leaking push fit

[dolland]

A few weeks ago I extended a pair of 15mm copper pipes from the overhead supply down the corner of my kitchen, then angled to horizontal under new units then angled up to my new kitchen sink all using copper pushfits which seemed to work fine with no leaks.

By chance, a few weeks later I looked under units into the corner trying to find a lost tool. To my dismay I can see a dripping copper push fit angle joint from the vertical to the horizontal under the units in an impossible position for me to reach. Bad planning I suppose, but can anyone suggest what I can do, and how would a plumber go about things; I'm nervous about the prospect of ripping that part of the kitchen out again!!

Thanks

 

[Ontario Plumber]

A few weeks ago I extended a pair of 15mm copper pipes from the overhead supply down the corner of my kitchen, then angled to horizontal under new units then angled up to my new kitchen sink all using copper pushfits which seemed to work fine with no leaks.

By chance, a few weeks later I looked under units into the corner trying to find a lost tool. To my dismay I can see a dripping copper push fit angle joint from the vertical to the horizontal under the units in an impossible position for me to reach. Bad planning I suppose, but can anyone suggest what I can do, and how would a plumber go about things; I'm nervous about the prospect of ripping that part of the kitchen out again!!

Thanks

Hi dolland

Joints always leak in the awkward places. Could you fit a compression fitting(s). May well save you ripping your kitchen apart. Personally I am not keen on pushfit fittings. Either solder or compression are my choice. Saves you lot of hassle. Compression fittings can leak but they can be fixed.

Just trying to help.

 

[dolland]

Thanks for being prompt.

Wish I'd fitted compression in first place, but was persuaded to try push fits by earlier posts.

No, can't reach pipe at full stretch. I think I know whats coming here! Now where can I store the plates and pans?

 

[brumylad]

why not cut out the back of the unit if its only hardboard, replace with plastic pushfit. Lube the copper with food grade silicone.

 

[vinniejones]

Copper pushfits are a pig to demount. Buy a Pipeslice, very easy to use in tight corners, cut just above fitting then use a JG Speedfit (much easier to demount if anything goes wrong. Then use any other fittings to get it all back together.

 

[bathjobby]

Copper pushfits are a pig to demount.

Some are some aren't, I've had some which wouldn't come off at all and I had to cut them off.
Assuming all your pipes were clean and cut with a pipe cutter, there is just a chance you may not have got the fitting fully onto the pipe i.e. they feel like the pipe is fully in when you feel the resistance of the internal grippers on the end of the pipe, but may not be fully home. If (when) you get access to the fittings, before ripping them out, just check they are fully engaged - brute strength. May save you some hassle. But, I have known some to leak when new, here it comes ---- didn't you do a 24 hour leak test before boxing in !

 

[tim-spam]

The question no-one seems to have considered is why the joint has started to leak. the only time I have ever known a tectite joint to leak is when someone had subjected it to excessive side force. If this is the case in your situation, you may be able to undo another more accessible fitting and see whether or not the pipe 'springs' when released.
Or perhaps you've used a lower quality fitting to start with - the ones at B&Q look pretty poor to me.

 

[bathjobby]

tim-spam wrote

The question no-one seems to have considered is why the joint has started to leak.

A builder friend of mine has used these for a number of years and in that time has had around 3 brand new defective ones. Not many, but as with most things, not everything new works.

 

[dolland]

Thanks for the responses.

The copper fittings were tested for several days before adding the kitchen units, so no clue there. However, it was possible the pipe has been subjected to some side force when the units were assembled, although I don't recal anything untoward. It may just be that there is some continuing strain; at the angle I can view it, I simply can't see at the moment.

My best option appears to be to isolate the supply and cut out the offending sections- replacing them with plastic pushfits. It will be a real pig, and I'll probably need to hack out a section of the corner carcass.

 

[Paul Barker]

That's life, we encounter it all the time.

Only today I went to unblock a shower waste for an old dear from church. The numpties who fitted the shower managed to find a waste that wasn't serviceable from inside the shower, but of course they hadn't raised the shower on a riser kit or anything sensible like that, no flat bang on the floor it is. So I made a hatch in the bathroom floor, but she only has about 8 inches under joists to concrete and a sleeper wall wrong side of shower waste so I couldn't get to it.

All I could do was use my plunger, which did work for now but isn't a good long term method. I explained how it had been fitted with lack of forethought and that the plunger wasn't a guaranteed fix, that it may be necessary to rip the whole lot out and do the job properly next time.

Never ceases to amaise me how optomistic people are these days.. right up to the point the item needs attention and then they learn!

 

[croydoncorgi]

Don't even MENTION the word 'shower' today!!!
I just spent half a day shaving plaster and render off walls to fit a shower tray that turned out to be 10mm larger in both dimensions than the spec, The space constructed by the builder also turned out to be 5mm smaller (in both dimensions) than the spec!
And that was after I left the b... shower tray on-site to avoid this problem.
Grrr!

 

[Paul Barker]

Don't talk to me about leaving stuff on site. I have one site where the sparky took my Saniflow shower pump to bits for reasons of his own, and all sorts of important little nick nacks like the two hal;f moon buttons out of a button flush loo, and just one wing nut from the close coupled kit have been sweapt up by whoever it is that keeps tidying up. I lost £40 of copper to the street urchins who broke in a few months ago and a cystern was mysteriously broken, nobody owned up.

Then another site we just started on a few weeks ago owner was bugging us to get started, so we went in found the suitable wall to put the boiler, hung it, piped the jigg, placed the rads in place around the walls. Then along comes one of his employees "we're dry lining that wall" so off came boiler and we left it all to go and do other work since we can'tr progress until they do. Went back Saturday to find the incesant sweeper up has somehow lost a flue and flue elbow!

I just love building sites! And these two are all for a mate, I'd hate to do building site work for someone I don't know respect like and live a few doors away from!