Plumbing problem expert advice needed

[wilsonkori]

A friend of mine called me last night to see if my handyman knowledge could fix his leaky pipe.

Here's the problem. Under his floor are the 28mm copper pipes for the heating boiler. At one place there are 90 degree soldered elbows. The pipes run almost touching each other. At this bend the inside pipe elbow is leaking so bad that the water drains out of the system. So how do you fic that joint when all the pipes are so close and there is little flexibility in the pipework to replace anything?
Any ideas? Perhaps some sort of sealing putty?

[DAVIS55]

I tried an epoxy leak sealing putty in a similar circumstance but it was no good, it may have reduced the leak but the boiler still lost pressure within a few days.
Do they do 28mm push fit joints ?
I agree with ariba10, cut back so you have room and replace the section, thats exactly what I ended up doing with my leak which was in 22mm copper pipes (I used pushfit but it was tricky to wedge it all back in, due to pipes coming off there wasnt much lateral movement in the pipes available).
You may have to avoid soldering (pushfit or compression instead) the replacement pipe back in if there are any water drips present in the pipework. It usually stops the pipe getting hot enough in my experience.
Oh, the circular cutters are good but if the pipes are close together then you probably can't get a full circle on the cutter - hence you may need to use hacksaw instead - just try to get a straight cut through.
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[THOMPSON55]

If you can get the pipes drained down and absolutely dry it is possible to resolder the joint if you have the right equipment and know what you are doing. It is difficult to get enough heat into the pipe and fittings to ensure that the solder flows, with 28mm pipes there is a large mass of copper which conducts the heat away very quickly. A small butane torch will not have a chance of getting it hot enough.

I use an oxy-propane or oxy-acetylene torch which does it no problem. A bit of skill is required to heat the pipe and fitting evenly and not set fire to anything. Apply flux first and let it run into the joint, then solder and make sure it runs in all the way around.

Having said all that in some cases it is easier to cut out the bad joint and make a new one from scratch. You will need a short length of pipe, an elbow and two straight couplers. If this sounds daunting, then your friend will need to contact a [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now].

[MICHAEL55]

You can go to [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] tell him yore problem