How to Fix a Copper Pipe Leak Without Soldering

Blog Posts, How To Repair, Plumbing /

A copper pipe can spring a leak inside your home at any time. It can also occur without any warning signs. But that does not always present an emergency plumbing situation. Most homeowners are not well versed in soldering, whichplumbing-emergency-fix may be the best method of repair. But there are other quick fixes. One way to fix a leak in copper pipe is with flair fittings. Another way is with compression fittings.

The easiest fix is one that is relatively new to the market. The application of SharkBite fittings is a way to circumvent the soldering process. It is a name brand that has introduced a unique product.

SharkBites are fittings with flexible ends. In the event that you need a coupling, these fittings have a brass insert with two brass ends on it. Inside those brass ends are stainless steel teeth, which look almost like a shark bite. Connect them together and it can be held in place with an O-ring which keeps it from leaking. The stainless steel teeth keep it from falling off. This product is not cheap but one of the advantages is that SharkBites are replaceable. Just push the ends in and open the teeth so you can pull them apart again.

Great For the DIY – Not The Professional Plumber Choice

Most professional plumbers frown upon using this type of fix, but it is an easy solution for someone looking for a do-it-yourself method. It also comes in handy in older homes where people may be tentative to solder due to the potential threat of starting a fire. Old wood has a tendency to be a lot more flammable, so caution should definitely be taken.

However, you can put the torch away. The use of SharkBites is the easiest way for someone who knows nothing about soldering to fix a leak in a copper pipe.

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6 Ways to Find a Water Leak in Your House

Blog Posts, Water Leak, York PA /

Plenty of warning signs indicate that water is leaking somewhere in your house. You may get a call from the water company telling you your bill is higher than normal. Sometimes you can hear it, when you hear water run for a minute and then shut off. But there is no water manual that comes with the purchase of a home. However, there are several ways to find a water leak in your house.

Check the water meter

You hear water running, but you are not sure where it is coming from. Go out to your water meter and do some inspecting of your own. Look at the little dial on your water meter. If it is spinning, that means water is runningwater-meter-check-for-leak through your meter and there is a leak somewhere in your house.

Check the hot water heater

Go to your hot water heater and turn off the valve. Wait a minute and then turn it back on. If you do not hear a surge, then you know there is no leak on the hot side. That means there must be a cold water leak.

Check your toilet

A cold water leak could come from either your toilet or an outside faucet. If you hear water come on for a minute and then go off, then there is a problem with your toilet. When it comes on and then shuts off, it is a sign that tank ball is leaking through and needs to be repaired or replaced. One way to check is to put a little food coloring in the top of the toilet before you go to sleep. If dye is in bowl the next morning, then you know it has leaked through.

toilet-tank-ball or flapper

Check your outside faucet

When winter rolls around, many people forget to take their hoses inside. This does not allow the antifreeze hydrant to drain and it can freeze during a very cold winter. When it freezes, the copper tubing splits and water winds up leaking in the wall or outside. It will only happen when you turn on the outside faucet and it could also flood the cellar.

Answer your phone

If with your water is leaking consistently without your knowledge, it will show up with your water company. When a large volume of water is being used, your water company will notice the difference. If that continues, the company will often phone the homeowner to divulge the issue.

Listen

If there is a water leak underground, no kind of x-ray vision will help you to see it. However, you can listen for hissing, splashing, thumping or clicking sounds. If you hear those noises, there is usually a leak. But no wave of a wand will repair it. Fixing the leak might require digging up the ground and replacing the pipes.

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Don’t Look Like A Rookie When Shopping For A New Central AC Unit

Air Conditioning Unit, Blog Posts /

What My Competitors Don’t Want You to Know

Purchasing a new central air conditioning unit is not like going to the market and picking up milk and eggs. It requires a bit of homework. The first step is going online and learning about SEER ratings. A SEER rating central-air-york-pais a way of rating the efficiency of an air conditioner. SEER stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. The higher the SEER rating, the more money you will save. It is comparable to MPG (miles per gallon) ratio in a car.

Check For Rebates On New Central Air Units

With the purchase of certain model air conditioners, there will be rebates. For example, a 16 SEER air conditioner will usually have about a $300 rebate while a 14 SEER generally includes a $200 rebate. However, there needs to be a power source capable of running the air conditioner of a certain size. For a 16 SEER air conditioner, you would need a two-stage furnace. So purchasing a higher SEER without an adequate furnace would be a waste of money.

