Leak at valve junction

[Enumjon]

Hi all. With start up this spring I now have a steady leak where the 2” pvc enters the 3 way Jandy valve. Am I correct in guessing there is no way to fix this, short of ripping it out and starting over?

The problem is all the other pipe joints are very close, so I will have to tear out quite a bit in all 3 runs of pipe to put this back together again. I am including photos-leak is in the middle way of the 3-way valve.

 

[Dave31410]

You can probably fix it with some epoxy putty

 

[Dave31410]

WaterWeld Epoxy Putty

WaterWeld will plug or seal leaks and patch holes and cracks in almost anything.

www.jbweld.com

 

[bmj0928]

There are a few options, I think, depending on what's going on. Is the leak from the bond between white pipe and the black 3-way? Is nothing cracked?

If something is cracked, yeah, rip out and replace. It is very hard to stop pressure side leaks by repairing with glue or FlexTape.

If it is not cracked, and it is coming from the union of the pipe to the Jandy (and if it were me):
I'd try:
A) Drain the water out of the pipe, clean and dry the area as best as possible, carefully scraping the union with a sharp blade so that you create a slight gap between the two for a couple millimeters into the Jandy. Then, re-cement the joint with PVC cement all around the union, making sure to try to shove the cement in the union gap. Let it cure for a few hours before running the water again.

B) Cut the PVC pipe up a little ways where you may me able to separate the pipe enough to carefully slide a rubber flex connector with 2 hose clamps down over the leak, tighten it down, then just cement a pvc coupler where you cut the pipe, or use another flex connector to reconnect the pipes where you cut.

C) Unglue the pipe from the Jandy, and re-do that section of PVC. There are methods of using hole saws, or other metal cylinders that fit inside the I.D. of the pipe, heated up with a blow torch to extremely hot temperatures to "unglue" PVC. I have done this, myself, and it works. The fumes are toxic, and the hole saw needs to be VERY hot, so a lot of caution is needed. You could use this "hot hole saw" method to cut the PVC close to the 3_way, and basically melt the piece out of the Jandy, and replace only this section of pipe. Google it. I am not responsible for anything that goes wrong with this method. This can be dangerous, so please make sure you know what you're doing ... don't use galvanized metal to do this, don't heat the metal inside the pipe (heat the metal and then insert it), don't breathe in the fumes...

D) Rip it all out and replace.

 

[bmj0928]

There are a few options, I think, depending on what's going on. Is the leak from the bond between white pipe and the black 3-way? Is nothing cracked?

If something is cracked, yeah, rip out and replace. It is very hard to stop pressure side leaks by repairing with glue or FlexTape.

If it is not cracked, and it is coming from the union of the pipe to the Jandy (and if it were me):
I'd try:
A) Drain the water out of the pipe, clean and dry the area as best as possible, carefully scraping the union with a sharp blade so that you create a slight gap between the two for a couple millimeters into the Jandy. Then, re-cement the joint with PVC cement all around the union, making sure to try to shove the cement in the union gap. Let it cure for a few hours before running the water again.

B) Cut the PVC pipe up a little ways where you may me able to separate the pipe enough to carefully slide a rubber flex connector with 2 hose clamps down over the leak, tighten it down, then just cement a pvc coupler where you cut the pipe, or use another flex connector to reconnect the pipes where you cut.

C) Unglue the pipe from the Jandy, and re-do that section of PVC. There are methods of using hole saws, or other metal cylinders that fit inside the I.D. of the pipe, heated up with a blow torch to extremely hot temperatures to "unglue" PVC. I have done this, myself, and it works. The fumes are toxic, and the hole saw needs to be VERY hot, so a lot of caution is needed. You could use this "hot hole saw" method to cut the PVC close to the 3_way, and basically melt the piece out of the Jandy, and replace only this section of pipe. Google it. I am not responsible for anything that goes wrong with this method. This can be dangerous, so please make sure you know what you're doing ... don't use galvanized metal to do this, don't heat the metal inside the pipe (heat the metal and then insert it), don't breathe in the fumes...

D) Rip it all out and replace.

I never heard of the Water Weld Dave mentioned. I'd try that before anything I suggested.

 

[Dave31410]

I never heard of the Water Weld Dave mentioned. I'd try that before anything I suggested.

I used it on my own plumbing when I replaced a valve and did not glue it well. Pool plumbing is not high pressure so this method works well. Of course I would never use it on high pressure water plumbing like to the house.
If you decide to use it make sure you clean the joint area well and sand it with 150 grit sandpaper.

 

[Enumjon]

Thanks for the ideas. I’ll start with the pvc cement and water epixy ideas first, then try a flex coupler.

To answer your question, there is no crack I can see. It seems to be cement going bad/bad glue job. One concern about the coupler method is the immediate 45 degree piece right after the leak. What I might try is just cut it at the junction between the jandy and the 45, then just one coupler to fix the leak and the cut.

 

[zz28zz]

Another option is to wack off the existing pipe flush with the valve port and use a 2 1/2" 45-deg elbow over the valve port, then reduce back down to 2" to rejoin with the existing pipe. You will need to clean the valve port with sandpaper to get a clean glue joint.

I learned that trick last season from a pro. Works great!

 

[Enumjon]

Wonderful idea! If I screw up the previous attempts this is a great plan.

 

[Enumjon]

Water weld is ordered. I have plenty of time to work on this, since my pump died over the weekend. Not sad at all for the pump passing - I was having to repair it almost weekly.

 

[Enumjon]

Wanted to report a successful conclusion to this episode. The water weld arrived and I went to apply it to the leak. It was very tough to put it on properly. There was a coupling right against the valve, so essentially no space to work the epoxy in to. Anyhow, I mixed up the epoxy and tried to stick it on properly. Problem was it was sticking more to my hands than to the pipe-and this is after scraping and sanding the area. So I took some duct tape and wrapped it around the joint, over the epoxy. Not do actually stop the leak, but to give firm even pressure to hold the epoxy in place. It seems to have worked, no leaks in the 2 days since.