This week's learning

hunnymonster

hunnymonster

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Little Feckwittering-on-the-Moor
Plastic plumbing is crap for horizontal runs. When we moved in here there was no outside tap, no issue, I bought the pipe, brackets tap, service valve etc. and installed all according to manufacturers recommendations. As usual before winter, I turned it off at the service valve and left the tap open so if it froze, it wouldn't burst the pipe. So far so good. It's worked well for the last 5 years or so.

Well over winter the pipe didn't freeze, but it did sag and pulled out one of the compression joints and bust one of the other fittings. Of course this only became apparent when I turned it on this morning halfway through washing the car to rinse off the shampoo.... then when I turned the outside tap off, the always wet side of the service valve started dripping too... so a Sunday morning trip to the local always-open-when-you-need-them builders merchant-cum-garden-centre-cum-café (Pearsons of Duns) to procure a new service valve and thinking I had a couple of 2m lengths of 15mm copper pipe to replace the horizontal run... turns out to be 22mm pipe. Oh well at least the leak is stopped and the rest of the job is a "dry" one which I can do the rest later in peace (I hope)

I hate plumbing!
 
Don't talk to me about plumbing. My shower packed in on thursday (got a new bathroom fitted about 4 years ago) and while having someone (SWMBO's brother in law) look at it, I find out that the bath was never sealed properly and now have a damp problem behind all the wall paper in the core of my house.
 
Talking about outside taps, as you do at half time in Man U v Liverpool matches, I had a hot, as well as a cold, outside tap put in when this house was built.
It's great during the winter months.
 
andyjreid said:
Don't talk to me about plumbing. My shower packed in on thursday (got a new bathroom fitted about 4 years ago) and while having someone (SWMBO's brother in law) look at it, I find out that the bath was never sealed properly and now have a damp problem behind all the wall paper in the core of my house.
Click to expand...

Urgh! Another reason to detest plumbing (and plumbers lol) - well my job is jobbed. Had a spot of amusement when I went to get the copper piping (it's now called tubing for some reason - or perhaps that's a Scottish thing to distinguish it from the pipes?) - the helpfully open on a Sunday local builders merchant for local people had none left, delivery Monday, so off to the local DIY shed (which is a branch of Homebase :( - with the staff they employ, it's more like an open version of HM Secure Hospital Carstairs) and miracle of miracles they actually had some, unusual for Homebase to have any actual items that aren't soft furnishings - I had to break a 10 pack open to get the two 2m lengths of 15mm pipe I wanted but never mind...

At the checkout the glaiky assistant (I've never experienced any other sort in there, I think they get an induction course on which way up to sit on the chairs at the tills) asked what it was... the two coppery looking tubes about 6'6" long, I wonder what it could possibly be???... anyway we managed to get down to the right items in the massive book of items without barcodes... then she turned around and said without any hint of irony or shock "that's £117.57 please" - for 4 metres of copper pipe ffs.

The guy behind me nearly wet himself laughing when I said "well now I know why there was no price on the shelf". Looked at the receipt and there it is - I've bought two 10-packs... Back to the big book of barcodeless items to see that there are two choices for copper tube 2m length / 15mm diameter and she'd managed to choose the wrong one - I can see exactly how 2 pipes could look like 20 - it's obvious they're employing people with compound eyes! :eek:
 
My outside tap has no service valve. It's just a bit of copper pipe run off the main line on the way up to the kitchen tap, ond out through the hole in the wall to the tap.

The tap freezes solid every frosty night, and all that I can do is tie some bubble wrap or other lagging on the outside exposed pipe and around the tap, and hope for the best.

It's has never burst though. I'm thinking that because the water in the pipe that sticks out through the wall is at mains pressure, it doesn't freeze. ?
 
Smell The Glove said:
It's has never burst though. I'm thinking that because the water in the pipe that sticks out through the wall is at mains pressure, it doesn't freeze. ?
Click to expand...

No, pressure shouldn't have too much effect on the freezing temp of water. It's more likely that either there's enough heat in the surroundings to keep it from freezing in the first place, the latent heat from the frozen water in the tap keeps it from freezing (not very likely, but hey...), or there's room for expansion in your system...
 
When we moved to out current house I bought one of those "Garden Tap kits" with the flexi hose and all that. Was piss poor pressure but it got the job done, OK slowly but I could wash the car and water the garden. However if I tried the pressure washer you seen it suck the hose flat as it could not get enough water. Recently we had our Kitchen refitted and I got the plumber to put in proper copper piping and use compression fittings, tap inside and service valve etc. The outside tap is now like a jet wash without the pressure washer, it is like night and day. It is well worth getting it done right.

I had never considered putting a hot tap outside, whats that for Fido? washing hands or to save you filling buckets at the kitchen sink? sounds like a good idea but thankfully I have easy access to kitchen for that but would consider it in future.
 
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