Galvanized Pipe To Copper Transition

The inside of galvanized pipes gets thinner over the years.

Galvanized pipe to copper transition. Remove the old union from the steel pipe. If the surface of the pipe is the color of a penny then the pipe is probably made from copper. Benefits of galvanized pipes. The reaction creates scale which will eventually clog the pipe.

It s far easier to make a repair to steel pipe with copper than with galvanized plumbing pipe because the galvanized calls for cutting threads on exact lengths of pipe. Cut copper pipe just above the corroded connection using a tubing cutter. Plastic pipes are usually black and clamps should be visible. Find the area where pipes enter your home and carefully scratch the pipe with a nickel.

Making the connection between plastic pipes such as abs or. Solder the brass half to the copper pipe thread the steel half onto the galvanized steel pipe with teflon tape then join the two together tightly with the joining nut. Galvanized steel pipes on the other hand are a steel gray color. This fitting joins a copper pipe to a galvanized pipe called a union.

The fitting is generally made of galvanized steel and bronze. Since brass doesn t react with either the copper or the zinc one method is to make sure you have a threaded female end on both the copper and the steel pipes and then connect the two by simply inserting a short threaded brass nipple between them the second method is to use a special transition fitting called a dielectric union. The problem with galvanized pipe is that it reacts with the minerals in the water supply. Wrap threads on end of the steel pipe with teflon tape.

It might be a transition from threaded galvanized water pipes to copper pipes or from old cast iron sewer lines to today s abs. You don t need to wrap plumbing tape around the union before you screw it together. If the copper and galvanized pipes aren t the same diameter solder a reducing coupling to the copper pipe. This eventually causes pipe degradation and leakage.

When water flows through pipes of two different metals the pipes will become eroded by electrical impulses from the slight acidity found in all water sources. So try to make the transition at an existing female fitting. Tighten first with pliers then with pipe wrench. Install the lower half of the dielectric union to steel pipe.