The PVC evacuation pipe from my toilet is leaking a little bit. The part of the pipe that is leaking is buried inside concrete. I am trying to find a way to fix the leak from inside the pipe, that is without having to break the concrete to access the pipe. I have acces to the open end of the pipe about 1 meter away from where the leak is.
Plumbing – way to fix a small water leak in a PVC pipe from inside the pipe
leakplumbingpvctoiletwater
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In 1987 we were still using acid flux, there was also no requirement to ream cut pipe ends. In addition, domestic (U.S.) production of copper had dropped precipitously and the demand was being met with foreign copper products with dubious quality control specs. All those things have contributed to frequent failure of copper water pipe and connections from that era. I have repaired numerous pinhole leaks.
Unfortunately for you, it probably cannot be fixed without shutting down the line and draining it. Personally, I would cut out the pinhole and solder in a "no-stop" repair coupling, taking my chances on future leaks (we are talking about upstream of your meter, after all). Dig it up when you have no other choice.
In my area, the water supply utility is responsible for everything upstream of the meter.
That looks like standard UK 15mm copper pipe with an olive and compression fitting.
The correct term for the "washer" is an "olive". It is made from copper. If it is damaged, you will have to
- buy new "15mm compression olives", they often come in a pack of 5.
- cut off the old olive (you can get olive splitters to do this job)
- clean up the end of the pipe with wire wool (or similar) until bright and shiny.
- make sure the end is circular and undistorted for at least 1 cm
- make sure there is no burr or lip at the very end (use fine grit sandpaper)
- slide a new olive over the pipe (above the compression nut)
- ensure the parts to be connected are clean
- screw everything together
So long as everything is clean, smooth and undistorted, you don't need any plumber's gunk, gloop or PTFE tape.
Don't overtighten, if it weeps you can tighten a 16th of a turn or so.
If necessary, you can cut the pipe further down and fit an extra joint with a short length of new pipe, you might be able to use a flexible connection hose for future convenience - some of these can incorporate an isolation valve. A professional plumber would use an end-feed soldered copper joint but you can get ring-solder joints that just need heating with a blow-torch. Compression joints are easy and compact (and my preference) but you can also use push-fit connectors (HEP2O, Speedfit, etc) so long as they say they are OK for copper as well as plastic pipe.
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Best Answer
I ended up pouring some very liquid mix of waterproof cement down the pipe and catching it again at the exit, it seems that is filled the little cracks inside the pipe. It's been a few weeks of testing by pouring water down and I don't see any leaks anymore. I have to specify that the pipe was horizontal and the cracks on the bottom part of it, that allowed the cement to fill the cracks.