My new water softener came with basically washing machine style hoses which
will be useless for my high flow system.

Now, how would I connect fixed pipework to the fixings? The outlet/inlet is
a plastic 3/4" male thread. Should I be using a 3/4" tap connector, 3/4"
female iron and PTFE or something else?

Christian.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Christian McArdle wrote:

My new water softener came with basically washing machine style hoses
which will be useless for my high flow system.

Now, how would I connect fixed pipework to the fixings? The
outlet/inlet is a plastic 3/4" male thread. Should I be using a 3/4"
tap connector, 3/4" female iron and PTFE or something else?

Christian.

A tap connector should be fine. The threads will be parallel, and will need
a washer to seal - as opposed to sealing on tapered threads. You may need to
dress the ends of the plastic fittings to ensure there are no burrs and/or
use rubber washers rather than the usual fibre washers normally used with
tap connectors.

If you need a degree of flexibility, you could use something like BES item:
13753 [Go to http://www.bes.ltd.uk/ and then navigate to it - direct URLs
don't seem possible on the BES site!] This is a braided hose with a 3/4" BSP
tap connector one end, a 19mm bore, and a 22mm compression fitting at the
other end. [I've got some of these on my bath taps - but make sure you order
the washers separately - they don't come automatically!]
--
Cheers,
Set Square
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On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 12:19:17 -0000, "Christian McArdle"
wrote:

My new water softener came with basically washing machine style hoses which
will be useless for my high flow system.

Now, how would I connect fixed pipework to the fixings? The outlet/inlet is
a plastic 3/4" male thread. Should I be using a 3/4" tap connector, 3/4"
female iron and PTFE or something else?

I recon some of those braided hoses would work fine.

sponix

Now, how would I connect fixed pipework to the fixings? The outlet/inlet
is a plastic 3/4" male thread. Should I be using a 3/4" tap connector,
3/4" female iron and PTFE or something else?

I recon some of those braided hoses would work fine.

I need full bore, though, really. The entire house, hot and cold is mains
pressure. I'd prefer to do the pipework in flowed 22mm pipe.

Christian.

A tap connector should be fine. The threads will be parallel, and will
need
a washer to seal - as opposed to sealing on tapered threads.

Tap connector it is, then!

If you need a degree of flexibility, you could use something like BES
item:
13753 [Go to http://www.bes.ltd.uk/ and then navigate to it - direct URLs
don't seem possible on the BES site!] This is a braided hose with a 3/4"
BSP
tap connector one end, a 19mm bore, and a 22mm compression fitting at the
other end. [I've got some of these on my bath taps - but make sure you
order
the washers separately - they don't come automatically!]

19mm isn't a bad bore, but I think I'll stick with the full 22mm. I want
every last litre per minute out of it. Whilst my pressure is reasonable, it
isn't brilliant, as I'm on top of a hill. The softener itself is going to
lose me over 1 bar.

Christian.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Christian McArdle wrote:

A tap connector should be fine. The threads will be parallel, and
will need a washer to seal - as opposed to sealing on tapered
threads.

Tap connector it is, then!

Another thought: Tap connectors usually have a shoulder or spigot on which
the washer sits, and which is intended to go inside the tap tail. I have
somethines found with plastic fittings - particularly on toilet cisterns -
that the spigot *won't* go into the fitting, and needs to be filed back to
less than the thickness of the washer in order to get a seal.
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

Another thought: Tap connectors usually have a shoulder or spigot on which
the washer sits, and which is intended to go inside the tap tail. I have
somethines found with plastic fittings - particularly on toilet cisterns -
that the spigot *won't* go into the fitting, and needs to be filed back to
less than the thickness of the washer in order to get a seal.

Yes. Presumably the plastic pipe is too thick. Shall I just go for a 3/4"
iron and seal it? One of the main disadvantages of the tap connector is the
much reduced bore through the middle, so a standard iron fitting should
allow more flow.

Obviously with non-tapered threads, you just need to know when to stop, but
it should seal fine against plastic with PTFE shouldn't it?

Christian.

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 12:56:16 -0000, "Christian McArdle"
wrote:

Now, how would I connect fixed pipework to the fixings? The outlet/inlet
is a plastic 3/4" male thread. Should I be using a 3/4" tap connector,
3/4" female iron and PTFE or something else?

I recon some of those braided hoses would work fine.

I need full bore, though, really. The entire house, hot and cold is mains
pressure. I'd prefer to do the pipework in flowed 22mm pipe.

I'm thinking something like screwfix item 52117.

I used something similar to connect up my bath taps and have had no
problems.

Ther are available withvarious fittings on the end from B&Q, plumbers
merchants etc.

sponix

I need full bore, though, really. The entire house, hot and cold is mains
pressure. I'd prefer to do the pipework in flowed 22mm pipe.

I'm thinking something like screwfix item 52117.

Nah. I'm running the entire house's water supply through it. Screwfix 52117
wouldn't have remotely enough flow rate through it. The 19mm bore one
someone else suggested is actually quite tempting given that it is
presumably inside diameter and so is really not far off that of 22mm copper.
However, a smooth bored flowed bend 22mm copper setup seems more reliable to
my mind.

Christian.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Christian McArdle wrote:

Another thought: Tap connectors usually have a shoulder or spigot on
which the washer sits, and which is intended to go inside the tap
tail. I have somethines found with plastic fittings - particularly
on toilet cisterns - that the spigot *won't* go into the fitting,
and needs to be filed back to less than the thickness of the washer
in order to get a seal.

Yes. Presumably the plastic pipe is too thick. Shall I just go for a
3/4" iron and seal it? One of the main disadvantages of the tap
connector is the much reduced bore through the middle, so a standard
iron fitting should allow more flow.

Obviously with non-tapered threads, you just need to know when to
stop, but it should seal fine against plastic with PTFE shouldn't it?

Christian.

You could use one of these: http://tinyurl.com/e284n

PTFE tape isn't really any good on parallel threads - you need to seal on a
*face*. In this case, a rubber washer of suitable thickness would be best.
It may need to be quite fat if the FI fitting has got a lot more thread than
your plastic softener.
--
Cheers,
Set Square
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On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 12:58:29 -0000, "Christian McArdle"
wrote:


19mm isn't a bad bore, but I think I'll stick with the full 22mm. I want
every last litre per minute out of it. Whilst my pressure is reasonable, it
isn't brilliant, as I'm on top of a hill. The softener itself is going to
lose me over 1 bar.

Christian.

Using:

http://www.efunda.com/formulae/fluids/calc_pipe_friction.cfm#calc

30cm of 19mm pipe at 30 lpm gives 0.00577 bar pressure drop
30cm of 22mm pipe at 30 lpm gives 0.00285 bar pressure drop

So there's about 0.00292 bar or 0.042psi in it.

So a good case for using 22mm pipe over long runs but a short run of
19mm shouldn't hurt.

I'd expect the flexis from BES aren't shouldered.

cheers,
Pete.

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 16:04:01 -0000, Christian McArdle wrote:

Nah. I'm running the entire house's water supply through it. Screwfix 52117
wouldn't have remotely enough flow rate through it. The 19mm bore one
someone else suggested is actually quite tempting given that it is
presumably inside diameter and so is really not far off that of 22mm copper.
However, a smooth bored flowed bend 22mm copper setup seems more reliable to
my mind.

Christian.

I would go with the hose solution. Some manufacturers sell high flow hoses,
so try calling Waterside and a few of the others.

Don't forget you need a drinkable supply that is not softened.

Martyn


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