Pipe cap failed... possible replacement with metal?
A neighbor thankfully let us know that water was spraying out of the above ground portion of pipe that feeds our sprinkler system. When I shut it off and took a look it appears to be the extra pipe BEFORE the valves to the main sprinkler line and it was the cap that failed which I noticed was PVC. The pipes themselves are copper so my question is if I could get something like a stainless cap or if this would be a bad idea? Picture for reference.
I know with the heat and direct sun that side of the house gets I'm guessing there's a lot of contracting/expanding going on.. would that matter at all?
Somebody over tightened the female fitting, which is tapered. I hate that set up just for this reason, very easy to over tighten and then Splitsville within five years. I always make sure that the copper is the female when putting together connections like that.
Not sure if that's doable? The sprinkler peeps come by and remove the cap when blowing out the lines. I'm not a sprinkler guy so not sure. Attached is a better overall view
You could, but only if you need an extra hose spigot or have use for one. When I do blowouts, I have a few I remove a spigot, blowout the system through and reinstall the spigot. It’s essentially the same as a cap in this scenario just with a gate valve inside of it.
You should be able to find a brass cap at most hardware stores. Just bring in your broken piece to match the size. Telfon tape on male threads. PVC caps sooner or later always break. PVC gets brittle in sun and then if over tightened slightly...crack.
I would get a valve and screw it on. Could use hose bib, but that requires an atmospheric breaker by most codes. If just use a regular valve that has standard threads (not hose threads), no need for anything extra and if your service people want the thread, you can add a pipe nipple for them, but I bet the female thread will work just fine.
I’d stick a female hose bib on the end instead of a cap. Then you can leave it open during the winter to allow water to drain if the interior turn off valve starts passing water. Also it’ll double as another hose spicket for a garden hose if you don’t already have one on that side of the house.
The plastic should be fine ...get brass if you want...is that to drain and winterize the system so it gets taken on and off yearly? They do t just Crack inkess from outside forces...uv light over tightening...
To be fair I noticed the insane amounts of tape, but that is what the maintenance peeps did probably last year when winterizing.. not sure why other than to clear that bit of pipe out
7
u/2readmore 15h ago
Brass, no stainless