I'm going to be replacing my shower valve soon. I know the old one was
installed using plastic pipework, and this will need a bit of
reconfiguring for the new valve (basically, with the current valve there
are 90-deg elbow 15mm tap connectors on the feeds, and these will need
changing to straight ones.

I've never used plastic tube before, but AFAICR it's important to use
fittings which are compatible with the brand of tube, correct?
Particularly inserts within the pipe? I have no clue what brand mine is
(it's grey, 15mm) - maybe I'll find it printed on the pipe when I have
it fully exposed?

Advice appreciated...

Thanks
David

On Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:35:24 +0100
Lobster wrote:

I'm going to be replacing my shower valve soon. I know the old one
was installed using plastic pipework, and this will need a bit of
reconfiguring for the new valve (basically, with the current valve
there are 90-deg elbow 15mm tap connectors on the feeds, and these
will need changing to straight ones.

I've never used plastic tube before, but AFAICR it's important to use
fittings which are compatible with the brand of tube, correct?
Particularly inserts within the pipe? I have no clue what brand mine
is (it's grey, 15mm) - maybe I'll find it printed on the pipe when I
have it fully exposed?

Advice appreciated...

Thanks
David


If it's grey, it is likely to be either Polyplumb or H2O, all but the
very cheap pipe (eg some white floplast) has this info printed on it.
The practical differences in pipe are mainly the inside bore, the
outside will be 15mm for all of them. You can use most pushfit and
compression fittings on any 15mm plastic tube, but the stiffener insert
needs to be chosen to suit the inside bore, best to use the
manufacturer's stiffener. You'll also need a pipe cutter so that
you get clean 90 degree cuts on the ends - if you don't do much a
cheap one will do.

It's worth remembering that while most plastic pipe comes in coils (25m
to 100m long), but you can also get straight lengths of 2 or 3m. The
straights make some things neater and easier. They still need inserts
though!

R.

In message 20110608090714.4a69ff54@rad1, TheOldFellow
writes
On Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:35:24 +0100
Lobster wrote:

I'm going to be replacing my shower valve soon. I know the old one
was installed using plastic pipework, and this will need a bit of
reconfiguring for the new valve (basically, with the current valve
there are 90-deg elbow 15mm tap connectors on the feeds, and these
will need changing to straight ones.

I've never used plastic tube before, but AFAICR it's important to use
fittings which are compatible with the brand of tube, correct?
Particularly inserts within the pipe? I have no clue what brand mine
is (it's grey, 15mm) - maybe I'll find it printed on the pipe when I
have it fully exposed?

Advice appreciated...

Thanks
David


If it's grey, it is likely to be either Polyplumb or H2O, all but the
very cheap pipe (eg some white floplast) has this info printed on it.

John Guest also do a grey Speedfit pipe, but yes name should be on the
pipe, you could probably also identify it by the fitting design. either
by Googling up images or posting an image for others here to identify.

The practical differences in pipe are mainly the inside bore, the
outside will be 15mm for all of them. You can use most pushfit and
compression fittings on any 15mm plastic tube, but the stiffener insert
needs to be chosen to suit the inside bore, best to use the
manufacturer's stiffener.

Yup, I've certainly mixed pipes and fittings before.

You'll also need a pipe cutter so that
you get clean 90 degree cuts on the ends - if you don't do much a
cheap one will do.


I've done a number of joints with a Stanley knife when my cutter went
awol. It's fine as long as you are careful. Whilst a cutter is the right
tool, if you are doing just a couple of joints I'd probably just do that



--
Chris French

chris French wrote:
In message 20110608090714.4a69ff54@rad1, TheOldFellow
writes
On Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:35:24 +0100
Lobster wrote:

I'm going to be replacing my shower valve soon. I know the old one
was installed using plastic pipework, and this will need a bit of
reconfiguring for the new valve (basically, with the current valve
there are 90-deg elbow 15mm tap connectors on the feeds, and these
will need changing to straight ones.

I've never used plastic tube before, but AFAICR it's important to
use fittings which are compatible with the brand of tube, correct?
Particularly inserts within the pipe? I have no clue what brand
mine is (it's grey, 15mm) - maybe I'll find it printed on the pipe
when I have it fully exposed?

Advice appreciated...

Thanks
David


If it's grey, it is likely to be either Polyplumb or H2O, all but the
very cheap pipe (eg some white floplast) has this info printed on it.

