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murley · May 26, 2005, 10:05 AM

... Hey there guys. Back again. Got the walls all framed and the rough-in all done. Re-routed a few duct lines to give the head room I wanted in the rooms. Went through and ran the basic 12-2 power to the rooms for outlets. Now, yesterday I spent most of the day cutting, fitting, and soldering copper for the new bathroom fixtures. I turned the water back on and I had 2 or 3 small leaks in the joints.. ALL on the cold water line. After flicking the lines with my finger, I've come to the thought that maybe the air trapped in the hot lines isn't letting water in.
Does anyone who is a pro-plumber know what I can do/if I need to do anything to test the hot lines for leaks before I move on with my project? Is there a way to know for sure if the water has made it into the hot lines?
I thought about drilling a small hole in the cap at the end of the line to let any trapped air out but then I have to go through and shut the water off again and then let all of the water in the system out again so that I can solder the drilled hole. I also thought about taking the cap off and just opening the water valve just slightly so that the water would run through doing the same thing, just faster and it would also make things faster for leaching the water out of the system to recap.
What do you guys think? :confused:

labman · May 26, 2005, 12:01 PM

If you don't have any of the hot water faucets installed, plumb up a more distant or higher one, at least as far as the stop. Solder in a ball valve. Then turn on the water, and let the air out the valve.

speedball1 · May 27, 2005, 06:29 AM

Originally Posted by murley

... Hey there guys. Back again. Got the walls all framed and the rough-in all done. Re-routed a few duct lines to give the head room I wanted in the rooms. Went through and ran the basic 12-2 power to the rooms for outlets. Now, yesterday I spent most of the day cutting, fitting, and soldering copper for the new bathroom fixtures. I turned the water back on and I had 2 or 3 small leaks in the joints..., ALL on the cold water line. After flicking the lines with my finger, I've come to the thought that maybe the air trapped in the hot lines isn't letting water in.
Does anyone who is a pro-plumber know what I can do/if I need to do anything to test the hot lines for leaks before I move on with my project? Is there a way to know for sure if the water has made it into the hot lines?
I thought about drilling a small hole in the cap at the end of the line to let any trapped air out but then I have to go through and shut the water off again and then let all of the water in the system out again so that I can solder the drilled hole. I also thought about taking the cap off and just opening the water valve just slightly so that the water would run through doing the same thing, just faster and it would also make things faster for leaching the water out of the system to recap.
What do you guys think? :confused:

Hey Murley,

You don't have to bleed the air out of the hot line. We don't. As you've found out, if you have a leak the line will bleed air out and water will began to squirt, drip or spray out. If you can see no moisture or drips on the hot water line then all your solder connections are good. Congratulations! Sounds like you're wrapping up this job. Tom

murley · May 27, 2005, 07:16 AM

... yeah, I never thought about that. After pulling one cap off and drilling through the other, I had no leaks just like you said. I never though about a leak bleeding things out on it's own. I don't think I did half bad for my first time... 70' plus and 2 or 3 small leaks. Anyone ever done a job with NO leaks?? :o)

Should I mount the shower valve and the neck for the head now or later?

speedball1 · May 27, 2005, 07:40 AM

Originally Posted by murley

... yeah, I never thought about that. After pulling one cap off and drilling through the other, I had no leaks just like you said. I never though about a leak bleeding things out on it's own. I don't think I did half bad for my first time... 70' plus and 2 or 3 small leaks. Anyone ever done a job with NO leaks??? :o)

Should I mount the shower valve and the neck for the head now or later?

Mount the shower valve, the raiser and the dropeared threaded ell. Don't forget to back and secure them and put a 1/2" test nipple in the dropeared ell. If you do that, by opening up the tub and shower valve halfway between hot and cold and then turning on the cold water from the meter or pump you will have pressure on both lines for a final test. Cheers, Tom

murley · May 27, 2005, 09:03 AM

Okay, you're talking plumb to me. I'm a noob, remember. So I need to back both the shower valve AND the droopy eared flappy L thing (I know what you're talking about, I just didn't know the name of it). Also, what is a "test nipple"?

speedball1 · May 28, 2005, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by murley

Okay, you're talking plumb to me. I'm a noob, remember. So I need to back both the shower valve AND the droopy eared flappy L thing (I know what you're talking about, I just didn't know the name of it). Also, what is a "test nipple"?

"Droopy eared flopply L thing"? = dropeared ell! ( a brass ell that has 1/1/2" threads on one end and a 1'2" solder connection on the other. N On each side of the threads are "ears" with holes in them that you may secure with screws. To back a valve simply nail a 2X4 between the studs below the shower valve and pipe strap the supplies to it. Nail another 2X4 up 76" to center off the base and that's where you'll secure the dropeared ell and the shower raiser. The test nipple is just a 1/2" galvanized nipple that screws into the ell and sticks out of the wall so you'll know where to install the chrome shower arm when you're ready to trim out. Cheers, Tom

Bunchking · Mar 10, 2007, 12:47 AM

Originally Posted by murley

... Hey there guys. Back again. Got the walls all framed and the rough-in all done. Re-routed a few duct lines to give the head room I wanted in the rooms. Went through and ran the basic 12-2 power to the rooms for outlets. Now, yesterday I spent most of the day cutting, fitting, and soldering copper for the new bathroom fixtures. I turned the water back on and I had 2 or 3 small leaks in the joints..., ALL on the cold water line. After flicking the lines with my finger, I've come to the thought that maybe the air trapped in the hot lines isn't letting water in.
Does anyone who is a pro-plumber know what I can do/if I need to do anything to test the hot lines for leaks before I move on with my project? Is there a way to know for sure if the water has made it into the hot lines?
I thought about drilling a small hole in the cap at the end of the line to let any trapped air out but then I have to go through and shut the water off again and then let all of the water in the system out again so that I can solder the drilled hole. I also thought about taking the cap off and just opening the water valve just slightly so that the water would run through doing the same thing, just faster and it would also make things faster for leaching the water out of the system to recap.
What do you guys think? :confused:

It sounds like your having fun
Just wondered maybe this has already been suggested but why cap off the pipework.
Why not put a ballafix on the end. Then once you`ve turned on the water you just give the screw a slight turn until water comes out then close it again. This solves your problem and also means that you never have to redrain or even turn the water off to continue the job.
Hope this helped.