Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

[CES]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Don't know if its mentioned previously but I use puppy training pads when changing rads,valves, in fact anywhere there can be water, e.g inside boiler casings when changing water side components. Im amazed at the amount of water they hold and they are cheaper than the commercial equivalent.

 

[WHPES]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

A job today reminded me of a little pitfall with oil boiler repair - if the ignition coil has failed, you need to replace the control unit as well, as the ignition relay has probably got stuck down which is usually the reason for the failure of the coil. Just replacing the coil is an expensive mistake as the fault with the control box will wreck the new coil.

 

[John Blade]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Hi again folks, Heres another tip for reusing solvent welded fittings and it works and can get your bum out of serious trouble and can save you money, Dont abuse it looooool. May take a lil practice.
1.Cut the plastic pipe you wish to remove flush to the the lip of the fitting with a hacksaw.
2.Clean all the burr out and the inside of the remaining pipe in the socket.
3.Now add a thin film of solvent weld on the inside of the REMAINING PIPE all the way around, (don't put it on the fitting).
4.Now skill and common sense is needed here for the next step.Use your blow torch and set the remaining pipe alight inside the socket for 10 seconds and blow it out. (Some of you greener plumbers should have your fire extinguisher nearby loool)
5. The inside should have softened enough to take a flat headed screwdriver or a similar tool to wedge in between the socket and the pipe and wedge it out POP.
You can file or sand any burn marks out, and as you get better you probably wont even get any burns.
Bloody awesome trick especially when you wanna take out a fitting put in another.

Ill add some more tricks in now and again, and thank you guys for all your great money and time saving ideas.
Cheers

 

[Mbear]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

If u need to drain a pipe but theres nowhere suitable to drain it from. For example I've cut out a gd few choked cold feeds in my time. What I do is either bung tank or turn off stopcock if available, have a bucket and absorbent sheets handy, use a self cutting washing machine drain valve (valves come in 15&22mm) cut into cold feed above the chokage and drain pipe and header tank into a bucket, minimal mess! The self cutter cuts a small 5/6mm hole iirc, remember to make sure the small cut out does not go missing, it could easily cause a further chokage. Theres not alot of other ways to get rid of the header tank water in that situation so that one works well. Also having a decent magnet or even a fridge magnet in the toolbox is handy, as magnetite is magnetic and copper/plastic is not, it's ideal for pinpointing chokeages

 

[kay-jay]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Hi again folks, Heres another tip for reusing solvent welded fittings and it works and can get your bum out of serious trouble and can save you money, Dont abuse it looooool. May take a lil practice.
1.Cut the plastic pipe you wish to remove flush to the the lip of the fitting with a hacksaw.
2.Clean all the burr out and the inside of the remaining pipe in the socket.
3.Now add a thin film of solvent weld on the inside of the REMAINING PIPE all the way around, (don't put it on the fitting).
4.Now skill and common sense is needed here for the next step.Use your blow torch and set the remaining pipe alight inside the socket for 10 seconds and blow it out. (Some of you greener plumbers should have your fire extinguisher nearby loool)
5. The inside should have softened enough to take a flat headed screwdriver or a similar tool to wedge in between the socket and the pipe and wedge it out POP.
You can file or sand any burn marks out, and as you get better you probably wont even get any burns.
Bloody awesome trick especially when you wanna take out a fitting put in another.

Ill add some more tricks in now and again, and thank you guys for all your great money and time saving ideas.
Cheers

good idea!

similarly if you find yourself fitting basins that custard has got from ikea or similar and the connections on the waste are a kind of spigot which won't go in a push fit, solvent or multi-kwik connector because its stupid continental tosh don't go running off to buy a whole new waste fitting, simply heat it with lamp then force it into multi-kwik compression fitting (minus nut and washer) plastic will shear off about 5 mm, repeat till the thinned out spigot is long enough to fit into the comp fitting full slip and you have saved some money and a trip out to the merchants.

 

[ollied]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Not sure theese have been posted up but i have a fewfor speedfit.

