Green plastic (Qual) oil line discontinued?

Max · Jan 20, 2023

Recently I needed to re-route very old and dodgy oil pipe from tank to boiler. I dug trench and laid a duct and the engineer used green plastic (Pipelife Qual-Oil?) oil line to do the job. Had cause to have boiler manufacturer out to look at something yesterday and he remarked that this Qual oil line had been withdrawn, although I note Screwfix are still selling it. I note some other websites do say "discontinued".

Does anyone know anything about this and if I should be concerned about it? I don't see anything mentioned from a quick Google but I also note it's not visible as a product on the Pipelife website and in their latest brochure they've replaced that page with a generic filler page which seems to confirm they are not now offering it. If I had undetected oil spillage for any period of time I have largish tank and it would be a potentially catastrophic problem if there was ever a problem with the line breaking/fracturing.

ShaunCorbs · Jan 20, 2023

Think it didn’t sell well due to can’t be used above ground so needed to have compression fittings below ground and transition to copper before it came above etc

Max · Jan 21, 2023

ShaunCorbs said:
Think it didn’t sell well due to can’t be used above ground so needed to have compression fittings below ground and transition to copper before it came above etc

Relief it's not anything technical. No mention in the old brochure of not using above ground. Says "UV stabilised" and "Aesthetically pleasing conifer green colour compatible with outdoor environment". Mine's nearly all in the duct except about 6" either end for connections to tank and fire valve.

SimonG · Jan 21, 2023

Not suitable for above ground usage.

Max · Jan 21, 2023

SimonG said:
Not suitable for above ground usage.

Any particular reason? I don't see anything that implies that on the attached page (this is the page that's now been deleted from the brochure). Obviously from the wording of the manufacturer ("Aesthetically pleasing conifer green colour compatible with outdoor environment") they don't agree!

I'm genuinely interested to know why it's not suitable or if there have been any reported incidents? If I were to guess I'd say like most plastic it's going to eventually go brittle in UV light, so why on earth do they say the above if that was the case? It's very mixed messaging.

SimonG · Jan 21, 2023

It's never been rated for above ground, which in turn with cost it's just a no, never, ever.

If you want a definitive expert opinion the contact OFTEC.