We have had pin hole leaks near the elbows of copper piping and are now having to rip out the floor in the bathroom and back bedroom closet and remodel the bathroom (again). To solve the problem, we are looking at a tankless water heater attached to the back of the house (if the City will let us put it there). Apparently it has a "self circulating" system, but I don't know what that means or if it will solve this problem. The name of the tankless water heater is Prefer Navien. (Our plumber is honest and knowledgeable, but doesn't really know about this problem.) Here is a long but good article about the problem:[www.csemag.com]



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Sue,

A recirculating system constantly pumps hot water through a loop to your bathroom, so you get instant hot water. I've never had such a system work reliably, but some people like them. A tankless water heater would have to burn a lot of power to keep that water hot.

However, the first issue you need to resolve is the cause of your pinhole leak. While the article you linked describes how recirculating systems can cause the problem, other causes include:

* flux left on soldered copper
* acidic/low ph water, or other water chemistry issues
* copper pipes touching galvanized pipes or other metals without protection

Where exactly is the leak? Photos might help the plumbers here pin down the cause.

Thank you for your response.

We ended up replacing most of the copper piping under the house with PEX. The leaks did show some corrosion and the pin hole leaks were near the bend. We now have two water heaters which should reduce the need for a pump even as it will increase the amount of time it takes to get hot water in the house. I had photos on my computer but have since deleted them. (Servicemaster took a lot of photos, so I could access them, And we still have the old pipes somewhere.) We have soft water. And then we ran into a bunch of unrelated plumbing problems because our house was built in 1929 and the vent behind the toilet was iron and shedding iron into the sewer line. So I guess I will just say thank you, and pray that what we have done will work.

We will have a new bathroom in the next few weeks and will be able to move back into the house. If this ever happens again, I'd be for selling the house as is and moving to who knows where.



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