Extended Warranties. Are They Right For You?

Whatever type of air conditioner you wind up purchasing, someone will try to sell you a warranty. Most manufacturers guarantee their air conditioning equipment for 10 years. So what salesmen actually try to sell customers is a labor warranty. However, they are not just looking out for your best interest. If you agree to a warranty, what the distributor will do is take out an insurance policy on your unit. In the event that something malfunctions, the distributor will get paid by the insurance company for coming out and fixing it.

Beware of warrantees when shopping for a central AC unit. Extended warranties are not a wise investment. Out of 100 people, usually two or three might wind up cashing in on their warranty. The percentages are stacked very high against the consumer when it comes to extended warranties.

Consider How Long You Plan To Stay In The Property

There is also the consideration of how long you plan to live in the home where the central air conditioning unit will be installed. If you are planning to be there approximately five years or less, then a 13 SEER air conditioning unit is probably your best buy. It won’t cost as much as a higher SEER unit and will serve its purpose for the short term.

If you are planning on living in a home more than five years, then it would be wise to invest in a higher SEER unit. This would provide you with a higher efficiency unit, which would prove more advantageous in the long run. Summers are getting hotter and the price of electricity continues to rise. A higher SEER will help you save on utility bills now and even more so in the future.

Is The Company Go To Be There Next Year If You Need Service?

The last thing to consider is to seek out a reputable distributor and not some pop-up business. You want to buy from someone reputable with a history in the business. If a problem arises, you want to be able to go back to a business that will stand behind its equipment. If you have any additional questions call our office at 717-755-5461 or use our central AC contact form.

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My Central Air Conditioner Smells Musty

Air Conditioning Unit, Blog Posts, How To Repair /

Air conditioning, particularly central air, can’t make you feel comfortable during warm spring and summer nights if there’s an unpleasant, musty smell coming out of your vents. dirty filterThat smell is usually caused by mildew and it means there has been moisture in the duct system or AC unit and the unit may require cleaning or air conditioner service. Once that’s done, you may still need to get rid of lingering odors and eliminate possible health hazards and allergens associated with breathing in mold and mildew. Here are a few simple steps to check to see where the problem might be starting. If these don’t work, it’s time to call in the air conditioner experts like your friends at Wilbur Henry of York, PA.

  • Check and possibly change the filter if it appears dirty or clogged.
  • IF you are able to get to it easily, unscrew the condensate drain from the coupling at the drip pan with a wrench and remove the drip pan. Give the drain and tray a good cleaning. Bleach or white vinegar are good for this.
  • Check the coils for debris and dirt.

If you have checked and cleaned these and there is still an unpleasant odor, there is likely mold/mildew somewhere in your system. Check the ducts in the basement or attic for leaks when the blower is on. If air is leaking out, it also means that moisture is leaking in and forming mold within the ducts. If the smell wasn’t present in the winter or if there are no signs of moisture in the ducts, I would rule out the ducts and focus on the A/C unit. In either of those cases, you should have the unit cleaned and possibly serviced by a professional, which is a good idea anyway.

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4 Things Homeowners Should Do To Get Their Central AC Ready For Summer

Air Conditioning Unit, Blog Posts /

As the warmer weather approaches (it’s coming, we promise!) it will be time to use your central air conditioner before you know it. Here are four simple things to check to make dirty-central-air-unit-s-charles-st-dallastown-pasure your AC unit is ready to do its best this season. A properly prepared and maintained AC unit lasts longer and saves you money.

1) If it wasn’t covered, check the inside of your AC unit. Look down through the grill to where the motor is and see if any debris is stuck down there or in the screen. With the ELECTRIC OFF to the condenser, take a garden hose and hose off the condenser fins that surround it to get any accumulated dust and debris off. For really dirty coils or fins, consider a professional cleaning and service that uses a specially formulated foaming cleanser to break down and remove the dirt. That is good to do every couple of years.

The disconnect on the condenser: flip the on/off breaker in the small gray box hanging right behind the AC unit on the outside wall to the off position OR grab the wire handle disconnect located in the box and pull it straight out towards you. After you are done hosing off the unit, flip the switch back to on or place the handle back in the box.

2) Check the furnace/air conditioner filter. Lots of people think the furnace filter is only used for heating during the winter but that’s not the case at all. It’s used for both your heat AND your air conditioning and a clogged filter makes the unit work much harder to get clean, cool air to you.

