# Pin hole in pex waterline again



## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Just got a call last night from a guy that said he had a pin hole shooting water out of it,it is the white pex pipe that original plumber used 15-20 yrs ago,why are pinholes coming in per pipe????i have seen this on two other occasions on different jobs,one had the expansion tank gone bad and I figured that caused it but the other one and this one is not the case,has me worried to say the least

Note..it should read pex in the title,dang spell check


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

I've seen that in copper due to water contents, but not in pex. Defect in the material from 15-20 years ago?


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

Sparky, examine the hole closely. Maybe it's mice or rats. I have seen where rats gnaw on the pex to get water, and after they get through, it looks like a pin hole but when you look closely, you can see the gnawing marks from the rat's teeth.


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

Tommy plumber said:


> Sparky, examine the hole closely. Maybe it's mice or rats. I have seen where rats gnaw on the pex to get water, and after they get through, it looks like a pin hole but when you look closely, you can see the gnawing marks from the rat's teeth.


I've yet to see it, but it's more likely to happen than half the stupid and unbelievable stuff I see... especially around here!


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

You really dont know how long the pex is gonna last in
any plumbing system....once the chlorines and chlorimines start to 
break it down over time..... It all depends on how many additives are
in the water...... 

I remember all the fuss back about 20 years ago and the copper industry was attempting to tell everyone that the chlorines in our water will break the stuff down faster.... They claimed that over in Europe the water was not chlorinated as much as we do here. and their testing and
stats did not jive with our brand of water.. 

I use Wirsbo Aquapex and it seemslike pretty good stuff
I am hoping it lasts at least 35 years because I should be
dead by then and its gonna be someone elses problem :laughing::laughing:.........


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## Mr_David (Jun 21, 2017)

Slightly fftopic:, BUT thought I would add this.
I had a spa for about 10 yrs before it started to leak.
So I took off the side panel and started to dig out the foam.
Found the leak. Drained it and repaired it. 
There was a pin hole in the flexible PVC pipe.
Refilled it. Still leaking.

Dug out more foam. Found a trail in the foam made by what I think was termites. 
I followed the trail right to another pin hole. 
This time I just put a screw in it to seal the leak. 
Turned on the jets. still another leak somewhere.
Found 2 more.

At first I thought the termites had just followed the moisture from a leak to the hole, but after finding 2 more leaks I realized the little buggers made the holes.

:surrender::surrender::surrender::surrender: I surrendered. Put an AD on Craigslist. 
Some Mexican showed up and hauled it off for free.

I have also seen where the mice/rats have chewed through Polybutylene pipe as well.


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## Debo22 (Feb 15, 2015)

Tommy plumber said:


> Sparky, examine the hole closely. Maybe it's mice or rats. I have seen where rats gnaw on the pex to get water, and after they get through, it looks like a pin hole but when you look closely, you can see the gnawing marks from the rat's teeth.


I was told to let homeowners know to not use rat poisoning to get rid of rodent problems when they have pex. It dehydrates them and they really start biting at anything to get water.

A counter guy at Fergusons told me his plumber friend will sell an upgrade on repipes when there is rodent potential. He sleeves the pex with one pipe size larger in electrical alumaflex.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Tommy plumber said:


> Sparky, examine the hole closely. Maybe it's mice or rats. I have seen where rats gnaw on the pex to get water, and after they get through, it looks like a pin hole but when you look closely, you can see the gnawing marks from the rat's teeth.


100% sure no knaw marks,this was leaking where it stubbed out of wall going to water heaters,hot side of course,from wall to first barb there was I'd say 3inches max of pipe,I cut it out and installed a coupling,oh and this was wirsbo pex that you expand and slide ring over,I use zurn pex,but I can't figure out why this hole just appeared where it did,homeowners are worried to say the least


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## jnohs (Jan 27, 2012)

Honor had a massive recall on their pipe approximately 12-10 years ago. It was the white pex.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

jnohs said:


> Honor had a massive recall on their pipe approximately 12-10 years ago. It was the white pex.


Is that same thing or who makes wirsbo???this particular house is 17yrs old so this could fit in your timetable I'd say,thanks for the info,what did homeowners/plumbers do that used this recalled pipe????


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## randyhi (Jun 28, 2017)

Wirsbo is now made by Uponor. We use it exclusively along with the pex expander rings in what they call their Propex system. It carries a 25yr warranty if you are a certified installer which means we attended a 4hr class. Uponor makes the plastic fittings which gets all of the brass out of water distribution system. Since everything went lead free, we had some brass fittings erode and cause leaks. We were told that the Chinese brass foundries replaced the lead with zinc which erodes fairly soon after being put in service. The plastic has held up well so far whereas some of the brass popped pinholes in a couple of years. The plastic is much cheaper until you get into the 1-1/4" and bigger. We have very hard water around here which takes its toll on copper. We use the Uponor except when we are making small service repairs. If it is a large repair we sweat on some adapters and switch to pex to make the repair.


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## 89plumbum (May 14, 2011)

Another possible explanation is pipes exposed to UV rays. Seen it many times in FL. That's why they came out with that UV protected pipe- black inside and white on the outside. But I believe the manufacturer recommended not leaving it in the sun for too long.

When we repiped pop's house, insulation separated on the incoming line about an inch wide and several pinholes popped up.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

89plumbum said:


> Another possible explanation
> 
> is pipes exposed to UV rays. Seen it many times in FL. That's why they came out with that UV protected pipe- black inside and white on the outside. But I believe the manufacturer recommended not leaving it in the sun for too long.
> 
> When we repiped pop's house, insulation separated on the incoming line about an inch wide and several pinholes popped up.


Where this leak was located was in a basement,been there 17yrs,no exposure to sunlight,I guarantee that,I cannot find any reason for this pinhole other than bad pipe


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