John Guest also do a grey Speedfit pipe, but yes name should be on the
pipe, you could probably also identify it by the fitting design.
either by Googling up images or posting an image for others here to
identify.
The practical differences in pipe are mainly the inside bore, the
outside will be 15mm for all of them. You can use most pushfit and
compression fittings on any 15mm plastic tube, but the stiffener
insert needs to be chosen to suit the inside bore, best to use the
manufacturer's stiffener.

Yup, I've certainly mixed pipes and fittings before.

You'll also need a pipe cutter so that
you get clean 90 degree cuts on the ends - if you don't do much a
cheap one will do.


I've done a number of joints with a Stanley knife when my cutter went
awol. It's fine as long as you are careful. Whilst a cutter is the
right tool, if you are doing just a couple of joints I'd probably
just do that

When I replaced my bathroom 3 years ago I replaced all the piping to the
bath, sink and shower with polypipe. I looked at a couple of proper pipe
cutters but decided the cost was not worth it for a single job. I used a
junior hacksaw and then cleaned up the cut ends with a Stanley knife (making
sure no plastic swarf was left inside the pipe of course). The entire
bathroom has been 100% watertight since I did the job!

--
Kev

On Wed, 8 Jun 2011 11:21:48 +0100, chris French wrote:

You'll also need a pipe cutter so that
you get clean 90 degree cuts on the ends - if you don't do much a
cheap one will do.


I've done a number of joints with a Stanley knife when my cutter went
awol. It's fine as long as you are careful. Whilst a cutter is the right
tool, if you are doing just a couple of joints I'd probably just do that

I used a copper pipe cutter to put a groove in the plastic pipe then used
the SK, as this gives a followable mark to ensure a square end and also
slightly rounds off the outside so that it goes in to the O-ring seal with
no risk of damage.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

On 8 Jun,
"Ret." wrote:

When I replaced my bathroom 3 years ago I replaced all the piping to the
bath, sink and shower with polypipe. I looked at a couple of proper pipe
cutters but decided the cost was not worth it for a single job. I used a
junior hacksaw and then cleaned up the cut ends with a Stanley knife
(making sure no plastic swarf was left inside the pipe of course). The
entire bathroom has been 100% watertight since I did the job!

Having struggled using similar methods in the past I purchased a pipe cutter
from toolstation or screwfix for less than a tenner before replacing a basin
last year. Worth it just for the one job, it must have reduced the time taken
by at least half an hour compared with cruder methods, and did a better job.
It has been used for several other jobs since.

The price of tools at the moment it's worth investing the odd beer token or
two in tools. It makes DIY so much easier than it was.


--
B Thumbs
Change lycos to yahoo to reply

On 08/06/2011 12:04, Ret. wrote:


When I replaced my bathroom 3 years ago I replaced all the piping to the
bath, sink and shower with polypipe. I looked at a couple of proper pipe
cutters but decided the cost was not worth it for a single job. I used a
junior hacksaw and then cleaned up the cut ends with a Stanley knife
(making sure no plastic swarf was left inside the pipe of course). The
entire bathroom has been 100% watertight since I did the job!


You'd make a good mate for Drivel then!

Whatever else you may do to plastic pipe, *don't* cut it with a hacksaw.
In the absence of a proper cutter, a decent pair of by-pass (*not* anvil
type) garden secateurs makes a good substitute.

The slightest roughness or burr on the outside will bugger up the O-ring
of a push-fit fitting - which will then leak like a sieve.
[Not quite so critical if you're using compression fittings].
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

On 08/06/2011 11:21, chris French wrote:
In message 20110608090714.4a69ff54@rad1, TheOldFellow
writes
On Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:35:24 +0100
Lobster wrote:

I'm going to be replacing my shower valve soon. I know the old one
was installed using plastic pipework, and this will need a bit of
reconfiguring for the new valve (basically, with the current valve
there are 90-deg elbow 15mm tap connectors on the feeds, and these
will need changing to straight ones.

I've never used plastic tube before, but AFAICR it's important to use
fittings which are compatible with the brand of tube, correct?
Particularly inserts within the pipe? I have no clue what brand mine
is (it's grey, 15mm) - maybe I'll find it printed on the pipe when I
have it fully exposed?


