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 6.1.2 Interior and Exterior Piping,
Insulation
Repair or replace any loose or missing pipe insulation. Exterior runs must be
covered with adequate insulation and a weatherproof jacket. This includes the short
pipes between collector headers, and the unused (and capped) headers.
Elastomeric insulations (such as ArmaflexTM or RubatexTM) do not require jackets,
but repaint or cover them to protect them from the sun's UV radiation.
Fiber glass and rigid foam insulation must be jacketed. Section 2.7.8 has more
information on pipe insulation and jacketing materials.
Interior piping must also be insulated, but jacketing or painting is only required for
appearance, color coding, or protection from inhabitants.
Use materials and techniques similar to those used originally to repair piping
insulation. Do not use duct or electrical tape to hold the insulation together. This
method will fail in a few months, making the system look and perform worse than
ever.
Hangers
Replace missing hangers, and tighten loose ones. Be sure galvanized hangers are
not in direct contact with copper tubing. (The galvanic corrosion resulting from this
will "eat" the solder out of the joints.) Provide adequate cradles for the pipe
insulation to keep it from being crushed.
Leaks
Leaking soldered joints must be repaired with a high-temperature solder- not 50/50
(Tin/Lead)! 95/5 (Tin/Antimony) can be used on all copper-to-copper joints. Joints
involving bronze should be repaired with 96/4 (Tin/Silver) solder. The use of 50/50
will result in joint failure within a few months, and is a violation of plumbing code.
MAINTENANCE
6.1 MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES
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