Copper in water

ptonsparky said:
My brother's house was built in the early 60s. All copper water lines. He just had it replumbed with pex. Things do wear out.
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My farm house had some type “M” copper. The well water was low Ph and ate pinholes in the pipe in less than 5 years. I replaced with type “L” and it was still OK when I sold the place (about 15 years later). I would have used PEX if it had existed at the time.
I’d never use “M” copper anywhere. Especially if it’s going to end up concealed in a wall.
 
hbiss said:
M is used for hydronic heating with its low pressure and non-corrosive water, but manufacturer says it can be used for everything. With its thinner wall it's less expensive so take that for what it's worth.

-Hal
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When my daughter was building a house in 2013, the plumbing had quotes for both. I don’t recall the price difference, but she went with L. She asked him what the difference was and he told her M had a 30 year (minimum) life, L was something like 100. She point blank asked him ”Why the hell would you even offer L?”
 
MTW said:
Can be caused by a source of DC current flowing on the community copper piping system, You can try confirming if it exists by disconnecting the main ground electrode conductor from the water meter location,and measuring for DC voltage between the electrode conductor and the main water pipe entry.

AC current, normally does not erode copper or metal piping, but DC will.
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I work on a few old DC systems that are -48VDC. As in minus 48 volts.
Some are in a hut with a rackmount power supply that also floats a few batteries for backup.
Occasionally equipment gets replaced and I have make sure its not '48V' but -48V.
I always thought that was so weird but I was told it has something to do with corrosion.
 
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Scoop789 said:
coming around to this thread again as two different water testing companies are saying the water coming in is ok and that the high copper content is being caused from something in the home and they're leaning towards electrolysis from the electrical system.
I know other members here have mentioned that it's DC current that causes electrolysis so with that said we do have a lot of Low voltage wiring all over the home that feeds low voltage 24V DC strip lights. We do a pretty good job of strapping these clear of any type of pipes but the home is huge and there was a lot of plumbing after some of that wiring was put in. I'm just throwing different ideas out there but anyone think DC current could be leaking from this wiring to copper piping if they're touching?
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Test. The. pH.
 
Seems like whom ever is testing this should also be testing the polarity of the DC current, as a negative polarity current such as commonly used in various systems would be beneficial?
hbiss said:
I would have said telephone
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Yeah al of them; telcom including wireless sites, POTS, and data acquisition and monitoring for some oil and gas work all had the 'minus' polarity.
 
tortuga said:
Seems like whom ever is testing this should also be testing the polarity of the DC current, as a negative polarity current such as commonly used in various systems would be beneficial?

Yeah al of them; telcom including wireless sites, POTS, and data acquisition and monitoring for some oil and gas work all had the 'minus' polarity.
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By telephone I meant the system itself. Nothing buried. POTS uses -48 on the lines connected to the telephones. The +48 goes to ground.

But I think you're right, with cathodic protection the (-) goes to whatever is protected. I kinda remember that from an oil tank years ago that I installed. It came with a big lump of some chemical powder attached to the end that acted like a battery. It was connected to the tank and there was a test lug ty-rapped to the filler pipe above ground. You were supposed to test it periodically with a special tester. Probably could have used a regular volt meter, probably 1.5V or something to a screwdriver stuck in the ground.

-Hal
 
hbiss said:
By telephone I meant the system itself. Nothing buried. POTS uses -48 on the lines connected to the telephones. The +48 goes to ground.

But I think you're right, with cathodic protection the (-) goes to whatever is protected. I kinda remember that from an oil tank years ago that I installed. It came with a big lump of some chemical powder attached to the end that acted like a battery. It was connected to the tank and there was a test lug ty-rapped to the filler pipe above ground. You were supposed to test it periodically with a special tester. Probably could have used a regular volt meter, probably 1.5V or something to a screwdriver stuck in the ground.

-Hal
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I think that would have been magnesium. My brother worked for a time for a company that made the anodes.
 
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