If it's grey, it is likely to be either Polyplumb or H2O, all but the
very cheap pipe (eg some white floplast) has this info printed on it.

John Guest also do a grey Speedfit pipe, but yes name should be on the
pipe, you could probably also identify it by the fitting design. either
by Googling up images or posting an image for others here to identify.

Thanks everyone all the info; that's reassuring. Hopefully when I
expose the pipework fully it'll be clear what brand I've got and I can
take it from there.

Cheers
David

Roger Mills wrote:
On 08/06/2011 12:04, Ret. wrote:


When I replaced my bathroom 3 years ago I replaced all the piping to
the bath, sink and shower with polypipe. I looked at a couple of
proper pipe cutters but decided the cost was not worth it for a
single job. I used a junior hacksaw and then cleaned up the cut ends
with a Stanley knife (making sure no plastic swarf was left inside
the pipe of course). The entire bathroom has been 100% watertight
since I did the job!


You'd make a good mate for Drivel then!

Whatever else you may do to plastic pipe, *don't* cut it with a
hacksaw. In the absence of a proper cutter, a decent pair of by-pass
(*not* anvil type) garden secateurs makes a good substitute.

The slightest roughness or burr on the outside will bugger up the
O-ring of a push-fit fitting - which will then leak like a sieve.
[Not quite so critical if you're using compression fittings].

Roger Mills wrote:
On 08/06/2011 12:04, Ret. wrote:


When I replaced my bathroom 3 years ago I replaced all the piping to
the bath, sink and shower with polypipe. I looked at a couple of
proper pipe cutters but decided the cost was not worth it for a
single job. I used a junior hacksaw and then cleaned up the cut ends
with a Stanley knife (making sure no plastic swarf was left inside
the pipe of course). The entire bathroom has been 100% watertight
since I did the job!

You'd make a good mate for Drivel then!

Whatever else you may do to plastic pipe, *don't* cut it with a
hacksaw. In the absence of a proper cutter, a decent pair of by-pass
(*not* anvil type) garden secateurs makes a good substitute.

The slightest roughness or burr on the outside will bugger up the
O-ring of a push-fit fitting - which will then leak like a sieve.
[Not quite so critical if you're using compression fittings].

I agree with what you say about the roughness - which is why, having cut the
pipe to the required length with a hacksaw, I then cut off a further 1-2mm
of the rough-cut end with a Stanley knife which completely removes all
roughness or burr from the end of the pipe.

--
Kev

Lobster wrote:
On 08/06/2011 11:21, chris French wrote:
In message 20110608090714.4a69ff54@rad1, TheOldFellow
writes
On Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:35:24 +0100
Lobster wrote:

I'm going to be replacing my shower valve soon. I know the old one
was installed using plastic pipework, and this will need a bit of
reconfiguring for the new valve (basically, with the current valve
there are 90-deg elbow 15mm tap connectors on the feeds, and these
will need changing to straight ones.

I've never used plastic tube before, but AFAICR it's important to
use fittings which are compatible with the brand of tube, correct?
Particularly inserts within the pipe? I have no clue what brand
mine is (it's grey, 15mm) - maybe I'll find it printed on the pipe
when I have it fully exposed?


If it's grey, it is likely to be either Polyplumb or H2O, all but
the very cheap pipe (eg some white floplast) has this info printed
on it.

John Guest also do a grey Speedfit pipe, but yes name should be on
the pipe, you could probably also identify it by the fitting design.
either by Googling up images or posting an image for others here to
identify.

Thanks everyone all the info; that's reassuring. Hopefully when I
expose the pipework fully it'll be clear what brand I've got and I can
take it from there.

I often wonder what professional plumbers think of polypipe. It's no doubt
made their job much easier - but also increased the opportunity for even the
worst DIYer to do an effective plumbing job and avoid the need for a
professional.

I never had a problem with shaping and soldering copper pipe - but polypipe
just makes the whole job dramatically easier and simpler.

--
Kev

On Jun 9, 8:41*am, "Ret." wrote:
Lobster wrote:
On 08/06/2011 11:21, chris French wrote:
In message 20110608090714.4a69ff54@rad1, TheOldFellow
writes
On Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:35:24 +0100
Lobster wrote:

I'm going to be replacing my shower valve soon. I know the old one
was installed using plastic pipework, and this will need a bit of
reconfiguring for the new valve (basically, with the current valve
there are 90-deg elbow 15mm tap connectors on the feeds, and these
will need changing to straight ones.

