In my basement I have a length of 3/4 copper hot water heat pipe that
is dead in the way of a new dryer vent hard tube path. When I traced
both ends of the 3/4" pipe it appears that the circuit simply makes
about a 4' U from one baseboard radiator to another. Why the
installer did this I'm sure he doesn't even know. But somehow I've
got to reroute it or better yet go from one radiator to the other in a
rather straight line.

The pipes come through the floor and immediate have elbows. I'd like
to use 3/4 sharkbite elbows but because the new line needs to run
under the joists I was wondering if anyone is aware of any 3/4 braided
ss hose that I can connect between one elbow and the other. That
would make a direct 4' connection from one under the joists to the
other.

I want to NOT have to solder as I have lots of pvc and wood in that
area. So, any suggestions as to how I can accomplish this, what ever
way, would be greatly apprecated.

Thanks

On Monday, July 15, 2013 3:34:51 PM UTC-7, BobMCT wrote:
In my basement I have a length of 3/4 copper hot water heat pipe that

is dead in the way of a new dryer vent hard tube path. When I traced

both ends of the 3/4" pipe it appears that the circuit simply makes

about a 4' U from one baseboard radiator to another. Why the

installer did this I'm sure he doesn't even know. But somehow I've

got to reroute it or better yet go from one radiator to the other in a

rather straight line.



The pipes come through the floor and immediate have elbows. I'd like

to use 3/4 sharkbite elbows but because the new line needs to run

under the joists I was wondering if anyone is aware of any 3/4 braided

ss hose that I can connect between one elbow and the other. That

would make a direct 4' connection from one under the joists to the

other.



I want to NOT have to solder as I have lots of pvc and wood in that

area. So, any suggestions as to how I can accomplish this, what ever

way, would be greatly apprecated.



Thanks

The u turn may be to mitigate the effects of expansion and contraction.

Check to see if that 4 foot wide "U" goes across a doorway or hallway on the floor plan directly above that "U".

You can use 3/4 inch sharkbite fittings for this, but I've never heard of a flexible supply hose being allowed to stand in for a pipe in a hot water heating system.

Now, if this is a house with only one thermostat, then you almost certainly have gate valves on all but the longest radiator loop. These gate valves are called "balancing valves", and their function is to pinch off the flow through the shortest straightest radiator loops to force more water through the longer and more tortuous radiator loops, thereby promoting uniform heating of the house.

If you put another coupla bends in that radiator loop, it's going to offer more resistance to water flow through it, and so you'll have to rebalance the flow of heating water through all of the radiator loops. This would involve closing the balancing valves just a bit on the shorter straighter loops to force more water through the loop that you added the elbows to.

On Tue, 16 Jul 2013 07:10:55 +0200, nestork
wrote:


Check to see if that 4 foot wide "U" goes across a doorway or hallway on
the floor plan directly above that "U".

You can use 3/4 inch sharkbite fittings for this, but I've never heard
of a flexible supply hose being allowed to stand in for a pipe in a hot
water heating system.


Never saw flex either.
You can use Sharkbite fittings and put in a section of PEX too. I did
that in a problem area on my system.

On Tuesday, July 16, 2013 5:54:26 AM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Tue, 16 Jul 2013 07:10:55 +0200, nestork

wrote:





Check to see if that 4 foot wide "U" goes across a doorway or hallway on

the floor plan directly above that "U".



You can use 3/4 inch sharkbite fittings for this, but I've never heard

of a flexible supply hose being allowed to stand in for a pipe in a hot

water heating system.





Never saw flex either.

You can use Sharkbite fittings and put in a section of PEX too. I did

that in a problem area on my system.

I don't see what the problem is with PVC and wood nearby
preventing soldering. You cover it up with some wet rags.

I agree. I've soldered in some pretty tight spaces too, but when the OP says:

"I want to NOT have to solder as I have lots of pvc and wood in that
area."

Then he can see his situation better than we can, and so it's prudent to leave soldering off the table.

On Monday, July 15, 2013 11:43:46 PM UTC-4, wrote:

The u turn may be to mitigate the effects of expansion and contraction.

This.

That type of expansion joint is pretty standard on steam systems and sometimes on hot water.

On Tue, 16 Jul 2013 04:39:23 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:




I don't see what the problem is with PVC and wood nearby
preventing soldering. You cover it up with some wet rags.

Depends on your skill level. Experienced people can get very close to
flammables with no problem. I think he as more concerned about the
looping though.

On Tue, 16 Jul 2013 05:54:26 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Tue, 16 Jul 2013 07:10:55 +0200, nestork
wrote:


Check to see if that 4 foot wide "U" goes across a doorway or hallway on
the floor plan directly above that "U".

You can use 3/4 inch sharkbite fittings for this, but I've never heard
of a flexible supply hose being allowed to stand in for a pipe in a hot
water heating system.


Never saw flex either.
You can use Sharkbite fittings and put in a section of PEX too. I did
that in a problem area on my system.


Hi Ed,

So if I hear you correctly Pex can be used for hot water heating feed
pipes? If so then I can create a loop of Pex but avoid the area that
is causing issues now. That being the case, tomorrow will be Pex
purchase day.

BTW - the pipe to be moved is the upper of four layers of copper and
pvc pipe so for me even cutting the copper out is going to be
difficult.

Thanks all

On Wed, 17 Jul 2013 00:18:06 -0400, BobMCT
wrote:



You can use Sharkbite fittings and put in a section of PEX too. I did
that in a problem area on my system.


Hi Ed,

So if I hear you correctly Pex can be used for hot water heating feed
pipes? If so then I can create a loop of Pex but avoid the area that
is causing issues now. That being the case, tomorrow will be Pex
purchase day.

BTW - the pipe to be moved is the upper of four layers of copper and
pvc pipe so for me even cutting the copper out is going to be
difficult.

Thanks all


Yes, 3/4" pex will do the job. I have a section of pex replacing a
problem copper line I had originally. Sharkbite fillings are simple
to use and hold on both the copper and the pex.

Pex is used in a lot of radiant heat applications. When we renovated
our offices, the heating contractor used about 100' of pex for the
baseboard heat connections.

BobMCT wrote:
On Tue, 16 Jul 2013 05:54:26 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
You can use Sharkbite fittings and put in a section of PEX too. I
did that in a problem area on my system.

So if I hear you correctly Pex can be used for hot water heating feed
pipes? If so then I can create a loop of Pex but avoid the area that
is causing issues now. That being the case, tomorrow will be Pex
purchase day.

BTW - the pipe to be moved is the upper of four layers of copper and
pvc pipe so for me even cutting the copper out is going to be
difficult.

I think there is a special type of PEX that is supposed to be used for
heating systems. It is called "oxygen barrier PEX" -- there are different
types. The difference between oxygen barrier PEX and regular PEX is that
the oxygen barrier PEX has a special barrier to keep oxygen from being able
to diffuse into the system. When oxygen gets into a closed heating system,
it can cause corrosion.

I don't know if it will really matter when all you are doing is putting in a
4 foot section of PEX. And, I don't know if they sell short lengths of
oxygen barrier PEX like they do regular PEX.

Plus, this is just based on what I have read since I don't have any direct
experience with this. Maybe others here will know for sure if what you
should be using is oxygen barrier PEX.