After discovering, as you might recall, a leaky patch job a couple nights ago, I committed myself to fixing it last night. Over lunch I bought all the supplies (propane torch, heat shields, solder, flux, etc.), and got to it soon after getting home. I admit it, I stalled some. Because… well… fire.

At first I was going to try to melt the previous solder and pull the capped T-joint we used as a coupling, but there were several things wrong with this scenario. With *any* water in the pipe, it would take a LONG time to melt the solder. If and when the solder was melted, I would have to work VERY hard to get the joint out, given how tight the gap it spans is. If and when I got the joint out, I may not be able to use it again anyway. If I could use it again, I’d have to work VERY hard to get it back in.

So, after talking with my Dad (you’re never too old to get fatherly advice), I decided to just cut the T-joint out, giving me a lot more room, and two clean ends to work with.

With a 3 inch gap in the pipe now, and a capped T-joint in hand, I made the entirely-too-familiar trip to the Home Depot. At first, I was looking for a copper union, but the associate turned me on to the much simpler and easy to understand full slip sweat repair coupling. Feeling a lot more confident, I picked up two (you can never be too safe when the ability to shower and cook at home is at stake), and was on my way.

Once home, it didn’t take any longer than 30 minutes to prepare the four ends and solder them in place. The most aggravating part at this point was the fact that one of the installed ends kept dripping. A tip from my Dad came in handy here. Some white bread stuffed up in that pipe dried it out, and stopped the leaking long enough for me to get the job done… and now I can say I’ve put white bread in my water pipes! I don’t know why that’s so cool to me, but it is.

A few minutes cooling time and…

Woot! No leaks!

I feel more and more handy every day.