Hi. My neighbour has a gas boiler installation with the condensate drain dropping down to an exit point through the double skin wall and to an outside soakaway drain away from the house. This has been made weather proof, (Southern UK so not extreme), by fitting it with the old Condensulate Standard system. This takes the drain from the inside through the wall into 32mm sleeving PVC pipe and to the ground in one piece. Everything seems in order as to the regularity and security of the installation and it has worked for a number of years without any problems.
The condensate drops from the boiler in the fitted 22mm (I think) pipe and is push fit vertically into a rubber gland fitted in a 32mm elbow which takes it outwards and into the wall. The Condensulate pipe is fitted through the wall sleeved in 32mm to this interior surface where it joins with the interior piping horizontally via the supplied connector with its specialist adhesive. That joint actually comprises of:
32mm elbow -> 32/21.5mm rubber reducer -> short 21.5mm stub -> (as solvent weld) Condensulate 21.5mm/20mm reducer -> (as Specialist adhesive) Condensulate 20mm flexible pipe.
It has recently failed and is leaking just inside the wall, presumably at the joint between the Condensulate and the interior PVC pipe. This was made with the supplied Condensulate connectors and their recommended adhesive as it means a joint between PVC and a non-mating flexible material which cannot be solvent welded, ( maybe PP?). The adhesive was a two part with a primer coating painted on the Condensulate pipe then left to cure and an adhesive proper applied after a short wait. (I know all of this as I had never come across it before and I asked to be there to see it done.)
Of course the condensate is acidic but this is often overstressed as it is only as acidic as sharp orange juice and other kitchen chemicals. Yes, it is not diluted in the same way as kitchen waste but surely PVC joints and specialist adhesives should be able to cope with that? I'm not discounting that aspect or suggesting I am an expert in this field, only trying to keep it in perspective as someone with a background involving the theory. You guys have the practical!
My neighbour being retired has approached me to look into this as he is now not able to attempt any DIY himself due to ill health. I am simply proposing that, as the "specialist adhesive" would appear to be the part which has failed, I remove that joint completely and replace it with a short stub of 19mm silicone tubing and two secure compression clips. The Condensate tubing is 20mm and is a ringed construction for flexibility but that is individually circular and not spiral so should not leak once clamped up. I would have thought that silicone, as a material which is used in laboratories to carry any and all types of corrosive liquid, should be fine for this. Am I correct?
The condensate drops from the boiler in the fitted 22mm (I think) pipe and is push fit vertically into a rubber gland fitted in a 32mm elbow which takes it outwards and into the wall. The Condensulate pipe is fitted through the wall sleeved in 32mm to this interior surface where it joins with the interior piping horizontally via the supplied connector with its specialist adhesive. That joint actually comprises of:
32mm elbow -> 32/21.5mm rubber reducer -> short 21.5mm stub -> (as solvent weld) Condensulate 21.5mm/20mm reducer -> (as Specialist adhesive) Condensulate 20mm flexible pipe.
It has recently failed and is leaking just inside the wall, presumably at the joint between the Condensulate and the interior PVC pipe. This was made with the supplied Condensulate connectors and their recommended adhesive as it means a joint between PVC and a non-mating flexible material which cannot be solvent welded, ( maybe PP?). The adhesive was a two part with a primer coating painted on the Condensulate pipe then left to cure and an adhesive proper applied after a short wait. (I know all of this as I had never come across it before and I asked to be there to see it done.)
Of course the condensate is acidic but this is often overstressed as it is only as acidic as sharp orange juice and other kitchen chemicals. Yes, it is not diluted in the same way as kitchen waste but surely PVC joints and specialist adhesives should be able to cope with that? I'm not discounting that aspect or suggesting I am an expert in this field, only trying to keep it in perspective as someone with a background involving the theory. You guys have the practical!
My neighbour being retired has approached me to look into this as he is now not able to attempt any DIY himself due to ill health. I am simply proposing that, as the "specialist adhesive" would appear to be the part which has failed, I remove that joint completely and replace it with a short stub of 19mm silicone tubing and two secure compression clips. The Condensate tubing is 20mm and is a ringed construction for flexibility but that is individually circular and not spiral so should not leak once clamped up. I would have thought that silicone, as a material which is used in laboratories to carry any and all types of corrosive liquid, should be fine for this. Am I correct?
