Is this right?

[DSurette]

My daughter had some plumbing work done in 2005 by a national company. (Rhymes with Mr. Hooter). They repaired a leak that was inside a wall behind her water heater. Last week she noticed some dampness in the same area and had someone else look at the problem. The attached picture is what they found. The leak was coming from where a fitting was glued to a 3/4" cpvc line. This was on the water heater inlet side. The same type of "repair" is still on the outlet side of the heater. This leak had been going on for quite a while and there is some mold under her house from it. I'm wondering if this was a correct way to do this work. I am not a plumber but even I would not use glue to connect brass to cpvc.

[PLUMBER RICK]

wish you can post a wide angle picture to see the rest of the area.

there is no brass to cpvc do it yourself glued on fitting. these transition fittings are all factory made.

it's hard to tell from that close up what exactly you have. but it looks like the adapter/ transition fitting is not on a cpvc line and if so, the glue is more of a orange yellow color for cpvc.

widen up the photo for a better overall view.

p.s. i don't work with cpvc, but i am exposed to it's design and installation requirements.

rick.

[rick1643]

wish you can post a wide angle picture to see the rest of the area.

there is no brass to cpvc do it yourself glued on fitting. these transition fittings are all factory made.

it's hard to tell from that close up what exactly you have. but it looks like the adapter/ transition fitting is not on a cpvc line and if so, the glue is more of a orange yellow color for cpvc.

widen up the photo for a better overall view.

p.s. i don't work with cpvc, but i am exposed to it's design and installation requirements.

rick.




Plumber Rick is right, that is not a transition fitting, and the glue was yellow but is now orange flowguard gold. I used cpvc for years on mobile home repipes, with all the transition fittings. Have them come back and do it right. Rick

[PLUMBER RICK]

Plumber Rick is right, that is not a transition fitting, and the glue was yellow but is now orange flowguard gold. I used cpvc for years on mobile home repipes, with all the transition fittings. Have them come back and do it right. Rick

just to make it clear:rolleyes: would a larger / wide angle shot, photo make it easier to read?

you are the "other rick":wave3:

rick.

[DSurette]

This is the piece that they had cut out and I laid it on the floor for the picture. The outlet side is identical to what this was and is still attached. I will have her take pictures tonight.
Thanks for the replies.

[rick1643]

just to make it clear:rolleyes: would a larger / wide angle shot, photo make it easier to read?

you are the "other rick":wave3:

rick.


A wider pic would definately help, I'm not possitive that it is cpvc, it might be pvc, which still doesn't make it right. I've seen someone use abs glue on pvc, but never seen anybody glue plastic pipe to brass...The Other Rick

[DuckButter]

Pretty sure thats NOT CPVC cement...the right stuff is conspicuously yellow, that looks like regular PVC cement.
The fitting could possibly be a CPVC to copper adaptor, but hard to see if it has a CPVC hub inside the brass from the pic.

[HVAC HAWK]

that is a sec 40 pvc st 90 into something not sure what it is

[westcoastplumber]

There appears to be writting on the brass fitting. I would like to see larger pictures, from multiple angles. It does not matter if it is still connected or not, atlest we can see all sides of the fitting and both hubs are very important.

[DuckButter]

There appears to be writting on the brass fitting. I would like to see larger pictures, from multiple angles.

Brightened, cropped and enhanced the color/contrast.

[DUNBAR]

That's Brass male adaptor to CPVC 90.....that's a given.

The installer probably hand cranked that fitting in since there's no claw marks on the brass or plastic,


broke the factory transition weld upon install. High water pressure might be partially to blame, who knows.


Any work been done around this connection, maybe indirectly? I don't get accused much of leaks.....but when I do, I ask questions that you'd never think yields the answer I'm looking for.


EDIT


After re-reading the post, I can say that in KY there has to be a minimum of 18" of metallic piping coming out of the water heater before transitioning to any plastic piping. CPVC takes a beating when it's exposed to extreme temperatures. If this was a gas heater and they made turns of directions close to the top of the heater, the temperature near the draft diverter is multiple times that of the water temp. The plastic doesn't have to look burnt in order to decipher that cause and effect.

[NHMaster3015]

Beat me to it, but yes, if the connection from the heater to the cpvc is too short, thermal expansion will work on the factory joint and cause failure. I've seen it before.

PS still hate cpvc

[DuckButter]

Here we're required to have 24" from any hot water source for any plastic pipe, either hot or cold.

[HVAC HAWK]

some of you are calling this CPVC it looks white to me and CPVC is a light yellow is it not ?

[biscuit]

Now that you mention it, it does look like PVC and not CPVC.

[DSurette]

Here are some additional pictures. All of this is CPVC. I guess maybe the color didn't come out too well in the pictures. They have already replaced the other fitting on the hot side so I can't get a picture of that. You can see where the one piece was removed just before the expansion tank where it goes into the wall.
I thought all transitions from PVC or CPVC to brass had to be threaded or some other method other than glue. On the piece that's in the picture you could twist the fitting about 1/4 inch where the glue was not stuck to the brass.
Thanks again tor the replies.

[DuckButter]

It's Flowguard gold, for CPVC it's the best name.
There are IPS (threaded) adaptors directly connected the the heaters nipples, a bad thing...they're too close, some jurisdictions require at least 18" distance, mine requires 24" from any heater/boiler.
I still don't think I see any CPVC glue, the glue is egg yolk in color, very easy to spot.
If they used regular clear pvc glue, thats possibly the problem, having it so close to the source of heat won't help either.

[rick1643]

the only cpvc glue I've seen recently is orange in color, I used the yellow before, I don't see any of it here. I think your right, they used the wrong glue here. Rick

[DSurette]

Thanks for the replies. I think she has turned it over to her insurance company. There are several other plumbing issues with her house. It was originally plumbed with the gray stuff that was the subject of the lawsuits a few years ago. They had that removed and I guess that's when the CPVC was installed. But the gray stuff was not replaced for the bath tub plumbing because of the tile. Now that area has been leaking for quite a while and some of the flooring has to be replaced. It's amazing how much damage can be done by a very small leak in a wall. One leak is bad enough but she had two of them, both going on for quite a while. And in different areas of the house.

[CAROLINA PLUMBER]

All cpvc glue is NOT necessarly yellow or orange. Not long ago I actually used "weld-on"brand It was labeled on the can for cpvc...and was grey in color!That fitting is a factory cpvc insert sleeve as a transition fitting..:rolleyes:.I use copper/pex mostly BTW>>>The expansion needs support.We in NC can run plastic piping directly into electric units and 18" metallic piping on gas fired units.