Tip & How-To about Plumbing
If you have ever had a pin hole in a copper pipe in the middle of the night. If you just can't afford to call a plumber at that hour and pay those off hour prices. If you need to get some sleep for work or maybe you just can't fix it properly, right at that moment. Here's the answer.
Get yourself some Gorilla Tape and a heat gun. If you have some sand paper or a wire brush bring that too.
1. Turn off the water to the leaking pipe. Then find the exact spot of the pinhole.
2. Dry the outside of the pipe with the heat gun. Be careful not to stand in or drape the electric cord into any standing water.
3. Lightly sand the section of the pipe to take off the polished shine of the copper. Be careful of the heat you just applied to the pipe.
4. Now, tear yourself off a piece of Gorilla Tape and wrap it tightly around the place on the pipe that you prepared. Be generous with the thickness and stagger the pieces to add to the width of the patch.
5. It is time again for the heat gun. Heat the Gorilla Tape with the heat gun until it shrinks and becomes shiny. Don't linger at any one spot for too long. Keep moving the heat gun around. Continue doing this until you stop seeing a change in the tape and it becomes uniform in appearance.
That's it. I have seen this trick hold 50psi for 8 hours before it started to drip. If it starts to drip. Tie a rag around the tape and attach a string to the rag. Run the string into a bucket and the water will follow it.
You can try to use regular duct tape, but I can't guarantee the results. Gorilla Tape is the only tape I have been able to use successfully, in this situation.
Now, go back to bed. You've got work in the morning.
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