Long time listener, first time caller here; I am in the process of relocating my hot water heater. It's a 1920s house with crawl space and all copper piping. In my picture, I have taken a length of 3/4" copper pipe and annealed it along about 18" and have used a conduit bender to no success here. As you can see, it has been a bit flattened on the radius. My thinking is that having a gradual radius vs a 90 degree fitting will alleviate any water hammering on the corner of a 90 degree fitting, therefore lengthening the life of my new pipe. Thoughts? Is this completely retarded of an idea? Nothing has been installed yet and I want to make sure this pipe lasts.
Cap one end of the copper pipe, pack it tightly with sand, cap the other end and then try bending it with your bender. No clue on whether a sweeping 90 will help any or not, but it seems plausible.
>>2955549Bending makes one side of the pipe thinner while compressing the other side. Copper is already thin so it's risky. I would just use either a water pressure reducing valve for the entire house, or a water hammer arrestor nearby wherever you are having water hammer problems. I would just stick with a 90 degree fitting.
>>2955549Use PEX.
>>2955562No.
>>2955565Use a folding lawn chair.
>>2955558Damn, thanks for that help, I'll have to get the finest I can.>>2955559Yeah, that's my only concern and also having the flow accelerated around the bend via venturi effect. Hoping it's negligible. As long as it lasts 40+ years, I will probably be dead by the time it leaks again lol
>>2955549You have to anneal the copper. Sure thing you've never worked on your diesel truck sonny boy. The copper, the gaskets n sheet they become brittle over time and break on slightest deformation. Many such cases. I wouldn't even touch those old coper tubes without heat treating them red hot and letting them cool off before.
>>2955549ur retarded use 2 45s if ur afraid of a 90 (lol) water hammer happens from slamming valves shut and the fast moving water overpressuring, not from flowing through a fukn 90, they also sell oatey water hammer arrestors
>>2955549>water hammeringIsn't caused by 90 degree bends. Where did you pick up this idea?
>>2955549Hammer arrester. They make a device for such a reason already. Did you not ask Leo or some AI first?You also might not 'need' an expansion tank, but it's a good idea.
>>2955644re-read the OP, little man.
>>2955549Has already been said, but I'll say it anyway: consider pex for tying new work to old. Cheaper and easier to work with. Either way, don't worry about using 90s. Hammer occurs when valves open and close quickly, usually from electronic actuation (electronic bidets, touchless faucets, etc). Hammer arresters can be installed at the relevant points of use, but manual valve turning is almost never fast enough to produce hammer.And make sure you have an expansion tank. When the hot lines are full of hot water, the pressure in the line increases. If you're not regulating incoming pressure, either the pipe or a joint will crack before its time.
>>2955549You bought the wrong pipe. Straight pipe is not meant to be bent, the kind that is supposed to be bent comes in a coil.If you want to bend copper pipe you need to fill it with something first. Sand is easy. You can also plug one end, fill it with water, freeze it, and then bend it once frozen.
>>2955562Load up on the microplastics. Fill your balls to the brim.
>>2957228What does that do?
>>2957169>You bought the wrong pipe. Straight pipe is not meant to be bent, the kind that is supposed to be bent comes in a coil.Also this. Soft copper exists. Use that for bending.
>>2955549>> Long time listener, first time caller here; I am in the process of relocating my hot water heaterWhy are you heating hot water ?
>>2957251Maybe he has a thing for his water heater and wants to stick his dick in it...
>>2955549Could you use multiple sub 90° fittings (three 30° fittings for example) or does that not work with water?
>>2957286It might catch fire
>>2957288Many such cases
Fill the section of pipe with sand then bend it. Pour the sand out and solder.
>>2955549>hot water heaterWhy do you need to heat the hot water in the first place?
Multiple times a night and specifically on the colder nights I have sounds coming from pipes that I can only describe as "marble bouncing on tile". These lasts for 15 - 30 seconds and come from the walls, crawlspace, and ceiling, all locations where multiple runs intersect. Might as well ask here - is this water hammer? Do the solutions in this thread work for this as well?Our house is plumbed with CPVC from the late 90s
>>2955549https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFr3jS6yKKE
>>2955549When they bend tubes for trumpets and turbas, they fill them with some kind of soapy water first. Then freeze it for xx amount of time, it prevents the wall from collapsing during bending.
