Is it me, or do service valves always weep a bit?

I do a lot of change taps/change sink jobs and always seem to find the
service valves (if fitted at all) weep and I end up working with wet arms!

Got to the point where I've just made up a couple of 2" lengths of copper
pipe with stop ends & compression nuts & olives so I can blank off the
service valves.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Is it me, or do service valves always weep a bit?

Cheap ones do - especially in hard water areas.

Got to the point where I've just made up a couple of 2" lengths of copper
pipe with stop ends & compression nuts & olives so I can blank off the
service valves.

I have similar stubs for fitting to radiator tails for much the same reason!

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
Is it me, or do service valves always weep a bit?

I do a lot of change taps/change sink jobs and always seem to find the
service valves (if fitted at all) weep and I end up working with wet arms!

Got to the point where I've just made up a couple of 2" lengths of copper
pipe with stop ends & compression nuts & olives so I can blank off the
service valves.


Are these not supposed to have a correct orientation? Maybe the leaky ones
are the wrong way round. The one under my sink is.

As to useful connectors I made a length of hose up with 3/4 BSP connections
so that when I remove radiators I can bypass the leaking rad valve without
having to drain the system

Adam

"ARWadsworth" wrote in message
...

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
Is it me, or do service valves always weep a bit?

I do a lot of change taps/change sink jobs and always seem to find the
service valves (if fitted at all) weep and I end up working with wet
arms!

Got to the point where I've just made up a couple of 2" lengths of copper
pipe with stop ends & compression nuts & olives so I can blank off the
service valves.


Are these not supposed to have a correct orientation? Maybe the leaky ones
are the wrong way round. The one under my sink is.

As to useful connectors I made a length of hose up with 3/4 BSP
connections so that when I remove radiators I can bypass the leaking rad
valve without having to drain the system

Adam

The hose idea is one I have used - I also use it to flush the system -
usually by screwing it into one of the top blanking plugs (yes - old
radiators) and opening another to drain the system.

"Huge" wrote in message
...
On 2007-04-15, ARWadsworth wrote:

As to useful connectors I made a length of hose up with 3/4 BSP
connections
so that when I remove radiators I can bypass the leaking rad valve
without
having to drain the system

Sorry to be a bit dim, but can you explain how that works?


Sometimes when I remove a radiator one of the valves still leaks even when
turned off (and in the case of TRVs with no locking cap I worry about the
temperature dropping and the valve opening). It is just a hose with 3/4 BSP
connectors (and two 1/2 BSP adaptors if needed) that fits between the two
rad valves. I really should have used blanks but did not have any at the
time so made the hose up instead. This hose also serves the dual purpose of
allowing me to drain the system later and replace the dodgy valve.

Adam

"Huge" wrote in message
...
On 2007-04-15, ARWadsworth wrote:

"Huge" wrote in message
...
On 2007-04-15, ARWadsworth wrote:

As to useful connectors I made a length of hose up with 3/4 BSP
connections
so that when I remove radiators I can bypass the leaking rad valve
without
having to drain the system

Sorry to be a bit dim, but can you explain how that works?


Sometimes when I remove a radiator one of the valves still leaks even
when
turned off (and in the case of TRVs with no locking cap I worry about the
temperature dropping and the valve opening). It is just a hose with 3/4
BSP
connectors (and two 1/2 BSP adaptors if needed) that fits between the two
rad valves.

Oh, I see. Sorry, I thought you meant you had some demon scheme for
changing
the valves without draining/freezing. We have had to have a series of TRVs
changed over the last few years & I'm always looking for easier ways of
doing them.

Swap them live, it takes some balls but I have done it. No guarantees about
the mess but if the room is getting decorated!!!

Adam

ARWadsworth wrote:

Swap them live, it takes some balls but I have done it. No guarantees
about the mess but if the room is getting decorated!!!

A mate of mine wanted a new feed to a radiator. The easiest way to do it
was from the tails of the rad in the adjacent room. So I said the
simplest way is to have a service valve ready, chop the pipe with a pipe
cutter and then shove your valve over the pipe. It was a vented system
with only 20' head, so I told him he would not lose much water.

I was working on something else in the house when I heard the swearing.
Went to investigate and found black gunk all over the floor, walls, and
even ceiling! Seems he had a spot of bother. I said, I would do the next
one. First clue was he commented on the fact that I had the service
valve already assembled - with nut and olive in place! It seems he had
cut the pipe, forgot to stick his thumb over the end and then set about
placing the back nut on the pipe first, then the olive, then the valve.
Then found he had left the spanner out of reach!

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
ARWadsworth wrote:

Swap them live, it takes some balls but I have done it. No guarantees
about the mess but if the room is getting decorated!!!

A mate of mine wanted a new feed to a radiator. The easiest way to do it
was from the tails of the rad in the adjacent room. So I said the simplest
way is to have a service valve ready, chop the pipe with a pipe cutter and
then shove your valve over the pipe. It was a vented system with only 20'
head, so I told him he would not lose much water.

I was working on something else in the house when I heard the swearing.
Went to investigate and found black gunk all over the floor, walls, and
even ceiling! Seems he had a spot of bother. I said, I would do the next
one. First clue was he commented on the fact that I had the service valve
already assembled - with nut and olive in place! It seems he had cut the
pipe, forgot to stick his thumb over the end and then set about placing
the back nut on the pipe first, then the olive, then the valve. Then found
he had left the spanner out of reach!

Did he let the central heating cool down first? If he did it was the only
thing he got right. Swapping just a rad valve is not too bad as you resuse
the olive and nut.

Adam

ARWadsworth wrote:

Did he let the central heating cool down first? If he did it was the
only thing he got right. Swapping just a rad valve is not too bad as you
resuse the olive and nut.

Yup it was cool. Needed to put a new service valve in place to allow a
new tee'd section to be added in before the existing rad.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In message , The Medway Handyman
writes
Is it me, or do service valves always weep a bit?

I do a lot of change taps/change sink jobs and always seem to find the
service valves (if fitted at all) weep and I end up working with wet arms!

Got to the point where I've just made up a couple of 2" lengths of copper
pipe with stop ends & compression nuts & olives so I can blank off the
service valves.


What's the difference between a service valve and an isolation valve?
--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!

On Wed, 25 Apr 2007 07:56:48 +0100, Peter Twydell
mused:

In message , The Medway Handyman
writes
Is it me, or do service valves always weep a bit?

I do a lot of change taps/change sink jobs and always seem to find the
service valves (if fitted at all) weep and I end up working with wet arms!

Got to the point where I've just made up a couple of 2" lengths of copper
pipe with stop ends & compression nuts & olives so I can blank off the
service valves.


What's the difference between a service valve and an isolation valve?

Pretty mUcH nothing. Most of it's just what you were brought up on.
--
Regards,
Stuart.