What do people think of floplast pushfit fittings?

[beesley121]

Hi guys,

few years ago people where moaning how rubbish floplast pushfit fittings where as they got leaks. Just wondering if this has change, have the fittings got better or are they still a bad fitting?

thinking of using it on a full heating install as the price is attractive compared to hep or john guest

advice appreciated

 

[Ray Stafford]

<Watches with interest>

I am with Floplast's MD next Thursday, and can pass on any constructive feedback.

 

[lame plumber]

what has changed to make them a high quality company/product over the last few years then?

 

[julesverne]

Use these instead

Www.wundatrade.co.uk

cheaper than both hep and jg and a 50 year guarantee.

dont use a lot of plastic but use this when I do. It's good stuff

 

[CES]

I've been to countless leaks in new builds where a fitting has leaked, normally due to bad installation in the first place, but the number of other brands is considerably less than floplast. Maybe it's poorer quality seals?

 

[Irish]

Price shouldn't be what's attractive when it comes to this sorta thing, it's what you're confident in using for me it's either copper or else POLYPIPE nothing else

 

[Ray Stafford]

I've been to countless leaks in new builds where a fitting has leaked, normally due to bad installation in the first place, but the number of other brands is considerably less than floplast. Maybe it's poorer quality seals?

I find that there are two completely different reasons why cheaper materials lead to greater failure rates.

The first is genuine product issues - short cuts in quality control, using poorer quality materials, looser tolerances etc.

The second is that cheaper, unbranded products are often bought by people whose decisions are driven by price, and therefore they are also likely to hire cheap labour, and who, in a generous spririted moment, I might describe as being "on the margins of the profession".

In the second case, its hard to tell whether its the product at fault, or the thumbless flipwit who fitted it.

 

[zzzjim]

I

the thumbless flipwit who fitted it.

Who has now been told to pull his finger out , and speed up a bit !


Is it true that posher parts are easier / nicer to assemble ?

or just adjusting to matterials with a bit of appropriate lube !

 

[Toxic Ted]

Diplomacy is a gift Ray.......and you my son are blessed.

 

[jase158]

We use them on temporary plumbing for events, they are harder to push on and get in properly and near on impossible to remove.
Obviously we use them as cheaper and they do get bashed about and doesn't really matter if it leaks.

My advice to the rep ray is for a removal tool, something like the hep one but flat so it can be pulled off.
Admittedly we use the hep one but it doesn't quite fit.

oh and as for leaks, 1 in 10 leaks. pipe needs to be clean and straight, with hep and polyplumb you can get away with a bit of rigidness on pipe.

Oh and we dont use inserts as temporary it can get very expensive, so this may account for the 1 in 10 leaks!!

 

[Crinkmeister]

Diplomacy is a gift Ray.......and you my son are blessed.

"I might describe as being "on the margins of the profession"."

Does he mean plonkers?

 

[Ray Stafford]

Does he mean plonkers?

You may very well think that, but I couldn't possibly comment.

🙂

 

[IDCHAPPY]

Flop Last
Enough said :lol:

 

[Shednight]

I wouldn't go near them. Had a system pumped up using a test bucket to test for quite awhile. Installed the boiler then had a leak. The pipe came straight out of the fitting under wooden floor. Wasn't happy..

 

[solutions]

I wouldn't go near them. Had a system pumped up using a test bucket to test for quite awhile. Installed the boiler then had a leak. The pipe came straight out of the fitting under wooden floor. Wasn't happy..

Did it have the collet securing ring fitted?

 

[gasmanrob]

I've always viewed flo plast as a b and q last resort fitting, you know where you'd consider using that 5th hand "emergency" elbow that's been rolling about in the van for 3 years and looks like it might have a crack in it. Before using the floplast. Also their waste pipe really gets on my wick very nasty stuff.

personally I prefer Pollypipe

 

[beesley121]

I've done a 2 full installs with no problems

 

[Shednight]

Did it have the collet securing ring fitted?

It did yes.

 

[solutions]

It did yes.

Wow that is poor. I have fitted it before and it has been fine but its a pain to fit as those collet rings can be really tricky to slip on. I have noticed the grip teeth on the molded gripper ring inside are not as pronounced as on the jg. The all metal gripper rings definately bite and grip the pipe better but they can be a pain if you have to demount them.

 

[IDCHAPPY]

Thumbless flipwits, love it 😀

 

[kris]

Thumbless flipwits, love it 😀

hahahahaha

 

[Linkyplumb]

Floplast guttering and rainwater is good, as is their mdpe stuff. Their pushfit stuff is not so good.

 

[AWheating]

there svp pipe is about half the weight of osma and polypipe,

but it is about half the price, so hey get what you pay for springs to mind.

 

[Ray Stafford]

Well, I spent half a day at the Floplast plant in Sittingbourne yesterday, with Rob who is our senior buyer.

I'm not going to get into the ins and outs of individual fittings or personal experiences, but I have to say that I was blown away by the scale of the place, the degree of investment, and the attention to detail and quality.

My expectations were not high to be honest. I was expecting some fairly low tech sweatshop. What I saw was a modern, high-tech, super automated production facility covering literally acres. And they say we don't manufacture anything these days!

Very impressed.

 

[solutions]

Well, I spent half a day at the Floplast plant in Sittingbourne yesterday, with Rob who is our senior buyer.

I'm not going to get into the ins and outs of individual fittings or personal experiences, but I have to say that I was blown away by the scale of the place, the degree of investment, and the attention to detail and quality.

My expectations were not high to be honest. I was expecting some fairly low tech sweatshop. What I saw was a modern, high-tech, super automated production facility covering literally acres. And they say we don't manufacture anything these days!

Very impressed.

Good to know. Like the idea at least of buying nation made. No better long term way to keep quality up and cost down than modern automation.