>>2955558or a bending spring and no need to cap it>>2955549>annealed ituh..ok...what does your bender look like? you have a former on both sides yes? you aren't just pulling it round a former on one side and completely open on the other are you?>>2958442based. doesn't need to be a knee either, with a spring you can form it round any radii you wish. like your big fat belly for a slower turn.
>>2955549> lasts.What you want is type ‘K’ copper pipe.It’s usually already annealed.At the very least, use ‘L’ which is thicker than the shitty ‘M’ grade it looks like you have there.
Do they not have these in the USA?
>>2958735>Do they not have these in the USA?Are those made specifically for bending larger diameter copper tubing? I have similar setups for small tubing. Would an appropriately sized conduit bender work for copper pipe?
>>2958909That’s made to bend 15mm and 22mm, 22mm is larger than 3/4”. A conduit bender is the same principle, with that hand bender above you do get metal forms, one for 15mm and one for 22mm, bending without them does a shit job, so you would need the right sized forms for a conduit bender too.
>>2955558>>2955549Copper hardens/aneals backwards compared to most metalsThose store elbows you braze in are curved, not a sharp 90 degree. All you're doing here is making a really long one. You're still going to have to spots you braze in. It makes no difference of you do it 1/2" from the elbow or 2 feet from it.Did you use a proper sized bender or just some random oversized groove? Look into quality HVAC and brake like benders with rollers and stuff.Go meet an HVAC guy and tell him what you're trying to do, see if he'll use the good bender for you because these fucking things are $500 and I seriously doubt you have one or will ever need one again>>2955562>Use PEXKill yourself and go to hell
>>2958997What's wrong with PEX? Does it cause autisms? lol
>>2959001Microplastics and chemicals.Also most plastics break down over years.Not sure how pex is out together but if it uses rings it'll failkm there too. Those sharbige fittings are only good for a decade or 2.Copper on the other hand will last over a century and is naturally antimicrobial
>>2959004The longevity of copper depends on the water quality in my experience. PEX is either plumbed with crimp rings or clamps, or expansion fittings depending on the type. The rings are copper and the clamps are steel. Elbows, couplers, etc., can be plastic or brass.
>>2959059Plastic os banned from my kitchen, and it sure the hell isn't going in the plumbing no matter what it's literally together with I'm getting rid of the tap water too and replacing it with a distilled water reservoir
>>2959068You can just filter your kitchen tap and fridge/icemaker.
>>2959004My pex has been going fine for 25 years.I just extended it, and re-used the old piping using the expanding couplings and everything went fine, the old pipe (some of which had yellowed) was all pretty much mint, inside and out and still expands and shrinks down to a waterproof seal just fine.I’l post again in another 25 years and ket you know.There’s not much bad stuff in pex, I wouldn’t put cpvc, or pvc in though. All the bad rap came from that.I did, however, put in an all-copper/brass copper n-way splitter I prefabbed though.
>>2959072>l post again in another 25 years and ket you know.God knows we'll both still be here>>2959070My tap water has shit that not even ro can't remove
>>2958125Sounds more like differential cooling causing uneven contraction. Water hammer only occurs while water is moving and suddenly stops. A column of water has weight. Moving weight creates inertia, in this case pressure is inducing the motion. Stopping inertia suddenly is the same as hitting something with a hammer. Hence, water hammer.
>>2958735This is for conduit, usually made of steel. Copper behaves different and needs different dies.
>>2958125>>2959085Could be the pipes are sliding in whatever holds them up from that temperature expansion and contractions
>>2959078>My tap water has shit that not even ro can't removeThen it doesn't make much difference if your pipes are copper or PEX, does it?
>>2959103Yes, because 2 bad things are worse than 1.You're like a guy that smokes a carton of cigarettes a day "because you already have cancer" ignoring the fact that it's colon cancer and cigarettes cause bladder cancer instead
>>2959111I just think you have a thing about PEX. To each his own.
>>2959114I have a thing about plastic
>>2959120Most of the problem has been with “plasticizers” not the plastic itself.As far as I understand, pex doesn’t have any plasticizers.Polyethylene and polypropylene line milk cartons, drinking boxes, and your main water line is probably polyethylene, too.The main constituent is ethylene gas, which plants emit and are involved in the fruit ripening process.I’m worried about a lot of other things: super chlorination, bpa/s/f, teflon precursors, legionnaire’s disease, but not pex. I did quite a bit of research.
>>2959086No, this is definitely made for copper, it’s a very common plumbers tool in the UK, please do not make bold statements on areas you are lacking knowledge.