3) The first day it gets to 70 degrees, turn the unit on. Seems simple, but it’s a much better time to find out that your air conditioner has a problem early in the season and before it gets too hot. The last thing you want is to discover an issue on a 90-degree scorcher! Make sure the condensate tube is open (you should be able to see water running through it). The Condensate tube is a little tube about 3/4 of an inch that comes out of the A-coil at the top of the furnace and either goes into a drain or a pump. It’s a good practice to make sure water is running when your air conditioner is running. If it doesn’t come out of that tube it’s going to overflow and spill on top of the furnace where it could short out a circuit board.

4) Simplest of all, hold your hand over air vents throughout the house just to make sure cold air is coming out in all the rooms.

If your air conditioner hasn’t been professionally checked in last 5 years consider having an expert, like the trained staff at Wilbur Henry, come and put gauges on it to make sure the unit is working at 100%. Summers are getting so hot now that having gauges put on the air conditioner is a worthy investment. If the charge is low the air conditioning unit will just run and run and run and there goes your electric bill!

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My Central Air Conditioner Won’t Turn On!

Air Conditioning Unit, Blog Posts /

As it starts to get warmer and you turn on your air conditioner for the first time this season, what do you do if it doesn’t turn on? Follow these four east troubleshooting steps to central-air-power-boxpossibly save an unnecessary service call for central air repair.

Step 1) Make a trip down into the basement and check your electrical panel. If the breaker is tripped the switch will be halfway between on and off and the window on the breaker will show red. Turn the switch to the off position and then back to the on position. If it trips again it means there is a dead short somewhere and you need to call for service. If the switch is in the on position but your air conditioner still isn’t working, head back upstairs.

Step 2) Make sure your thermostat is set on cool mode and that the temperature is set lower than the house temperature by at least two degrees. Still not working? Head out to the yard.

Step 3) If the air conditioning unit is blowing inside but not running outside, head outside to the condenser and check the disconnect box on the condenser. Some condensers have an on/off switch and some just have a kill switch to shut everything down totally for maintenance purposes. Turn the switch off and wait for a minute then turn it back on again.

Step 4) If after all that, your air conditioner still isn’t working, visually look at the cord coming out of the condenser. It should be a small brown cord with only two wires in it. See if the cord is broken or even chewed through by small critters. If the cord appears undamaged, it’s time to call for AC service. Wilbur Henry is happy to be there if you need us to stay cool this summer. Just contact us!

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How Do I Know If My Furnace Is Sized Correctly For My House?

Blog Posts, Furnace and Heat Systems, Question and Answer /

As long as you set the furnace and it maintains the heat and air conditioning/cooling AND it runs 10-15 minutes before turning off, odds are it’s sized correctly for your house. If new furnaceyour furnace is short-cycling (running only for 4-8 minutes then turning off, possibly with the fan still running) you are facing one of two problems; a dirty air filter or an incorrectly sized furnace. In general, for a 12-1400 square foot home, a 60-80,000 btu furnace would be required but it’s important to have a furnace installation technician that you trust to make sure you have the right specs when buying a new furnace. One of the worst things you can do, especially with newer high-efficiency furnaces, is to have too large of a furnace. High-efficiency furnaces are specifically designed to run longer and the wrong-sized furnace will end up short-cycling and causing you some possibly very expensive problems over the long term.

Your furnace short-cycling is a bad thing for a couple of reasons:

  • A short cycle doesn’t give the furnace enough time to move the heat through the entire house. Your heat will be uneven and the peripheral parts of the home will never get fully heated.
  • The reason why the furnace turns off so quickly is because of a safety feature built into the furnace called the “high limit switch”. The furnace’s heat exchanger is getting so hot that the high-limit switch is shutting the furnace off. Over time this can burn out the high limit switch and eventually cause the now unguarded heat exchanger to crack. This requires expensive repair and even replacement of your furnace.

If you aren’t sure whether or not you have the right-sized furnace for your home, call the friendly experts at Wilbur Henry. We would be happy to answer your questions and inspect your home’s furnace to make sure you and your family stay safe and comfortable this season.

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Should I Leave the Fan Running On My Furnace or Air Conditioner All the Time?