I've never used plastic tube before, but AFAICR it's important to
use fittings which are compatible with the brand of tube, correct?
Particularly inserts within the pipe? I have no clue what brand
mine is (it's grey, 15mm) - maybe I'll find it printed on the pipe
when I have it fully exposed?

If it's grey, it is likely to be either Polyplumb or H2O, all but
the very cheap pipe (eg some white floplast) has this info printed
on it.

John Guest also do a grey Speedfit pipe, but yes name should be on
the pipe, you could probably also identify it by the fitting design.
either by Googling up images or posting an image for others here to
identify.

Thanks everyone all the info; that's reassuring. *Hopefully when I
expose the pipework fully it'll be clear what brand I've got and I can
take it from there.

I often wonder what professional plumbers think of polypipe. It's no doubt
made their job much easier - but also increased the opportunity for even the
worst DIYer to do an effective plumbing job and avoid the need for a
professional.

I never had a problem with shaping and soldering copper pipe - but polypipe
just makes the whole job dramatically easier and simpler.


Do all plumbers use polypipe now, or offer 2 different prices, since
it must be much quicker to use plastic? Its not the soldering of
copper that really takes the time, but the bending etc. Must admit I
still use all copper.
Simon.

sm_jamieson wrote:
On Jun 9, 8:41 am, "Ret." wrote:
Lobster wrote:
On 08/06/2011 11:21, chris French wrote:
In message 20110608090714.4a69ff54@rad1, TheOldFellow
writes
On Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:35:24 +0100
Lobster wrote:

I'm going to be replacing my shower valve soon. I know the old
one was installed using plastic pipework, and this will need a
bit of reconfiguring for the new valve (basically, with the
current valve there are 90-deg elbow 15mm tap connectors on the
feeds, and these will need changing to straight ones.

I've never used plastic tube before, but AFAICR it's important to
use fittings which are compatible with the brand of tube,
correct? Particularly inserts within the pipe? I have no clue
what brand mine is (it's grey, 15mm) - maybe I'll find it
printed on the pipe when I have it fully exposed?

If it's grey, it is likely to be either Polyplumb or H2O, all but
the very cheap pipe (eg some white floplast) has this info printed
on it.

John Guest also do a grey Speedfit pipe, but yes name should be on
the pipe, you could probably also identify it by the fitting
design. either by Googling up images or posting an image for
others here to identify.

Thanks everyone all the info; that's reassuring. Hopefully when I
expose the pipework fully it'll be clear what brand I've got and I
can take it from there.

I often wonder what professional plumbers think of polypipe. It's no
doubt made their job much easier - but also increased the
opportunity for even the worst DIYer to do an effective plumbing job
and avoid the need for a professional.

I never had a problem with shaping and soldering copper pipe - but
polypipe just makes the whole job dramatically easier and simpler.


Do all plumbers use polypipe now, or offer 2 different prices, since
it must be much quicker to use plastic? Its not the soldering of
copper that really takes the time, but the bending etc. Must admit I
still use all copper.

Masochist!

--
Kev

On Jun 9, 8:52*am, sm_jamieson wrote:
On Jun 9, 8:41*am, "Ret." wrote:



Lobster wrote:
On 08/06/2011 11:21, chris French wrote:
In message 20110608090714.4a69ff54@rad1, TheOldFellow
writes
On Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:35:24 +0100
Lobster wrote:

I'm going to be replacing my shower valve soon. I know the old one
was installed using plastic pipework, and this will need a bit of
reconfiguring for the new valve (basically, with the current valve
there are 90-deg elbow 15mm tap connectors on the feeds, and these
will need changing to straight ones.

I've never used plastic tube before, but AFAICR it's important to
use fittings which are compatible with the brand of tube, correct?
Particularly inserts within the pipe? I have no clue what brand
mine is (it's grey, 15mm) - maybe I'll find it printed on the pipe
when I have it fully exposed?

If it's grey, it is likely to be either Polyplumb or H2O, all but
the very cheap pipe (eg some white floplast) has this info printed
on it.

John Guest also do a grey Speedfit pipe, but yes name should be on
the pipe, you could probably also identify it by the fitting design.
either by Googling up images or posting an image for others here to
identify.

