Water Heater Cpvc
How do I cap off a copper pipe?
Somebody came along and stole all the copper pipes to my water heater. I replaced them with CPVC, but now there is about half an inch of copper pipe still jutting out of the wall that I never saw until I had everything set up. When I turn on the water, my hot shoots over there and gushes from that pipe. I went halfway back on the supply pipe to that one and put a shut-off valve, but now there’s no water to the bathroom or laundry room.
So . . . how do I cap off that one little end of the pipe? I’m almost positive that it has no other use, that it once led to an outside appliance that I have never seen. (It’s a house from 1939.)
Well, if you’ve never soldered a pipe and have doubts you’ll ever need to solder again then I would go to a local hardware store and buy one of the following. Shark Bite 1/2 inch cap; these little items work great and I’ve used them in a pinch myself a time or two. Not sure if they will be available in your area. I’m sure I saw them at home depot. ….or…. 1/2 compression cap; unlike the shark bite product, you’ll need a set of water pump pliers and a cresent wrench to install this item. Never use tape sealant (Teflon) or dope on a compression fitting as it may cause it to leak. This product simply fits over the end of the pipe and requires you to tighten the fitting together almost as tight as you can tighten it (depending on your strength… never over tighten anything)
Then of course you can solder a 1/2 inch cap on the end of the pipe. The cheapest solution by far (providing you have a soldering kit on hand). Soldering is relativly easy as long as you apply some guidelines. #1 if there is ANY water in the pipe, you can not solder it, make sure the pipe is bone dry BEFORE you start. #2 Make sure the pipe end end and fitting is scratched clean with emery cloth or some other reasonable facsimlie. Failure to do so will end in a leak. #3 Be patient. Unless you want molten solder all over the floor, your boots, and the wall, take some time to review in your head what your about to do before starting. You’d be amazed at the difference.
So to start, you’ll need a torch for soldering, either a small propane/mapp gas bottle, paste flux, 95/5 or silver solder, please don’t use 50/50 on domestic water lines. The Romans used lead in thier pipes and look how they turned out. Emery cloth or a small wire brush will do and of course your 1/2 inch copper cap.
Begin by cleaning the end of the pipe you are about to solder on thouroghly as well as the inside of the cap. The surface should be shiny and scratched up. Apply a small amount of paste flux, to BOTH the pipe and the cap and fit the two pieces together. STOP!!!! What did I tell you about the water in the pipe?!?! If you have water in the pipe you can use the torch on the end of the pipe BEFORE cleaning and applying flux to boil the water out. If you forgot and need to remove the water after, make sure you reclean and re apply the flux after you used the torch.
Start the torch and apply “just the tip” of the flame to the pipe. Once the copper starts to turn slightly green carefully touch the solder wire end to the part to be soldered. The moment the solder flows into the fitting and a small amount has accumilated around the entire fitting take the solder and the torch away and carefully wipe the end of the pipe with a damp rag. REMINDER: you just heated the end of the pipe with a torch…… its hot enough to cause severe burns.
Another thing to keep in mind is to be careful to not apply too much heat to the pipe. Doing so will burn the flux and…. you guessed it, it will leak. Only apply the heat till the copper starts turning green. Take the heat away momentarily after that to let it cool down slightly.
It can be a bit of an art if you take the time. Anyway, half way through all that you’ve probably decided to just go get a compression cap and all this typing will be for nothing….lol…ah well, needed to practice my one finger typing anyway.
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