Pitting.....

Mad Dog_2

Mad Dog_2

Larry Weingarten

Hi, Is this close to salt water? 🤔
Yours, Larry

Mad Dog_2

Mad Dog_2

This black pipe and Cast Iron stram fittings could be anywhere from 125-

160 yrs old.. Just don't know. Mad Dog 

EBEBRATT-Ed

Maybe because it's connected to the copper?? It will probably last another 20 yrs.

pecmsg

100 years in a damp humid basement under asbestos?

Mad Dog_2

Yes...But I've only seen  spalling & pitting like this on brick walls next to Highways...salt & water..Mad Dog 

pecmsg

Mad Dog_2 said:

Yes...But I've only seen  spalling & pitting like this on brick walls next to Highways...salt & water..Mad Dog 

Agreed

where did you find that?

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

Looks like adolescent acne scars. 

Mad Dog_2

Central Nassau County 1846 Farmhouse. Mad Dog 

Jamie Hall

I've seen pitting like that when lime mortar has been allowed to dust onto iron fittings or pipes in more or less constantly moist (but not wet) conditions.

mattmia2

Is that the remnants of a cistern under the first picture?

Mad Dog_2

Yes..I love the crawl spaces and basements of this old Farmhouse. I've seen evidence of several old wells, several old water service lines (Lead, Galvanized, brass and finally Copper.) Mad Dog 

Mad Dog_2

Jamie: Maybe the asbestos batting had lime in it? Mad Dog 

Jamie Hall

could well be. Doesn't seem to take much...

Mad Dog_2

Might last another 150 yrs...

Mad Dog_2

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Mad Dog_2

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Mad Dog_2

Schedule 80!!

Mad Dog_2

Remember Panamanian strong man, Manuel Noriega? His Countrymen called him "Pineapple Face," for his pockmarked face..I always think of that when I hear acne scars.. Random thoughts…ha ha. Mad Dog

RTW

Another face to remember is Author, Charles Bukowski Its been said he has a face like Hammered S#@t similar to pipe photos. Regards, RTW

Mustangman

I know this is a bit of a long shot but, is this a sign of oxygen ingress? Just stay with me a minute.. we know about oxygen ingress of uncoated PEX. It is a phenomenon. Many years ago, I worked for an older guy who was a super good guy. We were eating lunch on the jobsite one day and we were talking about electrolic corrosion and the damage it causes. He gave me one of the best explaination of what happens and why. We are sitting there and he stops the conversation. He calls me by my last name and adds college boy like it was my name. He says tell us how electrolic corrosion happens. I said, in my confident voice " I can answer that" I forgot to tell you that all my guys on that job joined us for lunch…The pressure is on. I said " Its when a ferrous pipe like steel is connected to a non-ferrous like copper… in solution, the oxygen will travel through the walls of the pipe" I was feeling pretty good, then he hits me with.. why. I'm thinking… why what? Why did oxygen decide to go through the walls of the pipe. Did not know the answer to that one… it just happens, was good enough for decades now he put a "why" in there. I said " John, I don't know ". I thought he was going to share it with us, instead, he says I tell you another day… Lunch break is over. Damn. Although this did give me a shot at redemption… so when I got home I looked in every source I had and no one had a good explaination. ( FYI this is pre computer for me so I was limited.) Finally a week later he stops on my job for lunch. We sit down and he asks me if I found the answer. I told him all I found is the definition I gave and not why. He says some smart comment about I must have missed that day in college. Finally he says " Mother nature or what ever you want to call it likes things equal. When we first fill a heating system the the water has oxygen. As time goes on, the water's oxygen level drops. The outside of the pipe has a lot of oxygen surrounding it. Pex as we all learned is a permeable… doesn't seem possible. Oxygen which is a gas should not get thru the walls of plastic or so we thought. Over time, Mother nature keeps trying to get equal oxygen and it pushes oxygen molecules thru the semi permeable pipe. Oxygen will attack anything steel inside the system. Thats why we see boiler life cut way down.

Do you think you may be seeing the pipe breakdown from oxygen diffusion? Thats a tough one with dimples on the outside of the pipe. You may be right with a reaction between a mineral in asbestos. What stinks is I have seen it before. I can't remember when or where. Comes with Age

RTW

Where's a Metallurgist when you need one? Regards RTW

Long Beach Ed

Matt, is that house near any electrified railroad tracks? As in 750-volt third rail electrification? We've seen that before, and on some blocks, steel gas service lines don't last ten years.

Mad Dog_2

No Ed. Mad Dog