How To Fix A Pinhole Water Leak In Copper Pipe | No Soldering Needed!

In this video, I will walk you through how to quickly stop a pinhole water leak in a copper pipe. This is an actual issue I ran into at my own home and something that I needed to get fixed fast to reduce any additional drywall and floor damage. I will show 3 different fixes with the 1st just being temporary while you make a plan of attack and the 2nd and 3rd being permanent repairs that don't require desoldering or soldering on new copper fittings.

Chapters
0:00 Overview of my water leak
0:50 Fix 1: Emergency Clamp Repair
1:36 Fix 2: SharkBite Coupling and Slip Coupling Repair
6:11 Fix 3: Press Fitting Coupling Repair
9:29 Manual Crimping Tool From iCrimp

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DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.

[EverydayHomeRepairs]

DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.

[DYIIdeas]

What a legend, fixing the pipe 2 times just to show us 2 methods. You are an educator & deserves all the respect

[Brian_L_]

What a legend, fixing the pipe 2 times just to show us 2 methods. You are an educator & deserves all the respect 🙏👍

[davidward]

I do like the way he explains the process for each repair. He makes everyone feel that they can do this and that is the sign of a great teacher.

[jamesclark]

I re-plumbed my home as part of a whole house renovation nearly 20 years ago. I also installed a radiant heating system. I used first generation shark bite products extensively, with both pex and copper. To date, I've had no problems.

[scubasteve]

I distrusted sharkbite until I had to replace all of my hot water lines under the house in a very tight crawl space. I bit the bullet and decided to give them a try. They have worked great for eight years now.

[donfoster]

Had this happen a buncha times... used a 1" piece of soft hose slit lengthwise and wrapped over the pinhole and then put a single hose clamp around it, tightened it down directly over the pinhole. Worked like a champ for a year until I could re-pipe using PEX.

[_of_]

Use sharkbites over 15 years ago and so far perfect as day one.

[jerseyneil]

I've used Sharkbite connections when I replaced my water heater six years ago. Never had a problem with leaks. Highly recommend.

[ereverski]

I have a Sharkbite repair in place now for 12 years without issue. Great product!

[electricbehaviors]

Best line in regards to the crimping tool "I have it in my Arsenal". That's right. When damage occurs, its war ! BTW, I love ALL of your content.

[darrylstevens]

My five 20+ yr old sharkbite fittings are still solid.

[Blasfemurr]

This has become my go to DIY channel - really easy to follow and great step by step explanations - really well done

[jsubs]

Been using Sharkbite for years with no problems. Great video.

[hassanbazzi]

All three methods are neatly defined. Thank you for sharing

[rooster]

Solder in a new section including the "T". Also, when possible avoid cutting the sheet rock all the way into the corner were it meets the wall. It will easier to restore.

[silvercali]

I tried solder but after doing a practice run late at night I switched to sharkbite. Home Depot was almost going to close and I knew it was a sure fix

[trbstang]

Thanks for the reminder. I need to put in a permanent fix to replace the heater hose I used as a temporary fix after the Texas arctic freeze a few years ago! That slip fitting should work just fine.

[melmartinez]

This should be mentioned: In my experience, pipe-wall pinhole leaks are most often occurring due to some prior builder/plumber/contractor using cheaper, thin-walled 'type M' copper pipe. Examine the pipe carefully before you invest a bunch of time and effort into putting in a patch for a pinhole. It may be better to replace the pipe section entirely (with type L copper or Pex, if switching) or you will likely end up with another pinhole leak down the road.

[_Ptat_]

I soldered a pinhole just out of necessity. The situation I was in I couldn’t make a repair without making a mess and pulling a lot of the drop ceiling down. And even then, just the location of the pipe would have made it very hard to do any repairs anyway. And on top of that, the valve that isolated that branch from the main line didn’t work. So eventually I had the time to shut the water supply off to the entire building, drained what I could from the line, cleaned around the pinhole then fluxed around it and got a dab of solder into the hole.


Seems to be holding fine after a year.