My Water Line Burst

[Oldgringo]

Did the pipe burst between the meter and the street or between the meter and the house? If it's between the meter and the street the billing agency/city owns it.

[WTR]

Sweating copper piping: https://www.familyhandyman.com/plumbing ... /view-all/

I learned how to do this when helping a friend build a hunting camp; not hard. Flux is the magic ingredient - don't ignore it.

Make sure you clean the copper shiny new, use plenty of flux and purge all the water so it does not act as a heat sink.

[TreyHouston]

Sweating copper piping: https://www.familyhandyman.com/plumbing ... /view-all/

I learned how to do this when helping a friend build a hunting camp; not hard. Flux is the magic ingredient - don't ignore it.

WOW! I will try to tackle this next time! Seams easy!

[Syntyr]

Sweating copper piping: https://www.familyhandyman.com/plumbing ... /view-all/

I learned how to do this when helping a friend build a hunting camp; not hard. Flux is the magic ingredient - don't ignore it.

What AndyC said. Its not hard. About 20 bucks worth of supplies:
Torch
Solder
Flux
Sandpaper
Copper pipe
Pipe cutter
Two slip fittings one for each end.

Dig (this is the hard part). Give yourself plenty of room to work. Cut out damaged section plus an inch or two. Clean up the ends as shiny and bright as you can. Cut new section to fit but give yourself enough play on each side to put the couplers and new pipe toghter and sweat the 4 joints together. Look sweating copper joints on youtube for how to. Buy a couple of extra couplers and practice. It takes a time or two but you can do it.

[troglodyte]

One of the hardest parts no matter what kind of pipe is getting the new piece back in with the couplers. Pex is easy enough because it is flexible and a slipfix will work with pvc. Slipfixes weren’t around when I was installing sprinkler systems so I figured out a better and easier way. Works on pvc and copper the easiest and galvanized with the right compression couplers and ells.

Cut out the broken piece. Cut enough so everything will fit back. Put an ell in the ends of the existing pipe and point them in the same direction on the same plane. Cut a piece of new pipe so it fits just between the ells you just installed. Put an elll on each end of your splice. Make sure they face the same direction and are on the same plane. Now cut a couple of short pieces a couple of inches long. Glue or solder them into the ells on the Existing pipe. Now glue or solder the splice on to the nubs. You will make a “u” of sorts. Saves you from having to figure out how to bend or arch the pipe to fit.

I hope that makes sense. It’s harder to describe than it is to.

[MaduroBU]

If you solder it, remember a few things.

1.) Get a bigger torch than you think you'll need. A TS8000 with MAPP gas Heats the pipe faster and makes it easier to heat everything evenly.

2) the pipe cannot be too clean. You need to use emery cloth and/or a wire brush until the pipe surface is as shiny as copper that you just cut. Grind a piece of waste pipe with a dremel tool grinding wheel. THAT'S how shiny you need the pipe to be before you flux it.

3.) Flux anywhere that you want solder to stick. Solder won't stick to pipe that isn't clean and fluxed. Solder won't stay around forever, and will burn away if you're heating the pipe for a full minute trying to get it all hot at once. See point 1.

4.) Use lead free plumbing solder.

[swilkes]

If you solder it, remember a few things.

1.) Get a bigger torch than you think you'll need. A TS8000 with MAPP gas Heats the pipe faster and makes it easier to heat everything evenly.

2) the pipe cannot be too clean. You need to use emery cloth and/or a wire brush until the pipe surface is as shiny as copper that you just cut. Grind a piece of waste pipe with a dremel tool grinding wheel. THAT'S how shiny you need the pipe to be before you flux it.

3.) Flux anywhere that you want solder to stick. Solder won't stick to pipe that isn't clean and fluxed. Solder won't stay around forever, and will burn away if you're heating the pipe for a full minute trying to get it all hot at once. See point 1.

4.) Use lead free plumbing solder.

when soft soldering to much heat is a bad thing. It will acutallly push the solder out. All new rolls of solder since the 80’s I think is lead free

[2farnorth]

I believe that sweated or threaded fittings are the only things permitted on gas line. Using a shark bite on gas is plain irresponsible and a danger.
Shark bites are dependable if proper pipe prep is done. Squared, clean, and debured cuts are needed.
Shark bite should not be used on the old Quest pipe (gray or white) used in mobile and prefabs in 90s and early 2000s (too soft)
When used on iron pipe underground rust will eventually deteriorate the connection. Above ground should be ok unless rust or other corrosion is already present,
Regular PVC requires special more expensive Shark bites,
CPVC (yellow or tan), copper and pex use the standard Shark bites.
Too the OP: Determine what type of pipe and how long the break is before making any decisions. If white pvc there are more options available. An old glued coupler may have pulled apart. We don't have very many copper pipe meter to house situations in our area. 90% are pvc or iron.

[NotRPB]

Sharkbite is a brand name like probite http://www.probite.com/

you do not want a plain "coupling"
http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/plumb ... nect-34-in

but a specific repair fitting which is a bit longer allowing more "slip"

SharkBite U3016LF Slip Coupling, Push To Connect, 3/4 In
http://www.midlandhardware.com/212940.h ... gJOxfD_BwE

I have a few, but you can get them at Home Depot/Lowes/True Value/Ace easier than driving to where I live

[NotRPB]

If you solder it, remember a few things.

1.) Get a bigger torch than you think you'll need. A TS8000 with MAPP gas Heats the pipe faster and makes it easier to heat everything evenly.

2) the pipe cannot be too clean. You need to use emery cloth and/or a wire brush until the pipe surface is as shiny as copper that you just cut. Grind a piece of waste pipe with a dremel tool grinding wheel. THAT'S how shiny you need the pipe to be before you flux it.

3.) Flux anywhere that you want solder to stick. Solder won't stick to pipe that isn't clean and fluxed. Solder won't stay around forever, and will burn away if you're heating the pipe for a full minute trying to get it all hot at once. See point 1.

4.) Use lead free plumbing solder.

MAPP gas (comes in the yellow instead of blue can) Heats the pipe faster

tip: (not withstanding gravity,) solder flows towards the heat source so you'd heat the middle of a fitting instead of the edge of one.

having soldered repairs and using the sharkbite slip fix .... do the slip fix (not copler) because you'll need to slip it onto a section, then slip it bacvk off part way to put the other section back in (that's why the longer repair probite/sharkbite slip coupling instead of tyhe normal short coupling ... and that maneuver is tougher to do with soldering)

If you decide to solder you may need four 90 degree Ells and short sections of pipee between them (or 4 street ells) and in order to get both ends back into couplers on the ends because the existing pipe doesn't shrink or stretch a lot ...

This shows the repair slip fitting ( as well as a valve, but you can use 2 slip repair fittings or a coupler and a slip repair fitting with a short piece of copper or PEX) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEsqtSA7HsM

[imkopaka]

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I'm going down to city hall to make doubly sure there aren't any code restrictions that would net me a misdemeanor for trying to fix a pipe. Then I'll start digging. Once I reach the pipe I'll head to the only two hardware stores in town and see what they have. If they have the sharkbites and PEX, I'll use that, if not I'll replace with copper. I may use that U-shape trick, troglodyte. Thanks for the advice, guys - I'll let you know how it goes.

[SQLGeek]

I am sorry for your trouble and best of luck in the repair. I'm interested in finding out how it burst and what kind of material your pipe is. I don't have any advice but I've been following the thread with interest. I know a little bit about a lot of topics but plumbing, not so much, so I'm using it as a learning experience myself.