Newly sweat pipe had drip, now no drip - I'm lost

[88guy]

This is my second post and, as I said in the first, I have no illusions about being a plumber - fix things around the house, and that's it. ANYWAY: I was replacing some valves in a really messed up utility room - the pipes were really tight against the wall and when I moved them outward, to sand some drywall, it started dripping at a tee. I replaced the tee and there were no drips, etc. I walked back about twenty minutes later and there was a drip at exactly the same spot - about one drop every five seconds. I cut off the main and turned on the spigots to kinda drain the system. I cut the main back on, about an hour ago, and I absolutely cannot get the thing to drip. I've sweat a lot of pipe and the solder joint looks fine - I sweat the the pipes outside...no water in the tee. This is 1/2" copper, coming from the hot water heater (should be 3/4" - I didn't build this place......ack). I had a powerful fan on these pipes because of some water on the floor.......condensation?? Man - there's a ghost in this machine. I just checked it again and it's dry as a bone. Wouldn't a pinhole leak continue to leak - for a day or something? And this solder doesn't look as if it could have a leak. The photo shows where it leaked - once - and where I cannot make it leak again. Any clues as to what it going on? I eyeballed the thing, from the bottom, wondering if the water was coming from somewhere else and draining to this spot - it wasn't. Also, I've reefed on this area - pulled it out, banged around on it....still no drips. Any theories?

My plumbing stink, but this is what I started with:

 

[frodo]

here is how you find a leak that does not want to be found.

1st. look at the easiest/common since area, the valve handle packing nut...your pipe is crooked, maybe its running from handle to tee

2nd,,,take some toilet paper and dry all the pipes .

then,,using a FLASH LIGHT and a tiny corner of the toilet paper.

stick the corner >>SLOWLY>> to the joints..you are looking for water to "wick" onto the paper.

if you have any moisture..it will wick up.

 

[88guy]

here is how you find a leak that does not want to be found.

I did what you said, but, trying to see if I could wick some water produced nothing. Nothing appears to be leaking - and these pipe are reasonably straight - not like the thing I posted the other day (see pic). And still not leaking. Man - this is weird. I absolutely cannot wick any water, there's no visible leak. This is crazy. This house is on an old slab and, when I got here, they'd had a bunch of leaks and just mopped the floor. Half of the sub-floors were destroyed from moisture. This is gonna drive me crazier than I already am.... I've already replaced a bunch of flooring - a leak in this place is about like having a house fire...

 

[ExtraMilePlumbing]

I'm sure it's fine then . . You sure it was not flux that driped . Did you wipe you're pipe after soldering , before turning on the water

 

[88guy]

I'm sure it's fine then . . You sure it was not flux that driped . Did you wipe you're pipe after soldering , before turning on the water

I'm thinking you've gotta be right - but it sure as hell looked like water. I did NOT wipe the pipe before turning on the water. It's like the Twilight Zone around here. Like I said, I turned the water on and had zero leaks. Twenty minutes later, I walk in there and water is beading up on the tee (well - I thought is was water). I kill the main, a couple of times, and that stops and starts the drip. I turn it off. I go back and turn it on 30 minutes later, or something, and it's never dripped again. I was so paranoid the wife insisted I turn it off overnight. I turned it on 30 minutes ago (this morning) and it's still dry as a bone. I used a tissue to try and wick and water from the whole area - nothing. No leaks. I've moved the pipes around (they're really tight to the wall), put a lot of pressure on all the joints, and no leaks. Damn - I guess it's okay.

The wife was picking on me for being so obsessed with this thing - but, like I said, when I got here (her husband passed away a few years ago) the sub-floors were all completely moldy and rotten from water leaks. I've been remodeling this place for two years. Nothing worked - plumbing, electrical....everything was a mess. It's really hard to get at this area so I guess I'll just keep an eye on it - it sure as hell refuses to leak, now. I've just never sweat pipe and had something, that looked like a leak. just go away. A long time ago ago a plumber told me, "Water is funny chit" - guess he was right. Maybe it was flux.

Hey: I'm 63, arthritic, and it's been a long haul. This will give you an idea of the mess around here! The room in this video is done, now - looks like a new house. And this is why the tiniest leak freaks me out.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-YfeaQFglA[/ame]