I spent a long time fixing a broken irrigation pipe but now have small leaks in a couple of places. In the picture water flows downwards and the ball valve controls the flow from the main line to the irrigation line.
1. Highlighted in red is a leak on the cap of the handle of the slip in mueller ball valve. The leak happens only when the valve is open completely or in certain position.
2. Highlighted in green the joint at the elbow coupling and the horizontal pvc pipe is leaking. It only leaks at the botton and I verified it by checking that the top and side of the joint are dry.
I would hate to redo the work again as there is no give on the surrounding pipes and the only option would be replace the whole manifold. It can be done but I am looking for a spot fix for both from the experts on this forum.
Best Answer
I have been in this situation a few times. For the elbow you may have luck turning off the water, draining the line, then brushing the connection elbow to pipe location and around the elbow itself with PVS cement. If you can get a flow into the leak location it may likely seal. It is a fair possibility that a hairline crack or cement gap occurred. I have had about a 60% success doing this.
As for the valve leak I hate to say may need replaced. One exception is if it has a handle that is held on by a screw. Check the blue handle looking for the center disk to see if it has a gap to the main handle body. If so see if it will pry off and has a screw to tighten handle to ball assembly.