The need to eliminate leakage in pipes under pressure arises when the pipe of the water supply or heating system ruptures. This situation does not occur often, so most residents of apartment buildings or cottages are not prepared to deal with leakage. We will figure out how to cope with the problem using improvised means, as well as list the tools and materials that should be in every home.
Leak Detection Algorithm
Quickly eliminating leaks will help to avoid many problems: soaking the floor and walls, flooding neighbors, spending money and nerves.
The procedure for detecting a leak looks like this:
- Quick inspection of the scene. If a leak occurs on the inside of the pipe (after the valve), you must immediately shut off the water supply. If a fistula occurs in the central riser, the valve will not help.
- Notify emergency service pipe breakthrough. Record the time of the call: this will help prove your innocence in disputes with your neighbors if you wait too long for a locksmith.
- Try to minimize water damage. Under the leak, you need to substitute a basin for collecting liquid, throw rags on the floor that absorb water. If a leak occurs in the heating pipe, a thick blanket thrown over the fistula can help.
- As far as possible, block the flow with the available means at home.
Breaks in pipes with hot water are especially dangerous. Heating medium or heated tap water can cause painful burns. If you have to deal with a fistula in such a pipe, put on tight clothes, protect your eyes with construction glasses.
Leak seal material should be stored in every home. If you act decisively and know what to do, it is quite possible to minimize damage.
How to deal with a leak while you wait for a locksmith?
The easiest way to seal a fistula that occurs on a straight section of a heating main or water pipe (it does not matter if it is located vertically or parallel to the floor). Depressurization of threads, cracks in places of turning or branching of pipes is more difficult, but you can cope with them. We offer five easy ways to deal with pipe damage.
Method number 1: Rubber bandage and clamp
To seal the fistula you will need a rubber bandage, which can be found in the medicine cabinet. If there is no such bandage in the house, you can take a piece of rubber (for example, cut the tape from the bell of a thick working glove). An elastic tape wraps a fistula in several layers. The turns are laid with an interference fit, and each should overlap the previous one about half the width of the bandage.
A collar is put on over the wound bandage. There are several options:
- A stranglehold made of thick copper wire. The wire covers a bandaged fistula, crosses the ends, and then tightens the noose by rotating the inserted lever (for example, the tip of a screwdriver). The disadvantage of this method is that the wire may burst.
- Thin steel plate. The plate bent by an arc covers the bandage, bolts are inserted into the holes at the ends, the nuts are tightened with a wrench. The disadvantage is that you can not crawl with keys to any place. In addition, such a record is not found in every home.
- Special clamp made of perforated metal strip and lock with a screw inserted inside. It is enough to cover the place of application of the clamp with a strip, insert the tip into the lock and turn the screw several times with a screwdriver. The disadvantage is that there is not a clamp in every house.
Here is what can be said about the effectiveness of the method:
Material Availability
7.5
Total
7.5
The use of a clamp makes it easy to cope with the leak. The only bad thing is that the method will not help if the clamp must be applied to the rotation of the pipe or the branch point.
Method number 2: Self-tapping screw or wooden chop
Often the hole that arose in a pipe made of cast iron resembles a small puncture from a nail. While such damage has not spread stronger, you can repair it with an ordinary self-tapping screw. To do this, a circle of thick rubber is placed under the hat, and then the screw is screwed into the hole.
Instead of a self-tapping screw, you can use chopik - a wooden cone-shaped cork. The plug is inserted into the hole and carefully hammered with gentle blows of the hammer. Swelling from water, the tree bursts even more densely along the walls of the hole, reliably blocking the leak.
And self-tapping screw, and chopik can serve only as a temporary measure. It’s worth using these methods only if other materials are not at hand. There are two reasons for this:
- In the process of screwing the plug can further expand the fistula.
- The part sticking inside the pipe will collect dirt on itself, which will accelerate the clogging of the pipe.
Method Evaluation:
Total
6
A self-tapping screw is able to stop the leak from a small fistula. But as soon as possible (maximum - immediately after the end of the heating cycle), it is necessary to drain the water and replace the pipe.
Method number 3: Bandage and salt
The old way, the main advantage of which is the availability of components. You will need an ordinary gauze bandage and salt.
The dressing is applied as follows:
- One or two rounds of bandage are placed on the fistula.
- A wet bandage is sprinkled with plenty of salt.
- A new tour is laid on top of the salt.
- Salt is again poured onto the bandage, etc.
Such a bandage from many layers of bandage and salt should be thick (at least 1 cm thick, preferably 1.5 cm). Being wetted in water, salt crystals will “stick together” with each other, clogging the hole.
To make it easier to “spread” the salt, lightly moisten it with water. The consistency of the salt mass should resemble paste.
Even if successful, it will be necessary to repair the pipe in a more efficient way in a day or two: the salt will dissolve with water, and the dressing will again begin to let the fluid through. In general, the method is not very effective:
Total
4.7
Salt does not help if a trickle breaks out of the hole under high pressure, but small leaks are sealed with this method quite successfully.
Method number 4: Bandage with cement paste
Another method based on sealing with a hardening substance. Like the previous option, cementing will help if the water flows in drops or oozes slightly, rather than spurting under pressure.
To create a bandage you will need:
- a strip of fabric or gauze bandage (strip length - at least 25 cm);
- a solution of cement with the consistency of sour cream - they impregnate a bandage before wrapping it on a fistula;
- a thicker cement paste for coating the dressing after winding.
The fabric is impregnated with cement, and then the pipe is wrapped over the leak in several turns. Each round needs to be tightened tightly. A thick compound is spread over the wound bandage. The total thickness of the bandage should be at least 20 mm.
The method has several disadvantages. First of all, cement dried into a monolith will be difficult to chop off to repair pipes. In addition, cement accelerates metal corrosion, which will lead to the gradual destruction of pipes under the bandage.
Total
6
The method is quite simple to implement, it allows you to close up even areas with a complex configuration. The only limitation is that it is not always possible to crawl in such a way that a bandage can be wound. In addition, a cement-rag patch is only suitable as a temporary measure.
Method number 5: Tape for pipes
Silicone tape is a polymer material produced in rolls with a width of 2.5–3 cm. There is no adhesive layer on the silicone, but the material is able to stretch more than 2 times and then compress back. Such plasticity allows the patch to tightly cover the site of the fistula.
Silicone pipe tape eliminates leaks even on dusty or contaminated metal. A properly applied dressing can hold back water rushing out under pressure up to 5 bar. The tape should be wound tightly in place of the leak, and the turns overlap when winding about half the width.
Here is what can be said about the effectiveness of the method:
Total
7
Placing the tape is simple and convenient. With its help, it is easy to cope with a leak, even in areas with a complex configuration. But, like all other methods, the tape is intended only for temporary repairs.
What should be stored at home in case of a pipe break?
It is better to stock up a roll of silicone tape, an elastic bandage and several metal self-tightening clamps in advance. With this “first aid kit” you can deal with most types of leaks.
When can a full pipe repair be carried out?
On the heating system - after the end of the heating cycle. Only in the warmer months can you drain the coolant and repair the pipe. Water pipes are repaired whenever possible, but also try not to put off for more than a month.
If you managed to stop the leak yourself, should I invite a locksmith?
Even if the leak was handled on its own, a specialist visit is necessary. A locksmith will inspect the patch applied, evaluate its reliability and, if necessary, take measures to strengthen the patch. In addition, he will name the period in which it is necessary to carry out major repairs of the pipe.
We hope that our article has helped you understand how to deal with a leak in a pipe on your own. Good luck in your work!