Water Heater installation botched? Slow leak at joint. PICS

[TNguy]

Hello,

I had a water heater tank installed in December 2017 after the old one went bad.

There is now a slow drip at the top joint for the hot water pipe (joint coming out of the tank).

To repair the slow drip can I just use JB Weld Epoxy putty and wrap it around the side of the joint that's leaking and be done with this?

Just by looking at hot water pipe, you can can see that the plumber did not take the time to make this pipe go flush with the wall and it pulls away and separates a good 4 inches from the wall at the top.
The bottom joint at the wall may be under stress from being extended more than 90 degrees? This does not look good, but I am not sure if this can be acceptable and I should just not worry about it.

Should I be concerned about the way the hot water pipe is being pulled away from the wall or just repair the leak at the top joint and be done?

Any advise is much appreciated.

Here are some pics

 

[TomFOhio]

Replace that shark bite elbow with a soldered one and then be done with it. If you can't do it then call the plumber
back and tell him to do it correctly this time.

 

[havasu]

Should have flex lines at the top, not rigid. I agree, call him back and have him do it right.

 

[Geofd]

don't use jb weld you drink and bath with that.....see if he will come back....like others said have it soldered

 

[Jamesplumbing06]

Yeah I wouldn’t even call him back. Think we can call j b weld and tell them to stop putting “plumbing repair” on their bottles?

 

[TNguy]

The first thing I did was to call the guy back, but he told me he would come and then here we are. He does not pick up my calls anymore.

I will attempt this repair myself doing with your suggestions.

I was looking at those water heater installation kits at lowes that come with 2 stainless steel flex lines that connect direct to the nipples coming out of the water heater and go to the copper pipes.

This seems to be the easiest way for a DIY guy with little experience and no soldering exp or torch to fix this, am I correct?
and would this flex lines be up to code in TN though?

Also, how much of the copper pipes should I cut to accommodate the length of the steel flex lines? I assume the straighter the flex line the better?

Thanks

 

[havasu]

Why are you letting him off so easy? Is this a plumber or relative? You paid to get it done right, and you need to demand that he fixes your issue correctly. If he fails to do so, I would make his life miserable and start a letter writing campaign with his employer, file negative reviews on YELP, and send him a certified letter demanding immediate repair.

 

[CT18]

Not all installs require flex connectors. If you are in a seismic area you would install them. I dont think the sharkbite joint is made up all the way that is why it is leaking. The stress on that riser piece shows that the pipe into the sharkbite is to short.

Was it really a plumber that did that install. If so he is giving our trade a bad name.

 

[TNguy]

Not all installs require flex connectors. If you are in a seismic area you would install them. I dont think the sharkbite joint is made up all the way that is why it is leaking. The stress on that riser piece shows that the pipe into the sharkbite is to short.

Was it really a plumber that did that install. If so he is giving our trade a bad name.

Bad plumber and I was not there to check on the installation until several months later when I moved back into the house.
It is a waste of energy to try and get him to own up to the botched job, at least he was able to get the water heater installed for a complicated tenant while I was not even in the state, so I'm moving on.

I suspect you are correct, that the pipe going into the sharkbite was pushed all it could. If you notice, the vertical pipe is touching the rim at the top and the horizontal pipe probably can't reach all the way into the sharkbite. The plumber really just said screw it and left it as is. Thankfully it is a slow drip for now.

I don't have soldering skills and it seems that the easiest way to fix this would be to buy a copper corrugated pipe for water heater and install it straight into the nipple and for the other side use a compression fitting. Like the kits for water heaters they sell at lowes or home depot, but made of copper instead of braided steel. That way the vertical pipe will get some relief as no it is pushed and under stress.

Is this a reasonable repair if I want to avoid soldering?

 

[mdk0420]

Meh I've always installed my hot water heaters with rigid pipe. Shouldn't really have to deal with the tank that would involve unhooking the fittings anyways. Though it would suck if something went wrong lol. That looks like a real easy fit though. Probably a 10 minute ordeal for your plumber to come fix it. You could solder it on but my guess is the plumber tightened down the FPT x C adapter first and you can't solder that close because there is a plastic piece in there. It also looks like he ran out of slack so that sharkbite is probably not seating all the way.

