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Qs about the 1/2"dia brass pipe we bought

4K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  LateralConcepts 
#1 · (Edited)
We are a little nervous about the length of brass pipe we bought. It is for our cold water supply from the riser to our kitchen sink.

For one, the outside looks just as blackened and old as the pipe we are replacing (which is over 50yrs old.) Secondly, when I stuck my finger down the pipe, it wasn't smooth (though I'll say it didn't seem to have the same green built up that ours did but ours is smooth.)

Do you think we were sold a used length of pipe? Is this dangerous? What else is brass pipe used for. I want to know if we're going to die from drinking our water now...

How much do you guys find 1/2" brass pipe for?? We needed 20 inch total including the threads on each end - we were quoted $20 but then charged for $30 in all including tax and threading charges.

We originally went to Home Depot - they told us to get a 20-inch 1/2'dia. pipe we needed to go to a plumbing supply store. We spotted a mom-n-pop hardware store with some plumbing parts on display and decided to go in to ask. The guy said no problem and that he would go downstairs to cut the pipe and thread it. We expected to see nice clean new brass, like the brass fitting we had been buying from HD... We argued about the price coz it was bait and switch imo, and only one guy working there agreed they did not explain the charges correctly to us... it wasn't until we got home that we really looked at it started to suspect it was a re-used piece of pipe... if you could reuse stuff, why didn't they just rethread the pipe we had brought in in??

This is really bothering us... I'm largely worried about the water safety issue - please shed some light on this if you can. Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
hold the new pipe up to a light and look down it. is the inside shiny? is it pitted and corroded? brass pipe isn't often used, so i would picture it sits around and gets dirty. hard to say if its dangerous being used, since we don't know what went thru it. if it bothers you, take it back and find an actual supply house to get what you need
 
#3 ·
I imagine that the pipe is 'new'--Just been on the shelf for many many years---Should be fine.

I've been remodeling kitchens and baths for a long time----I wonder what you need a 20" long brass pipe for?---Mike---
 
#4 ·
@ the man, the inside is DEF not shiny. I couldn't see very well down it past the initial 1 or so inches but it was not shiney but rather dark and dull looking. Is the price per linear foot sounds on par? Thats the thing, we don't know what the pipe might have been used for before and that doesn't sit well with us. Would you be equally paranoid?

@ oh'mike, this is a diagram of what we are replacing. After we got out the horizontal broken pipe (thread here: http://www.diychatroom.com/f7/leaking-pipe-94914/ ), we decided to replace everything to the sink (after the thread of the 20" pipe broke in the top elbow piece.) We just matched the length of what we were replacing.
To repipe the connection to the sink, could we have used PVC instead?

 
#5 ·
Pvc would have worked--I do a lot of copper--I might have made up a 20" long copper pipe with a male fitting at each end--If the piping in the wall is galvanized---I would have used galvanized---

Mating copper or brass to galvanize causes electrolysis---which will eventually eat up the brass or copper

That may be the cause of the failure of the old brass nipple. ---Mike--
 
#6 · (Edited)
oh'mike, we don't have any galvanized steel pipe in our house. Its all brass.
So your choice of attack would have been to repipe to the sink, using copper instead of brass or pvc? We were also thinking how much easier this whole project would have been if the pipe was copper instead of brass (given the small clearances.)

From what I can gather, it sounds like brass was meant to last forever but in two instances now, the old threads seems to have been the weak/thin point - the nipples all broke right at the female connection.

Any inkling as to how much you would find 1/2-in brass pipe for?
 
#10 ·
If you had a custom length of brass cut and threaded, chances are, the brass stock was sitting around for 20 or so years. :eek: If it's just dust and grime you should be able to clean it. Hopefully you didn't get black iron. Are the threads shiny and goldish-reddish-yellow looking?
 
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