# Pinhole in pex



## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Ran into a first for me the other day,got a call bout basement bein flooded,said red pipe at wh had pinhole in it,got there and sure nough,the 3/4" red pex bout foot long on hot side of electric heater had small pinhole pissing out water all over floor,this has me very worried as I have never seen this happen to pex before,there was no visible reason for the hole bein there other than maybe bad piece of pipe.any thoughts????


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## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

Was it Durapex? I do about one Durapex (now Nibco, same problems) slab leaks a month. Did one yesterday


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## Dpeckplb (Sep 20, 2013)

I had a pinhole in Rehau O2 barrier last summer. It held air for my pressure test but as soon as I fired up the boiler it failed. Lucky it was in underfloor heat for the main floor in an unfinished basement so I was able to find it right away. I just assumed it was an air bubble in the manufacturing process.


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## Plumber (Jan 18, 2009)

I'll say this and then go work on the scoot.






Water will eat through anything.


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## wyrickmech (Mar 16, 2013)

How close to the heater? Here we are required to run copper 18 in away from the heater.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

If it is the CPI/Nibco DuraPex when you look at it from the inside it will be more like a split...


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

wyrickmech said:


> How close to the heater? Here we are required to run copper 18 in away from the heater.



2' for us, but same theory


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## mccmech (Jul 6, 2011)

plumbdrum said:


> 2' for us, but same theory


Even on electric as stated by OP?


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

Yup


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

wyrickmech said:


> How close to the heater? Here we are required to run copper 18 in away from the heater.


It had a dielectric nipple sticking up bout 3" out top of heater then had brass female per adapter screwed onto it,then about a foot long piece of red pex then another brass pex female adapter screwed onto a copper male adapter. oh and the sticker on the heater from where it was inspected says it was installed in 97',so not to long ago IMO.its got me worried,that for sure no matter what brand pex it may have been


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

On gas wh's,I always use a 6" nipple out top of heater then go pex as I think there is to much heat around that draft diverter hood,but I can't see why a electric heater would need that.


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## heaan (Oct 23, 2012)

Could have been a mouse


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

sparky said:


> On gas wh's,I always use a 6" nipple out top of heater then go pex as I think there is to much heat around that draft diverter hood,but I can't see why a electric heater would need that.



I'm sure your would quote different


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## mytxplumber (Jul 28, 2013)

I see pex with pinholes or splitting here pretty often.


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

mytxplumber said:


> I see pex with pinholes or splitting here pretty often.


Caused by what?? Split in the middle or at the fitting connections??


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## mytxplumber (Jul 28, 2013)

Splitting out on the middle and pinholing. The water pressure here can get pretty high.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Will said:


> Was it Durapex? I do about one Durapex (now Nibco, same problems) slab leaks a month. Did one yesterday





mytxplumber said:


> Splitting out on the middle and pinholing. The water pressure here can get pretty high.


Isn't most pex pipe rated for 150psi???if it gets that high wouldn't pop off valve go off??


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

plumbdrum said:


> I'm sure your would quote different


Why???.?


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

sparky said:


> Why???.?



Cause I know you don't read anything.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

plumbdrum said:


> Cause I know you don't read anything.


What makes you say that??


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

If its DuraPex I'd be thinking about a hot side repipe...


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Redwood said:


> If its DuraPex I'd be thinking about a hot side repipe...


Red it was just a foot long piece that someone had used to make a connection on a water heater,rest of the piping is copper


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

Like usuall azz backwards


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

plumbdrum said:


> Like usuall azz backwards


Oh he'll go inspect someone's work that is right and then find something wrong with it for your power trip that you are on:laughing:


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## srloren (Nov 19, 2014)

plumbdrum said:


> I'm sure your would quote different


What does that mean? Come on guys, if you are going to participate in this forum, please use a little thought about what you write. It keeps down the confusion. 

I will share with you about a guy that was in the Army with me in 1957 at Fort Sill Oklahoma. This guy was older than most of us but he had a vocabulary that was so huge as to cause many Officers to attempt to avoid a conversation with him for fear he would use a word they were not familiar with. Most of the officers stayed clear of this guy. My point is that being able to communicate as this guy did gave him power not shared by most in the Army those days. _I don't mean to imply that one should use words that most will have to look up in the dictionary in your daily communication as it can cause miscommunication or not understanding what is being said._ In other words simply try to say what you mean so that a 6th grader can understand you..... believe me, it will help you in life.

Done... I am off the band box now. Hope you guys don't give me a hard time.


