1 pipe. Pinhole leak below the waterline.

drewbert41

Hello,

I came home to a puddle of water by the boiler. It was dripping off the bottom of a pipe that is below the waterline. When I wiped it off with a rag water started spraying out of the top of the pipe out of the smallest pinhole. I wiped it down and put some plumbers putty on it. The putty fell off immediately and the leak still stopped. I went ahead and taped a handful of putty on there for now and no leaks, but I know this is temporary. The hardware store person suggested epoxy.

What do you suggest for such a small pinhole?

Jamie Hall

Where there's one, there's more.

The plumber's putty and tape -- or, better, one of the self-adhesive tape like this: https://www.amazon.com/GTSE-Silicone-Resistant-Waterproof-Adhesive/dp/B08FYTZTGG/ref=sr_1_20?crid=3KWLKZ4X4AINT&dchild=1&keywords=self+adhesive+tape&qid=1613075941&sprefix=self+adhesive+ta,aps,175&sr=8-20
will do. For a temporary repair. However, the only real repair is to replace the section of pipe which has the leak. Pinholes do not come in singles, but are the result of generalized corrosion, so it is just a matter of time before another one shows up... and then another...

drewbert41

That is what I was afraid of. 100+ year old pipes.

bucksnort

Flex Seal?

drewbert41

bucksnort said:

Flex Seal?

I thought about using the flex tape.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Epoxy or JB weld. But you will have to drain the boiler and clean it and dry it off. May cause more leakage.

How about a picture

mattmia2

Or a hose clamp and a piece of rubber or a piece of hose sliced down the side...

Jamie Hall

You can use the tape on a pipe which is actively leaking, @drewbert41 . Even under domestic water pressure. Works just fine -- but ;you can't think of it as a permanent repair (a few years, though... it works).

BobC

After moving into this place i found the kitchen sink was very slow to drain. I tried snaking it out but could not get far, the 90 at the wall was stopping the snake no matter what I did. The pipes are from 1920 so i decided to replace the sink drain pipe from the dual sinks to the wall. I bought a sink drain kit of PVC at the hardware store and figured I could snake the drain by going into the stack at the wall.

Still NG and the drainage was getting worse, the drains were all heavy wall iron so drilled a 1/2" hole in the pipe down cellar and snaked it from there. I pulled out hair, bobby pins and toothpicks. I patched that hole with a 2" sq piece of silicone rubber and a radiator screw clamp. That was 40 years ago and that patch is doing just fine - no leaks and still looks like the day i strapped it on.

The problem with that kind of fix is that it can crush a badly corroded pipe.

Bob

drewbert41

Thanks guys, going to try and get through the season and replace that section of pipe. There is a union right next to it so that is nice.