We have heatway entran 3 tubing that was installed by the previous
owners. We are starting to find leaks in the tubing. From everything
that I have read there have not been any problems with entran 3 only
entran II. Any information out there? I would hate to have to replace
all of the tubing for the system. It seems like everytime we go to the
basement a new leak has sprung. The system is approximately 11 years
old.Vinny Wrote:
In article , Harold and Susan Vordos
wrote:
-
"Vinny" wrote in message
...-

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Regards the piping-------I know I'll sound like an idiot, but I
don't--
have a--
lot of faith in the plastic stuff. We used rubber hose, a product
made--
by--
Goodyear to Heatway's specifications for the purpose of hydronic--
heating.--
I figure it will tolerate a little misalignment, but at this
point--
that's a--
non-issue. I'm sure the plastic would have worked equally as well,
and--
it's--
one hell of a lot cheaper to buy. We paid roughly 70¢/ft. for the
3/8"
rubber hose. While we didn't pay for a trace, they make the
same--
product--
with a trace so it can be detected easily. I felt no need because
it's
placed deep enough.

Harold

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Sorry to tell you this but Goodyear made some very bad hose in the
early 1990's, there E2 series. it caused Heatway to go bankrupt,
ruined 1,000's of heating systems. I had installed a few of them and
they failed. It was a disaster for the industry (and me) . There is
now a $ 200+ million class action settlement underway. Heatway was
bought by Watts, and now makes a very good all EPDM hose called
Onix.-

Which explains why the hose that was provided was the next generation
of
hose, far different from that which was in their original catalog.
The
hose we got is Onix (matches the description in the catalog we have
now),
and it isn't plastic. Our system has been active for 5 years and
has
functioned flawlessly. Hoses that are exposed are still in great
condition.

Could you describe some of the problems the old hose yielded?
Anything in
particular I should keep watch for?

Harold

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If you have Onix (Black) Hose you are fine. Never been a problem with
it. same goes for Entran 3 (color orange) . The problem is that
goodyear did not use EPDM for the E2 (entran 2) hose but SBR which
just
can't hold up to hot water. , the bad Hose was orange. but turned dark
red as it bcame brittle. It got so brittle it would crack plus it had
no Oxygen barrier which means the Boiler would rust out from the
inside. As far as I know there are no 'problem' radiant products on
the
market now. The trace wire that was used in the early hose's did not
work out well in the real world due to rebar, wire mesh and buried
electrical wires causing false readings on the detector sets.

FYI plastic radiant tubes called 'PEX' are fantastic when it comes to
durability and ability to withstand slab cracking . As long as the
crack happens over time the PEX just expands. During the San
Franscisco
earthquake to 1990? the slab cracking happened too fast for the PEX to
expand so much of it failed but the Heatway hose's did fine. PEX is
destroyed by direct sunlight !

Hose type radiant systems are great for commercial jobs where there
are
lots of tradesman walking on the tubes. it is also kink proof which is
good for 'rookie' installers but by far its best use is staple-up
underfloor retrofit's under title, wood or carpet floors. it does not
expand and contract like PEX.


--
vladik