What is this barrier pipe?

[Best]

Today I was on a brand new plumbing & heating job. I have been asked to remove a rad & fit a smaller rad out further to allow a window seat. Also have to repipe a rad to towel rail swap & a basin to vanity unit swap.
TBH, it all is a bit of a DIY job (a builder did house refurb & most rads are highly oversized, plastic pipe & flexis everywhere & waste pipes not supported etc).
The 15mm white barrier pipe goes to hep fittings, but the pipe says "Qual - PB Barrier Pipe"
I am going to need inserts for it, but guess I can't use other manufacturers. Anyone come across this?

 

[Scott_D]

Mr Central heating sell it I believe

 

[Best]

Mr Central heating sell it I believe

Thanks for that info Scott! Perhaps I will have to order some inserts. I am not sure if I can source them locally. I looked Qual - pb on Internet & i see they are an Company based in Irish Republic.
I don't use plastic pipes, so have little idea of them.

 

[tolly]

I would just chance it and try a selection of inserts from the more well known manu's until I found one that was a snug fit :hand:

 

[Best]

I would just chance it and try a selection of inserts from the more well known manu's until I found one that was a snug fit :hand:

...Tempting! :smile: I was thinking exactly that, but it's a Combi gas job & I don't want to be responsible for a fitting coming off. I can easily remove hot & mains pipes suppling the basin & fit hep with hep inserts into the hep tees that are there. The towel rail pipes I can reuse with original inserts & perhaps the new rad job I would be best to cut the pipes & salvage inserts of the ends.

 

[Ray Stafford]

Its Qualpex polybutylene. Its been around for ages - well over 10 years - you just don't see it in some areas. Just treat it like Polyplumb or HEP and you should be fine.

 

[Best]

Its Qualpex polybutylene. Its been around for ages - well over 10 years - you just don't see it in some areas. Just treat it like Polyplumb or HEP and you should be fine.

Thanks Ray! It is not the pipe I was worried about, but using the correct inserts. The pipe looks identical to the white Hep barrier pipe & the fact that the installer has used hep tees & hep elbows makes it easy to assume the pipe would also be hep. Only I happened to find a large cutting of same pipe lying below floorboards, I wouldn't have been able to read the writing on the pipe & therefore it's identity. This plastic pipe & fittings mixing seems crazy to me.

 

[brum]

hi best I would go for the plastic polyplumb inserts over the metal hep ones all these fittings and pipes are interchangeable ..brum

 

[Best]

hi best I would go for the plastic polyplumb inserts over the metal hep ones all these fittings and pipes are interchangeable ..brum

Thanks Brum. I had removed an isolating valve for a cistern to look at the insert & it is a black plastic insert, which is similar to Polyplumb I think. But looking at the workmanship & oversized rads, I think it is an amateur job & the inserts could be from some other brand.

 

[AWheating]

fittings and pipe are interchangable but as you know the insert needs to be the pipe manufacturers or atleast one of the identical diameter. Polyfit metal inserts fit well in hep pipe for example.

I would first try and source a few qual inserts. Have you taken apart one of the hep fittings to see what inserts are inside?

 

[Neil K]

It's Qualpex. Irish barrier pipe. You should be fine once you use inserts (we used to use copper ones and black plastic ones) Just make sure it's 15mm and not half inch, read along the pipe

 

[Best]

fittings and pipe are interchangable but as you know the insert needs to be the pipe manufacturers or atleast one of the identical diameter. Polyfit metal inserts fit well in hep pipe for example.

I would first try and source a few qual inserts. Have you taken apart one of the hep fittings to see what inserts are inside?

Yes, thanks, - I repositioned the pipes for new towel rail & vanity basin today. The inserts are plastic & are orange in colour & I was able to reuse them to towel rail because I simply had to shorten the barrier pipes & into hep bends with new copper up through floor (to be chrome sleeved).
The vanity basin pipes, however were too short so I removed them from original hep tees & used hep pipe, two hep elbows, with hep inserts, again with copper through floor.
Now I have 4 spare inserts if I need them later for the bedroom rad repipe.

 

[Best]

It's Qualpex. Irish barrier pipe. You should be fine once you use inserts (we used to use copper ones and black plastic ones) Just make sure it's 15mm and not half inch, read along the pipe

Thanks Neil. I have never seen or perhaps noticed Qualpex before. I hear it is cheaper than other brands. I hate all plastic - especially if it's fitted badly & this job is a DIY builder example.
It def says 15mm on it, which I guess it should be here in UK. Weird that there is 1/2" in Irish Republic.

 

[Neil K]

Used to eat the stuff working for old gaffer during the Celtic tiger. It has its benefits

 

[Best]

Used to eat the stuff working for old gaffer during the Celtic tiger. It has its benefits

I just can't get used to it & I hate the look of it, but I know what you mean. No bother working with water in pipes & little skill or time needed. I find if the pipes are not held by some means - into a rad valve, or clipped etc, then the strain on the pipe throws everything out of shape. Copper for me.

 

[Neil K]

Oh only under the floor of course, where it can't be seen! Copper upstand to the rads etc

 

[brum]

Hi best ordered some pipe and fittings from wundatrade to try out it is very cheap compared to polyplumb it came today and its Qual orange inserts tried orange inserts into polyplumb pipe and polyplumb insert into Qual pipe they all fitted fine so obviously must be the same size..brum

 

[Best]

Hi best ordered some pipe and fittings from wundatrade to try out it is very cheap compared to polyplumb it came today and its Qual orange inserts tried orange inserts into polyplumb pipe and polyplumb insert into Qual pipe they all fitted fine so obviously must be the same size..brum

Thanks Brum! I tried the same today & the Polypipe inserts were a tight fit, as you say.
My concern was if in the unlikely event a fitting blew off someday, I don't want some plumber looking at it & saying I had used the wrong inserts.

 

[tolly]

Those fittings on that Wundatrade site look cack Brum, what did you think of them?

 

[brum]

Those fittings on that Wundatrade site look cack Brum, what did you think of them?

Hi tolly totally agree I ordered 50m 15 mm bag of inserts(100 in bag) 10 no elbows plus 10 no couplers inc postage about £67 will try them out but you are right mate they look even worse in real life than on the web/catalogue just like many supermodels and they say the camera never lies aye right..brum