Leaking water pipe spraying in my roof...

[Sensorei]

Some help from someone clued up with plumbing would be greatly appreciated. My wife woke me up in the middle of the night because water was dripping from the light fittings in the kitchen onto the floor. One of the 15mm pipes (probably 40 years old) gave into old age and luckily I turned off the water mains before the mess was too bad.

Now I need to replace the pipe. It's a 5m long section that needs replacing and it says 'PP PIPE CLASS 16 15mm' on it. I can't find this exact pipe anywhere online so I guess standards have changed the original plumbing was done.

What is the recommended piping to use to replace it? It is a 5m section of pipe that splits off leading to one of my geysers. I will get a plumber to do the work of course. I just like to be as informed as possible.

 

[Beachless]

Do you have a picture?

The PP probably stands for Polypropylene which has the trade name of Polycop ("poly copper"). But if you have a pic that would be easier.

 

[Sensorei]

Not the best pic, but this is the photo of the leak that I snapped with my phone.

 

[Geoff.D]

You have basically two choices

(1) Replace with the right class of Copper pipe. Check out site in SA for the manufacturers of Copper Pipe, as they all have very good sections on the classes of pipe that comply with the relevant SABS/SANS Specs.

(2) Replace with the latest grade of Polcop piping suitable for the job. Any good hardware store will be able to advise you on the grades required suitable for both hot and cold water lines.

What ever you do, get the plumber to support the pipe properly and not just hang it over a nail like shown in the photo. Water hammer mainly probably caused the pipe to chafe against that nail causing the leak! Alternatively, the continuous movement of the pipe could also have loosened a joint somewhere.

Just been down to my Mom's place in Brackenfell, and climbed in the roof because she complained about " banging noises". Found exactly the same disgusting practice of failing to support a very long ( more the 20 m) of Polocop piping. Went and got proper support brackets and clamps for the pipe and the water hammer problem has been completely eliminated.

 

[Drake2007]

Rats and Mice love polycop, especially in the roof.

Use copper.

 

[pinball wizard]

Rats and Mice love polycop, especially in the roof.

Wouldn't it be a better practice to eliminate the rats and mice in the roof?

 

[thehuman]

this pipe also not suitable for hot water

 

[ToxicBunny]

Replace it with copper.. no questions asked.

Polycop is fine for underground applications, should never ever be used in the roof in my opinion.

 

[Beachless]

Not the best pic, but this is the photo of the leak that I snapped with my phone.

Thats good enough. Its polycop its very easy to replace if you feel like climbing in the roof.
You just need 2 pipe wrenches some new pipe and 2 new compression fittings.

 

[Geoff.D]

Thats good enough. Its polycop its very easy to replace if you feel like climbing in the roof.
You just need 2 pipe wrenches some new pipe and 2 new compression fittings.

If the leak is at only one place, then a simple compression coupling might be enough to fix it. BUT you still need to do something about supporting the pipe properly.

The coupler looks similar to this.

 

[Geoff.D]

BTW, the new standard that Polycop is supposed to comply with is SANS ISO 15874, which is the same standard which deals with the new PPR piping systems, and requires resistance to elevated temperatures and pressures when combined with approved fittings.


PolyCop was intended for use only with cold water under SANS 1315, which as far as I know has been withdrawn/revoked and can no longer be used as justification for its use in new installations.

Of course, this does not solve the problem for older installations.

 

[Drake2007]

If the leak is at only one place, then a simple compression coupling might be enough to fix it. BUT you still need to do something about supporting the pipe properly.

The coupler looks similar to this.

View attachment 385157

Yep, it's called a connex straight coupler, there's all types of sizes, elbows, T's etc.

as for Polycop, just don't trust it as plumbers tend to overtighten the connex fitting which over the years causes the compression ring to eventually sheer through the pipe.

Take all that *** pipe out and put copper in your roof.