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I discovered a "fun" spigot leak over the weekend and wanted to check with the hivemind before repairing.
The copper feeding the outdoor spigot appears to have burst. It sprays water when the spigot is turned on.
The water feed is Pex B -> galvanized steel -> PVC (lower tee goes underground to outbuilding, right piece has two 90s to spigot) -> copper -> spigot. The Pex B is 1/2".

Is there any downside to just replacing the entire supply line with 1/2" Pex B and installing a frost-free sillcock?
It seems like this is a good chance to just get rid of the galvanized steel and simplify the water feed. Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions.

PVC feed to copper to spigot

Lower PVC tee goes to outbuilding; right PVC connector is to copper to spigot

Galvanized pipe in crawlspace

Pex B -> galvanized connection in mechanical room

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  • The age of the galvanize pipe might add to the pros of changing, since it does not last forever. The only cons should be cost and labour needed to just fixing the leak, but they should be minor. Commented 14 hours ago
  • If the copper pipe is shown where it passes through the rim joist then you ought to get a longer frost-proof hose bib. The interior length is what moves the valve into the warm(er) interior space and allows it to pick up enough heat to avoid freezing. Yours also doesn't benefit from a run of copper pipe conducting heat to the valve. PVC won't do that. FWIW, I splurged a little when I replaced two bibs and installed combination shutoff/drain valves to make maintenance easier. Less expensive than I expected. Commented 12 hours ago

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If the "burst copper" only leaks when the spigot is turned on, (which is how I read the wording of your question, and there's no obvious inside valve showing) you already have a frost-proof sillcock (the outside of which is the copper tube.)

That was evidently left full of water over the winter, rendering it "not frost-proof" as it was not drained in freezing weather (typically by leaving a hose on it) and it just needs to be replaced. The spigot and handle are outside the house, the valve stem is long, and the valve itself is inside the house.

You can make any other plumbing changes to want to make at the same time, of course - i.e. replacing the whole business with PEX up to the back of the sillcock. It makes no particular difference to the repair.

To avoid repeating this repair, always remove the hose from the spigot as soon as frost is in the forecast. If using the hose on a mild day in the fall/winter/spring, remove it as soon as you are done so the sillcock can drain. Only leave the hose connected when freezing is not in the forecast.

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  • Thanks for the clarification. There appears to be a crack in the copper, and I suspect it did freeze. On replacing the galvanized with PEX, would you be concerned about pressure at all? I figured it would be a good chance to update the line, and most frost-free sillcocks that I've looked at offer 1/2" PEX connection, which seems like a straightforward replacement. Commented 14 hours ago
  • Given that you are already feeding the galvanized from 1/2" PEX, and galvanized has a much rougher interior (when new) that's subject to corrosion (despite galvanizing) making it both smaller and yet rougher, pressure will either be unaffected or better. I prefer to use 3/4" PEX until I'm down to individual branch outlets, but if it works OK for you as is, should be no worse. Commented 14 hours ago
  • Thank you for the information! The PEX swap seems straightforward and not much more work than just replacing the sillcock. Plus, the galvanized pipe is likely 30+ years old. If I were to run PEX, would you suggest routing it the same as the existing line? I.e., keeps the two 90s for the outbuilding tee (lower) and sillcock (right)? I've cut and sweated copper (years ago), but PEX is new to me. Again, thanks for the advice. Commented 14 hours ago
  • PEX is flexible. If you are not a plumber trying to pad the bill by selling more fittings, both flow and cost are improved by using that flexibility rather than treating it as rigid pipe and using a bunch of fittings you won't need if you use the flexibility of the pipe and let it bend gently. The 90 shown in your last picture is completely pointless, IMHO. But you might want to actually support it once in a while with hangers to the joists. You can take the pipe-thread adapter now feeding the galvanized and use it to connect to the PVC to the outbuilding. Commented 14 hours ago
  • I would cut the black elbow out of the PVC and just use a coupling to put the pipe thread adaper on it pointing straight up at the PEX line to the sillcock, and put a PEX Tee there to feed it. Two extra 90's you don't need are helping exactly nothing there. Commented 13 hours ago

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