Bob White Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 I'm scratching my head.... Can anyone tell me why the cold water piping in this house is blackened? The hot water piping remains copper colored.... Image Insert: 62.12 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicago Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 Yes that is just oxidation. The cold may have more of a tendency to dis-color due to the fact its temperature will attract more condensation. Think of all the times you have gone into a basement and seen how it drips down on certain days.It is normally the cold pipes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottpat Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 Back in the dark shadows of my brain, I seem to recall that this could also be a sign of electrical current flowing through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicago Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 Never heard that one,but Bob there is only room for one of us with that name,so could you go back and touch that pipe while standing in water then get back to us in the name of science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonOfSwamp Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Originally posted by Scottpat Back in the dark shadows of my brain, I seem to recall that this could also be a sign of electrical current flowing through it. Folklore. WJid="blue"> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob White Posted June 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Originally posted by chicago Never heard that one,but Bob there is only room for one of us with that name,so could you go back and touch that pipe while standing in water then get back to us in the name of science. That was a 1962 Fannie Mae house i did today for a couple of brand new "investors" --- I'm out of it now, an' I ain't going back in. 1200 square feet (in the Adamsville part of town, for youse who knows Hotlanta), and I coulda written something about every foot, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottpat Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Originally posted by SonOfSwamp Originally posted by Scottpat Back in the dark shadows of my brain, I seem to recall that this could also be a sign of electrical current flowing through it. Folklore. WJid="blue"> Hey, don't I get some credit for at least thinking about it?? [] I don't think that the oxidation is from condensation. If it was condensation I would expect to see a splotchy pattern. Best thing you can say is "I do not know why it is that way", anything else is most like a WAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicago Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Hey don't pull me down with you on that one buddy.What I said is true.And might I also add without need to bring up old TV series from the sixties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonOfSwamp Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Originally posted by Scottpat Originally posted by SonOfSwamp Originally posted by Scottpat Back in the dark shadows of my brain, I seem to recall that this could also be a sign of electrical current flowing through it. Folklore. WJid="blue"> Hey, don't I get some credit for at least thinking about it?? [] I don't think that the oxidation is from condensation. If it was condensation I would expect to see a splotchy pattern. Best thing you can say is "I do not know why it is that way", anything else is most like a WAG. Best I can recall, the whole "stray currents" thing came from an eccentric Florida sparky who wrote a long -- and to my mind nonsensical -- treatise about magical electricity and copper piping coming together to make color changes. It was all very X-Files. Later, the subject was debated (online) by all manner of fancy engineers and geniuses. The consensus, as I recall, was that discolored copper happens all the time, without electricity. Consider every old penny you ever pulled out of your pocket. WJid="blue"> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicago Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 As an artist I learned how to dis-color copper overnight,as it is a chemical process. Try this if you want to turn copper that mint green color without the 10-20 year wait. Miracle Grow with just enough water to make it a past then apply or brush it on with a thinner solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Originally posted by Bob White I'm scratching my head.... Can anyone tell me why the cold water piping in this house is blackened? The hot water piping remains copper colored.... Fact: Something in the air reacted with the cooper to cause it to blacken. My Opinion: The cold-water pipes turned black faster because their surface temperature was low and allowed "something" to condense on them. The discoloration may have started as a splotchy pattern, then progressed to complete coverage over time. Query: Was this a crawlspace? Had there been a broken waste line down there in the past? Unsubstantiated Bullshit: Stray electrical currents, improper grounding or pixies caused it. - Jim Katen, Oregon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Hi, It looks like it might be over a crawl, which has me wondering if the chemical composition of soils down there allows the ground to off-gas hydrogen-sulfide in small quanties. Of course, if it had been hydrogen-sulfide, why didn't it discolor the other pipes? Perhaps for the same reasons already stated, that the gas only condensed on surfaces cold enough to bring it down to dewpoint. OT - OF!!! M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicago Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Would it kill someone to say I agree.lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonOfSwamp Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Originally posted by chicago Would it kill someone to say I agree.lol Not, but it might cause a bellyache. In my humble experience, as soon as the talk about the discolored pipes simmers down, somebody will start up about discolored copper wires in the panel(s) and the conversation will turn X-filish. WJid="blue"> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicago Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Uh oh...That can be caused by electricity,there goes a can of worms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottpat Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Now dang it, the colander I wear on my head is missing a few pieces of foil. I think my wife baked a cake the other day and needed some extra foil! Now I have to go and fetch some aluminum foil at the store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob White Posted June 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Originally posted by Jim Katen Fact: Something in the air reacted with the cooper to cause it to blacken. My Opinion: The cold-water pipes turned black faster because their surface temperature was low and allowed "something" to condense on them. The discoloration may have started as a splotchy pattern, then progressed to complete coverage over time. Query: Was this a crawlspace? Had there been a broken waste line down there in the past? This was an unfinished basement, but it had been humid under there. The driveway led down from the street to the basement garage door, and drainage from the yard also was directed to this drain just in front of the drive-under garage door: Image Insert: 130.97 KB The flue cap was missing (I don't know how long) and the flue was rusted through. The subfloor around the flue was rotted but not wet yesterday (but it hasn't rained much here of late) 70% of the plank subfloor under the half bath was missing (It rotted away over years of neglect) .... There was active leaking (toilet seal, among other things) in the full bath, and the subfloor measured greater than 20% with my Extech over about 100 sq. ft. of subfloor under and around the bathroom area. There's prolly a lot of raw sewage embedded in these subfloors --- might be what's holding up the bathrooms... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian G Posted June 16, 2007 Report Share Posted June 16, 2007 I think the cold water line was manufactured by Red Snapper Pipe of New Orleans. That's why it blackened.... [:-jester] Brian G. Looking Forward to IW This Year [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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