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Copper Pipe Corrosion?

5K views 22 replies 8 participants last post by  Ravenworks 
#1 ·
Hi, this is my first time posting to this forum. I did a search but couldn't find the answer to my question, but first a little background.

My wife and I bought our first house 7 months ago and it has tons of problems... mice, drafts, sagging floors, rotted siding, woodpeckers, knotty pine paneling in the MBR, poltergeists... you name it.

Anyway, on to my plumbing problem.

At some point the previous owners had to dig a new well. A copper pipe comes through a hole drilled into the garage floor, up vertically between the garage doors, up to the ceiling and over to the water tank and filter system.

The problem I'm seeing under the foam insulation is that there's a metal braided power cable that is attached to the pipe with plastic ties. I guess it runs underground to the water pump. I'm seeing some corrosion on the pipe... green stuff basically. And they used metal fasteners to attach it to the ceiling and it's looking funky too.

I'm guessing I need to move the power cable off and tie it around the outside of the foam insulation.... but what about the 50 feet it travels underground? Is the pipe going to eventually start springing holes?
 
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#8 ·
Holes from the inside or outside?
What is the ph of the water?
Run the rest of what ever copper line that you can find and make sure that there are no Elect lines even phone lines around the copper.
Make sure that the house ground is not on the copper and that the well ground has been done correctly.
 
#9 ·
One of the many things you mentioned that would have been picked up by a good home inspection before buying.
Anytime there's any steel in contact with copper there's going to be corrosion. Those wires my run out to the well pump.
Where do you live. I hope it never freezes there or that garage is heated. If those old pipes freeze and burst your going to have a sprinkle system real quick.
 
#10 ·
Copper reacts to different materials not just metal to metal contact, keep this in mind, could not see the ground clamp, buy the copper saddle clamp for electrical grounding point, this is important as a bad ground could cause problems in other areas. As to what you can’t see get some quotes to replace and have it in the back of your mind so you’ll have no surprises when and if it goes out , good luck with your new home.
 
#12 ·
Here's where the pipe emerges through the garage floor directly underground. There's no basement.


Room Floor Door



Here's a close up of the pipe and power line as buried in a corrugated pipe. It looks like the powerline is wrapped in plastic pipe. I'm going to have an electrician look at it next week.



Water Hand



I'm going to check the inspection report for the water's ph.
 
#13 ·
I carved out some free time today and made some progress fixing up this water pipe situation. I have no experience doing this work before. I'm just trying to save a few bucks but I don't want to cut corners.

Here's a few more before photos. The first is a shot of the pipe coming up through the floor between the garage doors.
Plumbing Pipe


Across the ceiling.

Ceiling Beam Roof Building


Here's where it takes a 90 degree turn to the water tank. Note that it's held up by a plastic strap connected to another water pipe!

Ceiling Pipe Room Beam Plumbing


There's a long span of pipe here held up by this copper strap. It attached diagonally to a floor joist above. The problem is there's no floor joists directly above.



The power line is now off the pipe and dangling in place until my friend the electrician takes a break from snow boarding. I also have a heater cable roughed in place. Once the electric work is done, I'm going to open the ceiling, add some 2x4's between the joists and secure the pipe with better hangers.

Ceiling Wall Electrical wiring Room Floor


And here's some ugly corrosion! I'll find out if this needs to be replaced.

Floor Auto part Automotive wheel system Flooring Rim


And on another subject, here's a shot of my son watching the 7th Voyage of Sinbad. Nothing beats the stop motion animation magic of Ray Harryhausen!

Media Room Electronic device Technology Television
 
#14 ·
Wrong style shut off valve, installed up side down, I'd rip out all that old copper and replace with 3/4" pex, replace all the valves with ball valves. Replace all that wiring with romex run in PVC conduit.
No more rust ever.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Is it leaking now? Before OP tears his piping apart wouldn't you rather he correct the MINOR problems first then go from there? Yes he should start by securing the piping with the proper fastener(s) and yes he should separate other metals from the copper.
As for the corrosion looks can be deceiving,I have seen many cases where it was cleaned off with minimal effort with Scotch-Brite.
If it were mine there is no way it would be ripped out,at least not yet.
BTW,if I get time today I will do some before and after pictures of how easy it is to clean the funk off of copper to further inspect.
 
#21 ·
Yeah, I'll try cleaning it up first. It's really not in my budget to replace the entire pipe if I can help it. We've already spent a ton of money fixing a leaking roof in three spots, replacing leaky skylights, replacing blocked drainage pipes, replacing rotted wood around the house, etc... home ownership is so much fun! :laughing:
 
#22 ·
I made progress last weekend on securing the pipe. It's now attached to two hangers screwed into the ceiling. I admit my sheetrock skills are pretty amateurish! An electrician got the power cable hidden in the ceiling and installed a GFCI outlet near the pipe. I'll plug a heater cable in there and then put insulation over the pipe. Gotta plaster too.

Ceiling




Ceiling Wall Room Electrical wiring




Electrical wiring Electrical supply Technology Wire Gas




Electrical wiring Electrical supply Technology Wire Gas




Electrical wiring Electrical supply Technology Wire Gas



Electrical wiring Wall Room Plaster Ceiling
 
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