Always keep speedfit pipe in the bag it comes in or wrapped up in a sheet to keep it from getting battered in the back of the van.......many times has this been the cause of a mystery leak.

If demounting speedfit fittings make sure the grab ring goes back in the right way.............the wrong way round will grip the pipe for a few seconds then pop and water goes everywhere.

A 15mm/22mm copper pipeslice will cut speedfit very neatly, discovered this today when all i had in the roof cavity was a copper cutter.

Let a coil of speedfit warm up before laying it, cold speedfit is extremly springy! i find standing it infront of my halogen work light for a few minutes works a treat.

I have a 240v pond pump and 50mtr reel of lay flat fabric hose for draining down cisterns and cylinders. was peanuts from local garden centre in the middle of last winter

 

[ollied]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Be careful when working on gas plumbing and while drilling. In general be careful when you are working.

A pipe finder wall scanner thingie is a good investment, has saved my bacon a few times.

 

[Mr Flux]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

when draining radiators make sure that both rad valves are shutting off water before u crack open the nuts, do this by opening the bleeder if no water come out ur free to crack nuts open and drain away!!!!

 

[gasmarc]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

A wet and dry hoover does loads of jobs

 

[Darkcloud]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

If you see a piece of roofing slate lying around, stick it in the back of the van.
It can be used to caulk weeps on screwed steel, works every time.

 

[Darkcloud]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

When changing a toilet syphon I use my manometer hose to syphon the remaining
water into the pan.

 

[Darkcloud]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

When completing a steel job use your bottle to burn off the straggling
bits of hemp.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

When changing a toilet syphon I use my manometer hose to syphon the remaining
water into the pan.

its easier to use a sponge that way you dont swallow it

 

[Darkcloud]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Cat litter acts as an excellent oil spill kit and has an odour killer in it too.

 

[Guest123]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Use a wet vac and an absorbent mat. These mats soak up twice their volume in water. You can drain a radiator on to one and not leave a mark!

 

[LeakFinder's]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

When working with plastic pipes always carry empty shells and a permanent marker. You can mark the pipe using the empty shell. This will avoid you having to open and close joints to make sure they are fully seated.

 

[Darkcloud]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

With the larger tubs of flux if you heat up a bit of 15mm you can push a hole through
the lid so you can keep your brush in it.

 

[Darkcloud]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

When freezing copper I make an indent between the freeze and the cut
just to give it a bit of key if the plug starts to go.

 

[Darkcloud]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

If you're doing a cut and thread on minimum length with a set of prestos you
can actually turn the dies round in the head, just be careful you keep the head
square.

 

[Guest123]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Modern toilets are fitted to the floor with those horrible plastic brackets that are screwed into from the side of the toilet. I fit a piece of 4x2 timber the same width as the inside of the toilet and screw it down between the screw holes of the inside edge of the toilet, I then screw this into the floor and then fix the toilet down with a couple of stainless steel coach bolts atnd washers hrough the screw holes on the side. Never moves, even with fat custards.

Use a socket wrench to tighten the coach bolts.

 

[LeakFinder's]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

I find a handier way to do this is to fill a pint glass. Turn off the street stop. Wait five minutes and place the glass so that the tap outlet is in the water open the tap and if a leak is present it will syphon water from the glass . Another quick was is simple to turn off the stop and open the kitchen sink tap given the line was under pressure a small splurt should come from the tap when open. The simplest way is to buy a monument gauge and place it on the dishwasher or washing machine mains line and turn off the street stop. i prefer the more scientific approach p.s make sure the supplies are isolated to the header tanks.

 

[Kyle87]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

fix a toilet cistern to the wall using brass screws.......they wont rust and become a nightmare to remove.

 

[Guest123]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

fix a toilet cistern to the wall using brass screws.......they wont rust and become a nightmare to remove.

Stopped using brass screws a long time ago, they are just not strong enough and readily snap under pressure and can be a nightmare to remove. Use Stainless Steel screws and Stainless Steel coach bolts both with Stainless Steel washers. Extremely strong and very corrosion resistant, far better and much stronger than brass.

