Brass Pex fitting failing.

[acer66]

Hey,

You are looking at a around 7year old brass fitting on the lower right the left one is just for comparison.

I am on a well with a lot of iron sediments with various different types of filter throughout the years.

Water was tested over the years and checked out besides the sediments.

The only thing I noticed over the years is that when I installed the current water filter about 2 years ago wich is one of those big freestanding self flushing ones is that the water is harder and leaves those white rings.
Not sure how a filter could cause that.

This particular fitting is at the end of the drain line of a NC tankless water heater.



This shows the fitting in the position it was installed.
The water drained into the fitting from the right.
The fitting shows some damage on the right intake side.This shows the pointing down part of the fitting from the first picture from a different angle with pretty severe damage.

Question now is this problem caused by the water heater or a water in general.

Thank you.

 

[vwpieces]

Thats pretty crazy.
Almost looks like erosion as opposed to corrosion.
Not sure what brand those are but I can't see the LF, lead free insignia.

 

[duneslider]

I've heard it called dezincification of the yellow brass. I think most manufacturers have changes formulas to a brass more resistant to this.

My house was plumbed with all plastic fittings of the PEX brand. I am sure there are other issues associated with those too. I haven't encountered any plumbing method that is 100% trouble free. Copper can degrade and weaken and leak too.

 

[4x4Pete]

Condensate drain? The drain water is acidic. Use plastic fittings.

 

[acer66]

Never heard about dezincification before.
Quick search and according to this page that can be caused by

• Low flow rates of the circulating liquid

Which this would qualify for and also the shape of damage itself would support that.

What is Dezincification? - Definition from Corrosionpedia

This definition explains the meaning of Dezincification and why it matters.

www.corrosionpedia.com

 

[acer66]

Condensate drain? The drain water is acidic. Use plastic fittings.

That is another reason and I will switch over to plastic.


Which is a relieve since that affects only two fittings.

 

[rlitman]

Condensate drain? The drain water is acidic. Use plastic fittings.

Also, condensate is not coming from your well, so all of that information was irrelevant. It must have been trickling down only that part for it to have eroded in those tracks. If that were part of your pressurized water system, I'd have guessed its scour from too much flow to create that patter.

Is there a neutralizer upstream of this fitting, because there should be.

 

[acer66]

Also, condensate is not coming from your well, so all of that information was irrelevant. It must have been trickling down only that part for it to have eroded in those tracks. If that were part of your pressurized water system, I'd have guessed its scour from too much flow to create that patter.

Is there a neutralizer upstream of this fitting, because there should be.

Giving so much useless information tells you how much I know about this.

Unless there is an internal one no.

 

[Whitworth]

It looks like the right side was deformed or got deformed before, during or after.

I can't see how (any way) chemically that could occur.

 

[rlitman]

Giving so much useless information tells you how much I know about this.

Unless there is an internal one no.

Fair enough.

So is there any other metal this condensate can encounter? Does it just drip outside on the ground, or go into a drain? You can make your own condensate neutralizer by running the condensate water through a bucket or pipe full of limestone chips, though the clear canister commercial ones make it easy to see when you need to refill them (they're pretty spendy though).

Condensate water isn't all that bad, but it is corrosive to most metals because of the nitrous acid it accumulates from the exhaust. Usually people just plumb it in PVC. I can't say I've seen PEX used for this before, but the PEX itself should handle it just fine.

 

[acer66]

Fair enough.

So is there any other metal this condensate can encounter? Does it just drip outside on the ground, or go into a drain? You can make your own condensate neutralizer by running the condensate water through a bucket or pipe full of limestone chips, though the clear canister commercial ones make it easy to see when you need to refill them (they're pretty spendy though).

Condensate water isn't all that bad, but it is corrosive to most metals because of the nitrous acid it accumulates from the exhaust. Usually people just plumb it in PVC. I can't say I've seen PEX used for this before, but the PEX itself should handle it just fine.

Only another brass elbow otherwise it was just getting dumped outside.

I had to reroute it today because it froze up last night which is how I discovered the damage.

Now it goes into some indoor underground pvc drainpipe that daylights into the yard.

I will just eliminate the brass fittings and use plastics.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

 

[acer66]

It looks like the right side was deformed or got deformed before, during or after.

I can't see how (any way) chemically that could occur.

It got a bit mangled up because I used a tool to cut the rings which was harder than usual for some reason and I might have used excessive force in the process because I wanted to reuse the fitting.

 

[nadogail]

The chemistry of the solution makes a big difference in the life of the fittings. I once heated process tank I worked at a plant that etched and plated Printed Wiring Boards, for one heated process tank i found the most economical way to keep my production line in operation was to change the CPVC flange to Titanium.

My boss questioned my decision until we sat down and calculated the cost of the lost production and the price of the lost chemistry.