I had a new boiler fitted yesterday as well as new thermostatic valves on
various radiators. My (corgi registered) plumber also installed a drainage
valve (which the system lacked) on one of the radiator pipes using a copper
push-fit t-joint. All seemed fine over night then this morning I had a look
at the drainage valve, gave it a twist and it came out of the t-joint. I
could push it back in again - it is perfectly water tight - but it doesn't
take much pressure for it to come out and I'm worried about leaving the
house in case it jumps out while I'm away. The plumber has so far failed to
get back to me to talk about it, but the twist in the tale is that I
insisted on him using a copper push-fit fitting (which he said he hated!)
rather than the lumpy plastic one he was going to use, and went to Wickes to
buy it (location of the valve is such that a soldered or compression fitting
isn't an option). My question is, is this a fault with the pushfit t-joint
(which my plumber might well claim), or with the standard brass drainage
valve which is pushed into it, or is it neither - perhaps these fitting
aren't designed to be used with the brass drainage valve (which my plumber
is not likely to admit he didn't know)?

Any thoughts would be appreciated - in the meantime I'll be tying the joint
on with a bit of string!

Mark

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Mark wrote:

I had a new boiler fitted yesterday as well as new thermostatic
valves on various radiators. My (corgi registered) plumber also
installed a drainage valve (which the system lacked) on one of the
radiator pipes using a copper push-fit t-joint. All seemed fine over
night then this morning I had a look at the drainage valve, gave it a
twist and it came out of the t-joint. I could push it back in again -
it is perfectly water tight - but it doesn't take much pressure for
it to come out and I'm worried about leaving the house in case it
jumps out while I'm away. The plumber has so far failed to get back
to me to talk about it, but the twist in the tale is that I insisted
on him using a copper push-fit fitting (which he said he hated!)
rather than the lumpy plastic one he was going to use, and went to
Wickes to buy it (location of the valve is such that a soldered or
compression fitting isn't an option). My question is, is this a fault
with the pushfit t-joint (which my plumber might well claim), or with
the standard brass drainage valve which is pushed into it, or is it
neither - perhaps these fitting aren't designed to be used with the
brass drainage valve (which my plumber is not likely to admit he
didn't know)?
Any thoughts would be appreciated - in the meantime I'll be tying the
joint on with a bit of string!

Mark

Sounds as if the brass is too hard for the push-fit fitting to get its teeth
into (as often happens with chrome plated pipe).

Either that, or the 15mm shank on the drain fitting isn't long enough to go
right in to the gripper ring. If you look at P352 of the latest Screwfix
catalogue, item 13349 has a short pipe and is almost certainly intended to
be soldered in whereas 12232 has a long pipe and is intended for Speedfit
fittings. Has the right fitting been used? [Incidentally I doubt whether
using a plastic push-fit tee would have made any difference - you'd still
have had the same problem].

In case you haven't got a SF catalogue readily to hand, see
http://tinyurl.com/52zt6t and http://tinyurl.com/4nmqgu
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

On 4 Oct, 15:53, "Roger Mills" wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,



Mark *wrote:
I had a new boiler fitted yesterday as well as new thermostatic
valves on various radiators. My (corgi registered) plumber also
installed a drainage valve (which the system lacked) on one of the
radiator pipes using a copper push-fit t-joint. All seemed fine over
night then this morning I had a look at the drainage valve, gave it a
twist and it came out of the t-joint. I could push it back in again -
it is perfectly water tight - *but it doesn't take much pressure for
it to come out and I'm worried about leaving the house in case it
jumps out while I'm away. The plumber has so far failed to get back
to me to talk about it, but the twist in the tale is that I insisted
on him using a copper push-fit fitting (which he said he hated!)
rather than the lumpy plastic one he was going to use, and went to
Wickes to buy it (location of the valve is such that a soldered or
compression fitting isn't an option). My question is, is this a fault
with the pushfit t-joint (which my plumber might well claim), or with
the standard brass drainage valve which is pushed into it, or is it
neither - perhaps these fitting aren't designed to be used with the
brass drainage valve (which my plumber is not likely to admit he
didn't know)?
Any thoughts would be appreciated - in the meantime I'll be tying the
joint on with a bit of string!

Mark

Sounds as if the brass is too hard for the push-fit fitting to get its teeth
into (as often happens with chrome plated pipe).

Either that, or the 15mm shank on the drain fitting isn't long enough to go
right in to the gripper ring. If you look at P352 of the latest Screwfix
catalogue, item 13349 has a short pipe and is almost certainly intended to
be soldered in whereas 12232 has a long pipe and is intended for Speedfit
fittings. Has the right fitting been used? [Incidentally I doubt whether
using a plastic push-fit tee would have made any difference - you'd still
have had the same problem].

In case you haven't got a SF catalogue readily to hand, seehttp://tinyurl..com/52zt6tandhttp://tinyurl.com/4nmqgu
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

Thanks for those ideas. I found the bag for the t-joint and the
instructions on it said 'only suitable for copper connections', so I
think your theory about the brass being too hard sounds about right.
I've used that argument with my plumber, anyway, when he tried the
'faulty pushfitting - I told you I hated those things' argument, as
I'd anticipated. He also said his supplier had told him the brass
drain fitting would work with a pushfit joint, (the fitting does have
a long shank, btw). I shall go to Wickes before he comes back on
Friday and ask their opinion, hoping they'll just try one out for
me....Thanks again, anyway - the string is holding up well!


Mark