re-sweating an old pipe joint

[ramone899]

Hello. I noticed a small leak at a pipe joint in my basement. The pipe comes in from the outside well and splits off to the water heater and other sinks/showers /etc in the house. The leak is at a fitting just before the split. Can I just follow the same procedure for sweating a new pipe joint in order to fix the leak, or would I have to separate the pipe and fitting and put on a new fitting, then add the solder?

thanks a lot.

[HayZee518]

if you drain or otherwise isolate and drain the fitting and pipe from the system, you can try to re-melt the solder in the joint. use a high heat source like "MAPP GAS." in a swirl torch. the heat will drive out the moisture. once its hot remove the heat and use a brush with flux then re-apply heat and more solder. it is important that the pipe and fitting doesn't move during the process.

[Psycho0124]

Before you heat it, you might try wrapping the joint in a small rag and dousing it in household vinegar and letting it soak for 10-20 minutes. The acidity will help dissolve any mineral scaling or oxides in there that might otherwise make it tough to get a good re-flow. Also do your best to cram that flux into the leaking spot on the joint as that will help too. Good luck!

[Redwood]

I would not advocate "Re-sweating" a leaking copper pipe connection.

It needs to be taken apart, cleaned, fluxed, and re-sweat.
There is a problem with the existing joint and all re-sweating will do is put lipstick on a pig. The solder will not pull into the joint.