The sharkbite needs popped off, unsolder the other end and get a longer pipe in there. Although I bet that sharkbite is good, its probably not a good idea to chance it so I would just replace it. These are all things that plumber should be doing for free though. It's his screw up, make him fix it.

 

[Richard Gavle]

Another option if you can't solder and don't want to go flex, would be to cut the horizontal line say 4" from the sharkbite and install say a 7" (whatever length is required to re-establish the vertical on the line from the wall) and reconnect the two pipes with a sharkbite straight coupling. I would also of course replace the 90° sharkbite as lord knows what that butcher (I doubt he was a actual plumber) has done to it.

 

[TNguy]

Another option if you can't solder and don't want to go flex, would be to cut the horizontal line say 4" from the sharkbite and install say a 7" (whatever length is required to re-establish the vertical on the line from the wall) and reconnect the two pipes with a sharkbite straight coupling. I would also of course replace the 90° sharkbite as lord knows what that butcher (I doubt he was a actual plumber) has done to it.

That's a good idea. I have 2 concerns though. One is if I make the horizontal pipe longer and let the vertical pipe return to the wall as it should be, then the horizontal pipe will lift and I would have to force it down to the height of the sharkbite elbow. That probably is not good?

The other is that, using a sharkbite elbow on and then a coupling sharkbite to extend this pipe on the hot water side, isn't that too many plastic parts that can fail with heat? Are these sharkbite fittings even recommended for hot lines on water heaters?

Also, where can I find out if it is up to code installing a corrugated connector on my water heater?

thanks

 

[FishScreener]

Buy a propane torch, a length of copper and some fittings, and learn to solder. It isn’t that hard and is a truly useful skill.

 

[Mr_David]

You can use the stainless steel flex connectors. but you will need a 5/8" COMP x 3/4" MIP brass adapter.
the ones that come with the kit are for 3/4 in copper tube. You copper pipe is 5/8"
It's 1/2" copper but actually it's 5/8" OD.

You don't want to call that guy back. He's a hack. Don't no any professional plumber's who use shark bits.
maybe in a desperate situation where soldering is an issue.

 

[Mr_David]

But if you have to buy the adapters separate you might as well just buy the flexes separate and I would buy the copper ones

 

[TNguy]

But if you have to buy the adapters separate you might as well just buy the flexes separate and I would buy the copper ones

Thanks for pointing out the size of the copper pipe and required compression fitting.
I see that lowes has a 24 inch corrugated copper connector with brass ends and also has a corrugated steel connector same length. Which one is better?
Also, they don't have the 1/2 to 3/4 compression fitting, but they have a 1/2 to 3/4 Sharkbite fitting that will do the same. I hear that if I cut the copper pipe and debur correctly then the sharkbite will be long lasting. Thoughts? Sharkbite https://www.lowes.com/pd/SharkBite-...MNPT-dia-Male-Adapter-Push-Fitting/1000182551

Also, where should I cut the copper pipe? Below the elbow on the vertical copper pipe so the corrugated connector makes like a inverted U shape going from vertical nipple to vertical nipple like this ?

or on the horizontal copper pipe and bend the connector to accomodate it? I figured less bends the better?

thanks

 

[bds85466]

This is what I used for hot and cold. It literally took me 5-10 minutes and I'm no one's plumber. Cut the copper, push on fitting, attach to nipple, done. It's nice because it's got a nice ball valve built right in for service.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/SharkBi...tegrated-Ball-Valve-u3088flex18bvlf/202685676

 

[Mr_David]

This is what I used for hot and cold. It literally took me 5-10 minutes and I'm no one's plumber. Cut the copper, push on fitting, attach to nipple, done. It's nice because it's got a nice ball valve built right in for service.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/SharkBi...tegrated-Ball-Valve-u3088flex18bvlf/202685676

That's not very helpful if you read the previous post. Line is 1/2" Not 3/4

 

[Mr_David]

do like this first. when you cut it the line is going to spring back to the wall

 

[bds85466]

That's not very helpful if you read the previous post. Line is 1/2" Not 3/4

Welp, if you read my post all I said is that's what I used. They also make 'em in 1/2". Key is the concept, take it for what it is worth. Didnt even think to check specifically on the OPs size... but since you brought it up in hindsight I figure if the OP is capable of using a forum, they are also likely capable of finding the right size for their application (if they enjoy the concept, that is). Cheers everyone, best of luck TNguy.