Pro Handyman Blog

Many times I get a call to re-connect a copper soft water plumbing loop. What happens is that the previous occupants of the house take the water conditioner with them when they move out (or are forced to move out) and don’t reconnect the piping. This leaves two pipe stubs sticking out of the wall. Before you turn the water on, you must connect these two pipes or you will have water rushing out of one of the pipes.

You can reconnect these pipes with either a long copper flex line or a length of copper pipe and some fittings. If you choose to use the pipe and fittings, you can solder these together. Here is an article on how to solder copper pipe.

If you choose the use the copper flex line, you can either buy a flex line that requires soldering, or one that has compression fittings at either end. The compression fittings will only need some wrenches to make the connections water tight.

After you have secured the loop back together, turn on the water to check for leaks. If you have a leak at a soldered fitting, you will have to re-solder the joint. If the leak is at a compression fitting, you can give the fittings a quarter-turn to see if the leak subsides.