Categories: Pipes

How to eliminate leaks in a plastic pipe with your own hands

Modern, reliable and practical plastic pipes - a great solution for the installation of plumbing in the country or in a private home. Their advantage is quick installation and low weight of the pipeline system, convenience of carrying out modernization and repair of pipes. The disadvantage of plastic pipes is, that a poorly welded joint inevitably loses its tightness, and the pipes themselves (except for reinforced) weakly resist mechanical damage.

Leaks can occur in any type of plastic pipe

The first signs of leakage and ways to eliminate it

Wet pipes, appearance of water drops, dew-like, in the area of fittings, or a sharp drop in pressure in the system directly warns the owner, it's time to pay attention to the plumbing system, and solve the problem with your own hands. If the leak is not eliminated in time, then even a small trickle of water can do a lot of damage, getting on electrical appliances, power lines or new repairs to neighbors, living on the floor (or even several floors) lower.

Minimum practical skills and a set of special tools will be required to repair a plumbing or heating system made of plastic pipes.. Simple repair of a plastic pipe with your own hands is quite possible for an amateur, and for a professional to close suddenly leaked and will not be difficult.

Importantly! The main task of the installer-repairman is to choose the best way to eliminate the problem and eliminate the leak as soon as possible.

The appearance of moisture on the pipes may indicate a leak in the system

The first act, which must be done by the installer, busy repairing the water main: disable, if possible, water supply to the system, or in the area, to be restored. After locating the leak or stopping the water supply, you can start restoration work. Then choose the best option, how to eliminate leaks in plastic pipes. Prerequisites - Leaks must be fixed in the shortest possible time, and to close the revealed crack of a pipe or a hole it is necessary as much as possible qualitatively.

Importantly! Be sure to shut off the water supply before the site, where a leak is detected. In a multi-circuit system for that, to eliminate leaks, it is enough to turn off the water supply directly to the repaired circuit, also closing the drain valve of the local section of the water supply system.

How to close holes in a plastic pipe - repair options and causes of leaks

The most common problem of plastic plumbing - loss of tightness at the joints of pipes. Leaks occur for a variety of reasons, depending on the option of laying pipes, the type of fittings used and the level of qualification of the installer, example:

incorrectly selected temperature regime during soldering of plastic plumbing leads to the destruction of the integrity of the transition pipe - fitting - pipe. A leak appears, and to repair the system you have to cut the whole node, and mount it with new components. The joint will not be sealed;
loosening the nut. Eliminate leaking fittings with your hands (just tighten the clamping nut) easy, if the inner tabs are intact and the nut itself has not burst. It is also impossible to cover such a fitting with sealant, and if it is damaged - it must be replaced;
poorly pressed crimp-type fitting. It can also be used in conjunction with a plastic pipe, and if such a joint occurs, then a new connecting fitting must be pressed in. Manufacturers of fittings of this type strongly recommend not to compress special pincers the same shrinkage ring twice;
the pipe is not properly prepared. Trumpet contact, made by the method of sliding fittings, will inevitably leak, if the pipe cut was uneven;
flowing plastic pipe joints, made by the method of adhesive connection, from the wrong type of glue, or when the interval after installation work is too short before putting the system into operation. The glue did not dry, and the surface of the joints does not have time to polymerize to complete tightness.

The most reliable way to repair a damaged highway is to replace the damaged area with a new plastic pipe, securely soldered through fittings with the main system. But it is not always possible to implement the method of high-temperature compounds, and then other methods are used to repair the pipeline.

With the help of a clamp you can quickly eliminate water leakage

Clamp. As a temporary method, which allows to eliminate the leak, is the use of clamps. Complementing the clamp with screw clamps with a layer of waterproof plastic material, manages to almost completely eliminate the leak. The method is a good topic, that water will flow freely through the water supply system. It's faster and more reliable, than just close with sealant or seal the leaky pipe. This method of repair does not require turning off the water supply, the only drawback is the inevitable weakening of the fastening units of the clamp over time and the loss of tightness of the connection.

Cold welding. First, than to cover to flow in plastic pipes, it is necessary to prepare for work the necessary quantity of a component: Thoroughly knead the required amount of substance in your hands, or mix in appropriate proportions. Apply to the affected area, carefully close the crack on the pipe and wait until the composition is completely solidified.

Adhesive bandage. A pair of clamps together with the material, impregnated with an adhesive composition (two-component glue + rubber for polypropylene pipes or bandage + cement for sewer pipes) will help to quickly eliminate the leak with your own hands. Advantages: the water supply can not be turned off. The disadvantage of this method is, that for high pressure systems it is forbidden to use an adhesive bandage.

Clay (sealing) tape. A good option for quick repairs, if it is not possible to cover a small hole with sealant. The tape is applied to the affected area in several layers.

As a temporary, but a fairly reliable measure is to apply adhesive tape to the pipes

Special sealant. This is another quick method, how to eliminate leaks at the joint of a plastic pipe. But this, rather, interim solution, than quality repairs.

Importantly! Any of the selected methods of restoring the tightness of the water supply system or pipe joints requires prior preparation of the pipe itself. The pipe is greased, cleaned up, if necessary, the joint of the future pipe and fitting connection is processed.

There are three types of sealing compositions:

neutral type of sealant, suitable for all types of pipes, applied with a mounting gun;
acid sealant, but it is not used on fragile pipes and pipelines, acid transporting;
silicone sealant - a universal composition, which is used to seal the bell connection at the junction of sewer pipes.

In the case of heating systems, which can also be mounted from polypropylene pipes, eliminate leaks is a bit more difficult. Usually, part of the system is laid by the method of concealed installation, and before, than to seal plastic pipes, accidentally damaged during construction work or failed naturally, must be accurately determined, in what place of the mounted system the pipe flows. And for this you need to dismantle the decorative panels or, in the worst case, reveal wall coverings.

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