Air Conditioning Unit, Blog Posts, Furnace and Heat Systems /

Well, that depends on what special factors you may have in your home.duct- fan

PROS – Leaving Furnace/Central Air Fan Run 24/7

  • Leaving that fan on 24/7 is great for cleansing allergens from the air and can help people with allergies
  • Keeping the fan running can circulate the air if you have cold or hot spots, like a bedroom above a garage that may be colder in the winter.
  • A constantly running fan will help equalize the temperature and air quality in the home

CONS??- Leaving Furnace/Central Air Fan Run 24/7

  • Leaving the fan on constantly uses extra energy, which isn’t as good for the environment OR your utility bill
  • A constantly running fan will can burn out the motor in a central air unit or furnace must faster than if the fan is left on auto

What we’re finding in the last couple of years are that newer furnaces are smaller but they move more CFMs (cubic feet per minute of forced air) than older furnaces. That means the motor in these furnaces works harder to move the higher volume of air through them. This is especially true if you are using an allergen filter, which is thicker and heavier and works the motor twice as hard to move air through it. This can lead to the motor burning out quicker if the fan is running constantly.

Another issue to watch for, if your filter is too tight, that also increases the amount of heat over the heat exchanger which brings it to its “high limit” because not enough cool air is able to move over the heat exchanger to cool it down. If your fan is running constantly, the heat exchanger never gets a chance to cool down either which can cause serious issues.

To be safe – unless you have a specific reason to keep the fan running constantly, just place your central air or furnace fan setting on auto. That will more than do the job, plus you’ll save on energy, utility bills and hopefully furnace/central air repair or replacement, and who doesn’t want that? Still not sure which is the best choice for you? Contact us at Wilbur Henry personally. We’re always happy to answer any questions.

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Why Does My Shower Head Keep Dripping?

Blog Posts, Plumbing, Question and Answer /

The big question to ask here is HOW LONG is your faucet dripping? A leaking shower head may not actually be a problem with your plumbing.leaking shower head

The head of a shower is lower than the arm which extends from the shower wall. It’s the same as with a faucet, where the head of the faucet hangs below the handles. The water that has been coming out of the faucet or the shower head has a source above it. When you turn off the water, there is still some in the pipes that is going to want to come down. A ‘normal’ amount of time for a faucet or shower head to drip after it has been turned off is 3-5 minutes. If the water stops dripping within that time, don’t worry about it.

Now if your shower head is still dripping after 5 minutes, your shower head may need new washers. Additionally, if the water pressure is causing leaking through at the handles BEFORE the water comes up the shower and out at the shower head, then there may be a more serious plumbing issue. In that case, your expert resource for plumbing, heating, and air conditioning in York, Pennsylvania, Wilbur Henry, will be happy to help!

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Save A Service Call? How to Avoid Grease & Build-Up Clogging Your Drain

Blog Posts, Plumbing, Question and Answer /
  • Clean/scrape your plates properly before washing them or putting them in the dishwasher. Get all the grease and by-products off your plate so it doesn’t go down the drain.
  • Flush your drain regularly by letting your hot water run for several minutes and pour some vinegar down the drain or pour a pot of boiled water with vinegar in it down the sink once a month.
  • When using a garbage disposal, make sure you let it run long enough to get the grease and chopped-up food pushed through the sink line.Running- Water- in- Kitchen- Sink

How grease creates clogs in the first place; as the grease heats up, either from cooking or from the hot water of washing dishes, it goes down your drain in liquid form. It’s a long way along that drain pipe though, and as the grease travels it starts to cool and solidifies. As it solidifies, it turns into the gooey mess that sticks to pipe walls and clogs your drain.

The Secret Is To Run A Lot Of Hot Water

The secret is to run a lot of hot water when doing dishes and periodically take some white vinegar and pour it down the sink with the water. The vinegar helps cut through the grease and flush it through and makes your sink smell better. Do this about once a month.

Thoroughly Run Your Garbage Disposal

Also, if you use a garbage disposal, most people don’t flush it long enough afterwards to get the grease and chopped up food pushed through the sink line. Let your disposal run for a moment as hot water runs through it after you are done using it. Flush with hot water, I just can?t say this enough. Proper maintenance of your drain and you won’t have to use harsh chemicals like Drain-o or have to call a plumber over a clogged sink. For other questions and tips, check out or contact Wilbur Henry, your one-stop shop for plumbing help!

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We want your experience with Wilbur Henry Plumbing, Heating, & A/C to be outstanding. From the time you call us until our technician leaves your house, we want your experience with our company to leave you with a smile on your face.