[Western Phil]

We here in east central Illinois had copper pipe develop pin holes at about 25 years. The first time I replaced the failed piece (main supply, cold water)with copper. A few years later, the hot water system turned into a sieve and I replaced it with plastic. No leaks in any of the plastic in 10-15 years. The Army has had similar problems at least one base in the southeast. Our lab did a study & determined that the problem was inadequate cleaning of flux remaining after the solder job (on the inside of the pipe). I couldn't really tell: The symptoms were failure near a joint. My conclusion had been that it was cavitation since the solder job seemed to be lumpy on the inside. Could have been flux, but my thoughts were that the flux would be washed off for the residents' drinking enjoyment.

[smoking camels]

Your copper story is typical. The flux issue is a big one right now. The new codes are calling for water soluable fluxes. Many plumbers do not debur the cut ends of copper which will lead to erosion in the tubing near the fittings. I have seen this myself a number of times. But neither of these issues explain the pinholing you describe. FYI, I am an active member of the largest and most respected plumbing e-mail discussion group. There is a lot of fighting going on the last few days on this very issue of PEX vs. copper. We have the CDA on there as well as members of the PEX industry. They cannot explain the copper failures. Their excuses are weak.

[smoking camels]

I posted a link to this thread to the plumber's list I belong to.

[snopercod]

Apeaking of flux...and the residents' drinking enjoyment, after I finished plumbing my new house with copper and the new "water soluable" flux, it took weeks to get the flux out of the system.

I just let the water run for a while at each branch, then let it sit for a day, then repeat...

It would come out of the tap fizzy until it cleaned up.

I was wondering if there was a better way to clean it out, like a citric acid flush or something...