consider replacing my roof, or even
painting my house exterior, but soldering a fitting is child's play. You
can even buy copper fittings these days that come with the solder, just
clean the pipe, wipe on some flux, shove the fitting on the pipe, and
heat it with a torch.

Perhaps it would require standing on a ladder or similar to do the work.
Sweating pipe takes both hands and a little time, where molding some
putty around the pipe might enable him to hang on to something stable
with one hand.

I know my mother became timid about standing on ladders when she
got to be about 80. I'm now in charge of changing light bulbs in
ceiling fixtures for her. If she lives to be 100, we'll have to
hire someone because I'll be too old to stand on a ladder, too.

Cindy Hamilton

At age 76, proud of myself yesterday climbing step ladder in kitchen to
change bulbs in fixture with a glass dome, I've always been concerned
about dropping. Bifocals, early AMD and arthritis make simple jobs for
those 50 year old kids not easy for us.

Replaced two crappy CFL's with LED's that should last as long as we have
to live. Before one of the CFL's burned out, there was an annoying hum
for years from one or both of the bulbs. I've seen it in other CFL's.

Also snaked AC condensate pipe that was clogged. Took me a while to
figure that one out as it was not completely plugged and seemed to be
dripping as usual into French drain.

Been a long time since I sweated a pipe and it was difficult in the
basement ceiling. I went through the epoxy thing myself but it did not
hold up long.

Been a few years since I hired a plumber but last time I did I saved 3
jobs for him to do to keep cost down. OP just discovering problem would
cut plumbers time. Often takes longer to find the source of a leak than
to repair it.