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Clare Snyder Clare Snyder is offline
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Default Alternate to soldering copper pipe

On Tue, 20 Feb 2018 16:17:20 -0600, wrote:

On Tue, 20 Feb 2018 13:28:35 -0600, philo wrote:

On 02/20/2018 01:07 PM, trader_4 wrote:
On Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at 1:44:07 PM UTC-5, David S wrote:
I have some piping in my shower that appears to have been bonded with somthing
other the solder. head does not affect it, almost looks like epoxy. Any
suggestions on how to break bond?

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Depending on what and where it is, why not just cut the pipe and remove
the bonded part.




Good advice. That is what I'd do.


Though you could replace the section with copper and solder it, a few
years back I used SharkBite and saved myself a bit of work. It was
absolutely leak free,


Yea, they do make an epoxy for copper pipe. I have never used it, but
hear it works. I'd rather solder the pipe and know it will come apart
(when needed), with a torch.


And stay together when you need it to. I used "just for copper" once
- never again. And it WILL release with (a lot of) heat.
I found my soldered joints leak less -

If you need to go back too far, to cut out the piece you want to repair,
just cut the pipe and solder in a coupler. Just dont solder it too near
an epoxy joint. The heat could cause that epoxy to fail or maybe even
flare up.

Soldering copper pipe is not hard, as long as you use a good torch and
use the correct flux and solder. Plus make sure the copper is very
clean.

I have to strongly disagree with them sharkbites. I have seen them fail,
and it's no pretty scene. All it takes is having that sharkbite fitting
too close to a stud or other object that puts some pressure on the
locking sleeve and you got a wide open pipe. Not worth the time savings
and they are very costly as well. The best thing to do with them, is to
leave them fill shelf space in the store. Plumbing codes should not even
allow them, except for temporary use, (meaning not longer than 24
hours). They do provide a means to temporarily cut out a leaky pipe, and
connect a new section of pipe overnight, until the pipe can be repaired
properly.


They have their place, even for permanent repairs - but they are not
the solution of choice for every, or even most, jobs.