What replacement material should I use for a corroded pipe nipple?
Corroded galvanized pipe sections and completely seized threaded flanges connected to copper or brass elbows leave zero room to work in tight wall spaces. This makes it difficult to remove the damaged parts and determine the proper replacement material to stop leaks.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Replacing the corroded sections with brass or stainless steel nipples
- 2Installing dielectric unions
- 3Reconstructing the drain cleanly with PVC
- 4Opening the wall on the other side to take out the elbow
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“What is the proper material for the nipple going into the cast copper elbow? It looks like galvanized pipe.”source ↗
“There is a lot of corrosion and leaky valve (which needs to be replaced anyways) so I figured I would replace the galvanized section but unsure what the proper material is.”source ↗
“the P-trap and wall tube under the sink were corroded all to hell so they had to be replaced.”source ↗
“It looks like what was there before was a 1-1/4" chrome wall pipe with a 1-1/2" NPT threaded flange that was screwed (and completely seized now) into the cast iron or brass elbow inside the wall.”source ↗
“I have zero room between elbow and wall unfortunately... :-(”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5Where to cut a cramped water heater cold line?
- 10How to find replacement parts for a rusted water heater vent pipe
- 3Can you replace a broken plastic sink hose connector?
- 39How to fix a leaky plumbing valve that doesn't fit a new faucet
- 6How to repair a corroded outdoor hose bib stem
- 3How to deal with failing and rusted galvanized pipes