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

srloren said:


> What does that mean? Come on guys, if you are going to participate in this forum, please use a little thought about what you write. It keeps down the confusion.
> 
> I will share with you about a guy that was in the Army with me in 1957 at Fort Sill Oklahoma. This guy was older than most of us but he had a vocabulary that was so huge as to cause many Officers to attempt to avoid a conversation with him for fear he would use a word they were not familiar with. Most of the officers stayed clear of this guy. My point is that being able to communicate as this guy did gave him power not shared by most in the Army those days. _I don't mean to imply that one should use words that most will have to look up in the dictionary in your daily communication as it can cause miscommunication or not understanding what is being said._ In other words simply try to say what you mean so that a 6th grader can understand you..... believe me, it will help you in life.
> 
> Done... I am off the band box now. Hope you guys don't give me a hard time.



Oops , I meant to say I'm sure your CODE would quote differently, sorry forgot the most important word. Hopefully everyone over 6th grade understands now


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## Plumberdood1 (Apr 23, 2014)

18" away from water heater before pex starts. There is a bug that will burrow through pex causing pin holes. I'll post the name of it later.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Plumberdood1 said:


> 18" away from water heater before pex starts. There is a bug that will burrow through pex causing pin holes. I'll post the name of it later.


For real???now you gots my attention and might have to read this:laughing::laughing::yes:


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

sparky said:


> For real???now you gots my attention and might have to read this:laughing::laughing::yes:



Your making my point now sparky


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Plumberdood1 said:


> 18" away from water heater before pex starts. There is a bug that will burrow through pex causing pin holes. I'll post the name of it later.


Uhhh Huh.... No Kidding....:laughing:


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## Plumberdood1 (Apr 23, 2014)

Western Conifer seed bug. Upinor has an article on it. Our local supplier was telling me about it on Zurn pex in a new house. Pin holes in the pex, they hired a extermination company to kill the bugs and no more issues.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Plumberdood1 said:


> Western Conifer seed bug. Upinor has an article on it. Our local supplier was telling me about it on Zurn pex in a new house. Pin holes in the pex, they hired a extermination company to kill the bugs and no more issues.


Has anyone seen pipe where one of these bugs has made a hole in pex pipe????


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

sparky said:


> Has anyone seen pipe where one of these bugs has made a hole in pex pipe????


I've seen chew marks and holes on alum pilot tubing ..


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Plumberdood1 said:


> Western Conifer seed bug. Upinor has an article on it. Our local supplier was telling me about it on Zurn pex in a new house. Pin holes in the pex, they hired a extermination company to kill the bugs and no more issues.


Uhhh Huh.... No Kidding.... :laughing:


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## mrjasontgreek (May 21, 2014)

Oh my... Are these pinholes completely invisible to the naked eye? I had a pinhole in a piece of 3/4" rehau and that was the line they used. I find it odd that a bug could have something so small and so strong that it could make a single penetration in the pipe wall that can't be seen. You couldn't do that with a needle.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

mrjasontgreek said:


> Oh my... Are these pinholes completely invisible to the naked eye? I had a pinhole in a piece of 3/4" rehau and that was the line they used. I find it odd that a bug could have something so small and so strong that it could make a single penetration in the pipe wall that can't be seen. You couldn't do that with a needle.


I had someone on my site talking about this a few years ago...
They said the tube was sent to Uponor/Wirsbo and they claimed the insect caused the damage no warranty coverage and Uponor/Wirsbo had kept the tube sent...

From what I had read on it the holes are very small...


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## mrjasontgreek (May 21, 2014)

Redwood said:


> I had someone on my site talking about this a few years ago...
> They said the tube was sent to Uponor/Wirsbo and they claimed the insect caused the damage no warranty coverage and Uponor/Wirsbo had kept the tube sent...
> 
> From what I had read on it the holes are very small...


Rehau sent the piece back to us. The hole was so small you couldn't see it except for the sharpie mark pointing to where the water was coming from. I ran my finger over it and it sealed it up. It held an air test.


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## wyrickmech (Mar 16, 2013)

Plumberdood1 said:


> 18" away from water heater before pex starts. There is a bug that will burrow through pex causing pin holes. I'll post the name of it later.


 The name of the bug is HEAT


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## mytxplumber (Jul 28, 2013)

The problem here is some places have city pressure of 120psi. Bad fill lot of limestone in some areas. We do see pinholes and split pex.


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## plumb_aus (Mar 20, 2014)

you need more heat shielding (copper) and or reduced water temps in addition to quality pex product... rehau has its faults too


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