1972 mobile water intake leak

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redneeckgirl
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2008 1:18 pm
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana

I'm doing several repairs for some friends so I'll keep them in different posts to avoid confusion.

**The family is very low income with 4 children so I'm trying to keep the costs low yet effective.

The first problem was a leak in tee joint in water intake line. I believe I have this taken care of but would appreciate input whether it's good fix or if I can make it better.

The intake used to look like this:
Water Meter--8"s copper tubing--Ball Valve---6"s copper tubing---Stop Valve (yes 2 shutoffs in same length lol)--water intake line---barbed tee joint w/ clamps--then into house through 2 lines

The barbed tee is where the leak was.. the clamps had with age broken and let water through. I pulled the copper tubing out of the stop valve by hand.. it's clamp was broken as well. Then cut off to left and right of tee about 1/4".

The new intake looks like this:
Water Meter--8"s copper tubing--Ball Valve--6"s copper tubing---Sharkbite style coupling--6'pex--Zurn tee (Grey pvc tee that tightens down on all 3 sides-- similar pic here http://doitbest.com/PVC+tee-Zurn+Qest-m ... 467456.dib )

As you can see... I eliminated the stop valve and used a sharkbite coupling to join copper to the new pex line. The new pex is then joined to a new grey pvc tee through the single end and the existing tubing through the left and right of tee.

*So Far* no leaks to report. I have been told though the pvc sharkbite could cause a problem being northern Indiana and all repair in question is under home, it could freeze and burst.

We are planning to super insulate the new joints with the fiberglass strips and foil sided foam.

So my 2 questions for this are... does it sound like I've done the repair correctly with good parts? And...

She's deathly afraid of heat tape and needs an alternative. Will the foam tubing, fiberglass and foil/foam be sufficient?
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Harry
Posts: 1249
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 7:45 pm
Location: Citrus county Florida

Hi

I consider Sharkbite and the Zurn Qest compression fittings temp fixes. I had a sharkbite leak on me and cause a royal mess. Check for leaks periodically. Pex is my personal preference.

I am no longer up to date on freeze prevention. Hopefully another will chime in.

Is this plumbing under the home? What kind of skirting? Is the skirting in good shape?

Harry
Aside from the roof leak, soft floors, rats, mice and bursted plumbing ........ how do you like it?
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Greg
Moderator
Posts: 5696
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:01 pm
Location: Weedsport, NY

I would say that anything from the ground to underbelly freeze risk. With proper protection (heat tape & insulation) you should be OK. Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
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