 

[Ted808]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Another tip for preventing pipes disappearing under the floor is to put a plastic snap shut type pipe clip on it above the floor, also holds it in place.

 

[dontknowitall]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

When draining heating systems, manually opening the zone valve(s) can help the process along (ditto when filling again.)

 

[GQuigley67]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

when removing an old combi boiler, strip it while its hung on the wall i.e remove heat exchanger, brass, copper pipe, pump. Discard pump keep the rest for scrap. This will now make boiler lighter to take off wall and once off the wall remove plate heat exchanger and any other inacessible part that is worth some money down the scrappie !

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

when removing an old combi boiler, strip it while its hung on the wall i.e remove heat exchanger, brass, copper pipe, pump. Discard pump keep the rest for scrap. This will now make boiler lighter to take off wall and once off the wall remove plate heat exchanger and any other inacessible part that is worth some money down the scrappie !

no this is how my old man does it on the rare occasions i am to busy to do a swap-over,i have a slightly different approach remove it whole,take it to the garage beat it with a sledge hammer it takes 10 minutes to remove all the scrap and its good for your cardiovascular system funny how people think differently

 

[kay-jay]

When coring a flue if it comes out in one piece keep it for sealing flue holes on future jobs involving a boiler relocation.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[WaterTight]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

When you're about to drain down a CWSC or F+E and look inside them to check there isn't much gunk about to be dragged down also have a peak to see if there is a nut and olive left on the bottom of the vent pipe. If there is you're possibly in for some fun with airlocks.

 

[Mr Flux]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

when you have a airlock in a vented central heating system pipework before you start taking radiators or connecting the mains up to flush it out, go to the pump close the 2 isolation valves and swap the pump around the other direction open the valves again and turn it on for about 30 seconds! This should cure ur airlock, could save you alot of time 🙂

 

[REDSAW]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

if you get an air lock in an open vent system, instead of scratching your head whip out the wet vac and stick it into the feed tank. suck up a vac full of water and the air-lock will dislodge due to the increased water movement.

if not, scratch your head and try the other methods.

 

[Dannypipe]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Remembered one just now, as I've just got in from this very situation.

You need to drain down a heating system, HW cylinder or in my case tonight a thermal store.

The drain off jumper/washer gets stuck in the valve. You need to get it out and the system is full of scorching hot water.

Put on a pair of marigold gloves as you attempt it. This way the very hot water won't affect you, and if the worse happens you can jam a thumb over the end and let it drain out.

What I did tonight was, prepare the remaining part of the valve by sticking a bit of ptfe on the thread. Use a pair of long nose pliers, and pry out the stuck jumper. Quickly thread in the remaining part of the valve (which seals due to the PTFE tape) allow to drain. Then repair/replace the faulty valve.

Simple thing to remember, but basically, carry some snug fitting marigolds in your van!

Only applies if you can't wait for the system to cool.

 

[mactatty]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

In a house, a garden tap is usually the lowest one for draining the cold pipework.

 

[mactatty]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

I only got one or two jobs from a tube of Leak Sealer before it went solid. Now I use a sealant paste like JetBlue or Plumblue - for leaks and also other joints that I would otherwise use PTFE tape for. I hardly ever use the tape now except for rad valve tails.

 

[mactatty]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

If you use Mapp gas for soldering, most of the mats around are for up to 600 degrees flames ie. propane-mix gases only. Monument OMAPP might be the best one, and it has a slit for putting round pipes. I tried one from B&Q which looks like the Dickie Dyer, but when it got a bit wet, the stuffing went into clumps inside, and I couldn't fluff them up again.
The best tip I was given for a heat mat was to get a piece of aluminium sheet, 200 by 150mm for instance, and this is great to use when you have nothing behind like painted skirting board, that could get damaged by heat going through the metal. So it's fine for under-floor and in airing cupboards. The sheet can be bent round pipework to stay in place. I got a srap sheet from a metal merchant and cut the piece I wanted out of it - I've used mine for years so its outlasted my heat mats. Maybe 1mm or so thick .