My Plumber has done a job for me: dis-connecting a bathroom radiator and fitting a Chrome Heated Towel Radiator in a different position. The original pipework is the gravity feed pipes which supply the hot water from the boiler downstairs. The advantage of this is that towels can be kept dry in summer when the central heating is switched off.
My worry is this; the fresh re-routed copper pipework is now connected with Plastic type connectors which are rather chunky. To enable me to understand this 'new' type of connector I bought an odd one from Wickes Store. Inside they have an 'O' ring and a sort of serrated metal band with teeth.
It said on the packet instructions "that they are not suitable for connection to gravity circulating heating pipes".
So could someone out there who is knowledgeable in this field plse explain 'why not' and will I have water seepage/leaking in the time ahead at some point ??
2007-02-11 21:24:01 · 8 answers · asked by greatbrickhill 3 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
If the fittings are white they will leak on a gravity feed heating system, this is because the designe of them is for the pressure to seal them, if they are grey they will be fine,i hope this information helps you .if not e-mail me back and i will see if i can explain a little better, plumber with 35 years experiance.
2007-02-12 08:54:12 · answer #1 · answered by geoffshawz 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's PVC plastic, used to pipe cold water in homes or other spaces that don't freeze. You can buy all the connector parts and angles you need at the home products store, like lowes or home depot or menards etc. The tubes will be in a separate area, get some extra footage and some extra corner and angle parts if you live a long way from the store. They are not real expensive, so in case you mess up you don't have to run back to the store. I wouldn't bother with any threaded parts, just get the stuff that has smooth surfaces and use the cement they sell to bond the plastic tubes to the joints. Get a small bottle of the purple cleaner and another of the PVC cement. Cutting the tubes is pretty easy any kind of saw can do it well enough. They do sell a tool to cut it quickly and easily, but you may not want to spend the cash. If you saw the tubes, remove the burrs with some sandpaper or a jack knife. The challenge to a design like the one in the image is getting the uniform lengths on each side. To do that, I recommend measuring out what you want, estimating the depth the tubes will go into the joints a little deeper than what a dry fit suggests. When the glue is wet it allows the pipe a little deeper into the joint than a dry fit would seem. So once your dry fit looks good, then you assemble by swabbing the outside of the portion of the pipe that will fit inside the joint, and the inside of the joint with the purple cleaner. This stuff is messy and it gives off fumes, so do it in old clothes, in an area well covered with tarps and/or plastic as the purple will seep through a cloth tarp pretty fast. Then swab the inside of the joint and the outside of the pipe with the glue and immediately shove them together and hold still. It's not hard to do this, and it works great. The challenge is that the glue sets up really fast, and you can't undo the joint once it sets. I'm talking a couple of seconds to adjust. So when you have the assembly fit together dry, mark any angles you want to keep with a pencil, one line crossing from the joint to the pipe, so you know how to align it when you are gluing it up. This is a good garage project, with the door up. Don't do it in a small room or the basement unless you can vent the room well with a nice big fan.
2016-03-29 03:14:37 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They rely on water presure to push the o rings into the sealing groove.
The instructions are correct.
The joint may well leak.
Some pushfit makes are suitable for gravity feeds but generally they are not intechangeable with different makes.
Many plumbers now use oushfit, its not necessarily a "cheap job". check with the plumber ( if you are still in contact ), maybe s/he used a type suitable for gravity systems.
If the pushfit is conencted to copper then it wouldn't be a big job to change it for soldered connection ( nice and neat and small ) or compression. I find push fit too big for any exposed application.
It is wise to ask a plumber what fittings s/he intends to use, but i guess you know that now. I do a lot of development work and my plumbers tend to use soldered copper.
I can't think of any gravity part of a system where we've used pushfit - thats in about 15 houses.
2007-02-11 22:45:47 · answer #3 · answered by Michael H 7 · 6⤊ 0⤋
This was explained to me by someone but I can't remember the full details - it has something to do with pressure in heating systems - as the pump starts you get an initial build up of pressure which can cause the joint to 'spurt' water out and in the long term fail!
All joints in gravity feed systems should be soldered joints - I am not a plumber but I think he has taken a short cut to get the job done quicker.
In fact, when I had a plumber in to re-route pipes in our bathroom - he refused point blank to even consider using these new type joints - due to failures of them he has witnessed
2007-02-11 21:33:56 · answer #4 · answered by jamand 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
This is a code violation, all these joints must be threaded or soldered, your 'plumber' took a shortcut and you did not get the job that you paid for, also, if you ever sell the house a good inspector will make you change it. If you report the plumber, he could get a stiff fine, I would talk to him, tell him you saw the fitting leak and you want it changed to a solder joint; without charge, if he refuses, call the building inspector.
2007-02-12 01:56:35 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
be for you get too worried ..speak to your plumber .ask him about his fittings .. i doubt if he bought it from wicks ..see if you can see a brand make on it ..if you can ..you can find the manufacturers and give them a ring .as a builder my plumber uses this type of fitting .and i have had no problems
2007-02-12 22:12:31 · answer #6 · answered by boy boy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
these are called sharkbites they hardly ever leak and are very reliable im a plumbers aperentice and we use them all the time
2007-02-13 03:07:09 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Call the Bldg. dept. in your area, ask them the "CODE" regs, for heating pipes, don't tell them you "did it", say You were "thinking about doing it", is the work up to the town "CODE", if not, he took a short cut.
2007-02-11 22:19:32 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