Thanks everyone all the info; that's reassuring. *Hopefully when I
expose the pipework fully it'll be clear what brand I've got and I can
take it from there.

I often wonder what professional plumbers think of polypipe. It's no doubt
made their job much easier - but also increased the opportunity for even the
worst DIYer to do an effective plumbing job and avoid the need for a
professional.

I never had a problem with shaping and soldering copper pipe - but polypipe
just makes the whole job dramatically easier and simpler.

Do all plumbers use polypipe now, or offer 2 different prices, since
it must be much quicker to use plastic? Its not the soldering of
copper that really takes the time, but the bending etc. Must admit I
still use all copper.
Simon.

My heating engineer only uses copper, and says many of his customers
demand it.

In old buildings, with pipework hidden in voids, mice may be attracted
to knaw on plastic pipe & fittings.

Personally, I use copper where it's exposed, where it has to support
fittings (valves, pumps etc), or anywhere it's not in well-sealed
cavities.

Roger Mills wrote:
On 08/06/2011 12:04, Ret. wrote:


When I replaced my bathroom 3 years ago I replaced all the piping to the
bath, sink and shower with polypipe. I looked at a couple of proper pipe
cutters but decided the cost was not worth it for a single job. I used a
junior hacksaw and then cleaned up the cut ends with a Stanley knife
(making sure no plastic swarf was left inside the pipe of course). The
entire bathroom has been 100% watertight since I did the job!


You'd make a good mate for Drivel then!

Kevin Loon (ret) is an ideal mate for Drivel.

They are both pillocks.

Steve Firth wrote:
Roger Mills wrote:
On 08/06/2011 12:04, Ret. wrote:


When I replaced my bathroom 3 years ago I replaced all the piping
to the bath, sink and shower with polypipe. I looked at a couple of
proper pipe cutters but decided the cost was not worth it for a
single job. I used a junior hacksaw and then cleaned up the cut
ends with a Stanley knife (making sure no plastic swarf was left
inside the pipe of course). The entire bathroom has been 100%
watertight since I did the job!


You'd make a good mate for Drivel then!

Kevin Loon (ret) is an ideal mate for Drivel.

They are both pillocks.

Do you *ever* have anything useful to add to a thread?

--
Kev

On Jun 8, 11:21*am, chris French
wrote:


I've done a number of joints with a Stanley knife when my cutter went
awol. It's fine as long as you are careful. Whilst a cutter is the right
tool, if you are doing just a couple of joints I'd probably just do that

If you already have a copper pipe cutter, that will do fine.

MBQ

On Jun 8, 1:12*pm, PeterC wrote:
On Wed, 8 Jun 2011 11:21:48 +0100, chris French wrote:
You'll also need a pipe cutter so that
you get clean 90 degree cuts on the ends - if you don't do much a
cheap one will do.

I've done a number of joints with a Stanley knife when my cutter went
awol. It's fine as long as you are careful. Whilst a cutter is the right
tool, if you are doing just a couple of joints I'd probably just do that

I used a copper pipe cutter to put a groove in the plastic pipe then used
the SK, as this gives a followable mark to ensure a square end and also
slightly rounds off the outside so that it goes in to the O-ring seal with
no risk of damage.

Why faff about? Just go all the way through with the copper pipe
cutter.

MBQ

On Fri, 10 Jun 2011 02:41:16 -0700 (PDT), Man at B&Q wrote:

On Jun 8, 1:12*pm, PeterC wrote:
On Wed, 8 Jun 2011 11:21:48 +0100, chris French wrote:
You'll also need a pipe cutter so that
you get clean 90 degree cuts on the ends - if you don't do much a
cheap one will do.

I've done a number of joints with a Stanley knife when my cutter went
awol. It's fine as long as you are careful. Whilst a cutter is the right
tool, if you are doing just a couple of joints I'd probably just do that

I used a copper pipe cutter to put a groove in the plastic pipe then used
the SK, as this gives a followable mark to ensure a square end and also
slightly rounds off the outside so that it goes in to the O-ring seal with
no risk of damage.

Why faff about? Just go all the way through with the copper pipe
cutter.

MBQ

a). it takes a long time for that thickness
b). it bends in the inside of the pipe, making it more difficult to insert
the, er, inserts that need, um, inserting.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway