Reusing copper pipe

[scubapete]

Hi,

About to start refurbishing a bathroom and doing some plumbing for the first time ever.

Because I am installing furniture and turning the bath around I am going to need to route the pipework differently.

Which begs the question of what to do with the old pipework?

Can I just reuse it? i.e. cut it out and then re-plumb it in the correct location.

Are there any reasons / best practices for always installing new copper pipe? Or not? It's pretty expensive stuff..

Cheers

 

[JohnD]

you can reuse copper pipe

but if it has been on central heating radiators before it may be very dirty inside so unsuitable for taps.

if it has old lead-soldered joints it should not be used for drinking water.

 

[scubapete]

Sounds like the test is what the condition they are like inside.

What does a lead solder joint look like?

To my uneducated eye they look more like solder ring fittings than end feed. Don't know if that makes a difference.

Also, there is lots of green and white residue about.

 

[JohnD]

someone (not me) will know what year lead solder fittings were phased out, sorry.

green on the inside is normal

white might be limescale.

 

[petetheleak]

For the sake of say £25 buy new stuff.

Save on time and effort.

You can always save up you old scrap and sell it on .copper is a great price at the mo providing you have enough ,

 

[gas4you]

If they are solder ring fittings then you can use them on domestics as they are potable.

 

[chrishutt]

If they are solder ring fittings ... they are potable.

Not so. Solder ring fittings have only been lead free since around 15 years ago. Before that they used leaded solder. Always assume old joints are made with leaded solder unless you know for sure that they're not.

I reuse copper pipe a lot - why not? It lasts for ever and reuse is much better than recycling from an environmental viewpoint. Just don't use old pipes for potable water if they were previously gas or heating pipes. Likewise don't use old heating pipes for gas since the iron oxide debris in them might clog up gas valve filters and injectors.

 

[gas4you]

Thanks chris, never knew that Always learning something new on here

 

[doitall]

Most be longer than that Chris, I thought the change over was in the late 70s

 

[chrishutt]

According to this leaflet it was over 15 years ago, which sounds about right to me, but I don't know from first hand experience since I wasn't involved in plumbing at the time of the change, though I was in the late 70s and it wasn't then.

 

[JohnD]

the leaflet says "Water supply byelaws and more recently the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 have banned the use of lead solder throughout England and Wales for over 15 years"

but although it mentions 1999 it doesn't say when the byelaws changed As the document doesn't say when it was written you can't work out how long ago "over 15 years" was

I suppose we'll guess about 1992 but it might be longer