What has caused the corrosion?

[chris watkins]

That is a very interesting point that you make, because their first excuse was that they could not guarantee the life of the pipes, although they had only installed them 17mths previously.
I will ask them.

Look carefully around & down the lengths of copper tube the manufacturer & other details such as BS EN 1057 R250 & size, should either be embossed or printed along its length.

 

[Best]

Copper corrosion from water looks the same as flux corrosion often. If it is the flux causing that corrosion, it shows whatever the flux that has been used is terrible.
That's why I hate the strong acid fluxes that " self clean ". To think that the same flux is going inside the pipe also!
Simple as this, - if leaks are below the fittings, - it's the flux.

 

[ballvalve]

Hi to all,The green marks are flux marks,and cleaning it off can cause it to leak. ballvalve

 

[snowdrop]

Look carefully around & down the lengths of copper tube the manufacturer & other details such as BS EN 1057 R250 & size, should either be embossed or printed along its length.

I had a look and found something like this on only one pipe, but very difficult to read:
EN 1057 Streamline
Can't see any markings on other pipes.

 

[snowdrop]

Hi to all,The green marks are flux marks,and cleaning it off can cause it to leak. ballvalve

Thank you ballvalve, I think that is what we found - after cleaning it leaked, although with time it might have leaked any way.
There was another spot on the same pipe which looked similar to pic 1 and that suddenly leaked with a stream of water spouting out.

 

[Chalked]

That looks like pin holing to me. Can happen to a poor batch of copper, where the copper content has been reduced too much!
Good luck proving though, ad I've come across it a few times in my 36 years of experience and the manufacturers are ver good of laying blame elsewhere.
No fluxes these days are acid based, even the self cleaning types. Might be wise yo get your water checked out as I have come across corrosive water. Especially in rural ( moorland areas)

 

[jtsplumbing]

As above , have seen similar damage to cooper pipe on some holiday homes on Dartmoor, if supplied from well's and not treated. are you in an aggressive water area ?

 

[MOSSEP]

That looks like pin holing to me. Can happen to a poor batch of copper, where the copper content has been reduced too much!
Good luck proving though, ad I've come across it a few times in my 36 years of experience and the manufacturers are ver good of laying blame elsewhere.
No fluxes these days are acid based, even the self cleaning types. Might be wise yo get your water checked out as I have come across corrosive water. Especially in rural ( moorland areas)

I had this problem at an office block I worked in in London. Got called back after a year or so as 2 leaks had occurred in pipes in 2 rooms that we did. Looked like flux marks but were no where near soldered joints.

 

[chris watkins]

http://www.fwr.org/copper.pdf

There you go guys tick em off how many types have you come cross in your working lives?

 

[Chalked]

Looks like the op got the info he wanted to hear ( damage due to flux) . Then plumber can be blamed!.
Other than the advice he didn't want to hear ( corrosion to pipework)

 

[chris watkins]

Looks like the op got the info he wanted to hear ( damage due to flux) . Then plumber can be blamed!.
Other than the advice he didn't want to hear ( corrosion to pipework)

Come on, the overwhelming evidence was that it was caused by flux

or do you still think this hard water corrosion targeted just the pipework under the clip ??

I have seen most forms (Type 1 & 2 pitting, erosion corrosion, dezincification) as well as flux attact so I know what I would go with.

 

[Chalked]

There is no " overwhelming" evidence. As we can't see the whole install. I fail to see how any flux could rot through a pipe in 18 months.

 

[chris watkins]

I had a Woolworths locally with a bank of 15mm tube, one above the other, E/F coupling on top pipe with pin hole leak on one below, no joint anywhere close but you could see were the flux had dripped & had not been washed off.

That was just over a year after it as installed & again a month later & 6 months after that.

Wonder why? - because it was all run behind a tiled stud wall through the store, I could see that it was the same all the way along the run from the first time it happened but they didn't want to believe me & bite the bullet & get it sorted.

 

[snowdrop]

According some members I need to be living in the moors or have a well, instead of being in a normal residential area. The previous, old pipes, were here for 20yrs if not 50yrs and had no corrosion – same water, different pipes, different plumber.

What about pic3 - the patch is in the middle of a length of pipe – this was cleaned off - the corrosion was on the outside. It hasn’t leaked. This is the same as pic1 the patch is in the middle of a length of pipe.

There are many spots and patches of green corrosion on many of the newly installed pipes from 18mths ago. There were other patches which were also under the clips.
Some have been cleaned off and they are all on the outside and have not leaked – yet.
What is this then?

I have many photos, I just haven’t posted them all.

 

[Chalked]

According some members I need to be living in the moors or have a well, instead of being in a normal residential area. The previous, old pipes, were here for 20yrs if not 50yrs and had no corrosion – same water, different pipes, different plumber.

What about pic3 - the patch is in the middle of a length of pipe – this was cleaned off - the corrosion was on the outside. It hasn’t leaked. This is the same as pic1 the patch is in the middle of a length of pipe.

There are many spots and patches of green corrosion on many of the newly installed pipes from 18mths ago. There were other patches which were also under the clips.
Some have been cleaned off and they are all on the outside and have not leaked – yet.
What is this then?

I have many photos, I just haven’t posted them all.

I stand corrected