On 29/06/2016 2:41 PM, T i m wrote:
On Wed, 29 Jun 2016 14:04:53 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

snip

If there's one thing soldered joints don't like it's getting frozen with
water in the pipes. They 'pop' And once they have moved a little, you've
lost that perfect seal and of course strength.

Or compression joints for that matter.

When I was rebuilding this place I had a standpipe in the kitchen with
a compression / bib tap.

I came round one day to carry on working and found the tap on the
floor and a rod of ice sticking out of the remaining pipework!

'Luckily' it was still frozen when I found it or the kitchen floor
(dug out at the time) would have been an ice rink. ;-)

Cheers, T i m


A similar thing; while moving a large fridge freezer in a training
centre, which is a large fabricated metal warehouse structure, I caught
the copper 90 degree bend(presoldered) of the hot water system. The
immersion and header was 15ft above.

It was the slightest of movements, not aggressive at all and, it
brought the bend off. After turning the valve off, I inspected the bend
and noticed there was no sign of solder on the pipe. I pulled on the
bend and it slid off the other section just as easy.

I was surprised as there was no leak over the 4 years of heavy use by
trainees and staff. This is an open area and polished floor. Any water
drips would have showed. As it was it was just this one bend but having
a 15ft header, was surprised it stayed secure.