Can I cut out a leak, in the middle of a stainless braided water line, and splice it back, under the kitchen sink?

Question

How can I cut a leak out of the middle of a stainless, braided water line and splice back together under my kitchen sink?

Answer 1

Unless you have a considerable array of specialized hose-crimping equipment -

No, they are disposable, not repairable.

Answer 2

Totally agree with other answers. Replace the leaking jacketed flexible faucet supply line. These things are not that expensive. A typical 12 inch or 16 inch Braided Stainless Steel Flexible Faucet Supply Line at Lowes has a price less than $10 (not much more than you may pay for a large size fancy coffee at the coffee shop).

Another thing to consider is that the original connection lines for HOT and COLD were probably installed at the same time. It would be wise to replace both with new seeing as one has failed the other may be near to that condition as well.

Answer 3

You probably could do that and have it last for a few minutes. By the time you found the proper size rubber connector and hose clamps, you'd have spent more than buying a new supply line. And that doesn't include trying to repair the stainless steel brading. don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Buy a new one.

Answer 4

That isn't a stainless steel water line.

That is a rubber/plastic water line with a stainless steel jacket, as you have figured out. The stainless' job is to a) look good, and b) protect from a limited degree of physical, radiant and chemical damage.

But at the end of the day it's still a rubber/plastic line and will age as such.

The stainless outer wrap gets in the way of any economical repair.

Answer 5

To do this, you have to ascertain exactly where the pipe has a leak, cut it there, cut the braid both sides, giving room for two clamps, insert a solid walled tube that was a good internal fit, tighten up said clamps, only to find that all the manipulation has caused another leak further along the pipe.

In that time, you could have bought and fitted a new pipe. Which would then last as long again as the leaking one. So why bother??

Answer 6

The faucets that come with fitted supply lines are not necessarily "permanently attached". The makers put them in there somehow. I have changed these in two different designs in the past few months.

Case 1: The flexies are a hand-tight screw thread (with two O-rings each), and the braided cover is strong enough to tighten and loosen them.

You can even do this behind a deep sink, although fishing for the thread can be frustrating. I found they came in 8mm, 10mm, 12mm threads, and buying the right one can be difficult. My supplier was helpful enough to try them all.

Case 2: The flexies are retained in the faucet by a slotted W plate and sealed by O-rings. So if you try to unscrew these, they will turn either way, but not loosen.

The whole internal assembly can be taken out from the top, by taking off any handle and decorative cover, then finding a brass screwed ring or similar. With that removed, the entire works can be pushed up using the flexies. Watch the alignment of all the parts as they come out, and lay them out in the exact order for reassembly (which took me three shots anyway).

The final block to come out has a slotted plate screwed on from underneath, which retains the flexies into the block. In this case, the new flexies might only be available from the makers.

Incidentally, the main purpose of the braided cover is mechanical support for the plastic inner pipe. Hot water under pressure in narrow plastic pipe is kinda stretchy.