If outside glass pipes do freeze, you should apply heat to slowly thaw the pipes and allow the water to flow. Open the faucet so that water will flow through the pipe once the area is melted. Keep all sources of heat away from flammable materials and do not use any open flame devices. Also, do not use devices that will cause the melted ice to boil, as that can also cause pipes to break. Close the inside valves, or bibs, that control the water supply to outside hose attachment.
Copper tubing is joined using flare connection, compression connection, or solder. Copper offers a high level of resistance to corrosion, but is becoming very costly. Fittings are also used to split or join a number of pipes together, and for other purposes.
When the alloys for piping are forged, metallurgical tests are performed to determine material composition by % of each chemical element in the piping, and the results are recorded in a Material Test Report . These tests can be used to prove that the alloy conforms to various specifications (e.g. 316 SS). The tests are stamped by the mill’s QA/QC department and can be used to trace the material back to the mill by future users, such as piping and fitting manufacturers. Maintaining the traceability between the alloy material and associated MTR is an important quality assurance issue. Precautions must also be taken to prevent the introduction of counterfeit materials.
Depending on the applicable standard to which it is manufactured, pipe is generally specified by a nominal diameter with a constant outside diameter and a schedule that defines the thickness. Tube is most often specified by the OD and wall thickness, but may be specified by any two of OD, inside diameter , and wall thickness. Pipe is water pipes generally manufactured to one of several international and national industrial standards. While similar standards exist for specific industry application tubing, tube is often made to custom sizes and a broader range of diameters and tolerances. Many industrial and government standards exist for the production of pipe and tubing.
The most common plumbing you’ll find inside a home are PVC, PEX, ABS, copper, or galvanized steel pipe. It is joined using a sweat, compression or crimped/pressed connection. Rigid copper, rigid due to the work hardening of the drawing process, cannot be bent and must use elbow fittings to go around corners or around obstacles. If heated and allowed to slowly cool, called annealing, then rigid copper will become soft and can be bent/formed without cracking.