Plastic mains water Pipe

alanobrien

One for the pro plumbers this i think :wave:

For reasons i wont go into (dont want to bore you all)
i want to run a cold water pipe across the kitchen by running it outside and along the wall.
Total external run is about 5 foot.
This will be for a boiler filling loop and nothing more.

I have never used plastic for mains plumbing but given this is an outside run i thought it may be a good idea given its potential for freezing in winter is far less than copper.

Anyway i know that PE-X pipe is not necessarily UV stable and can start to break down quite rapidly in sunlight. Then it struck me i have never actually seen any plastic water pipe surface plumbed externally so is this a regs no no ? :think:

If it is possible what type of plastic pipe is normally used outside on the surface? I have seen DIY shed stuff and the John Guest speedfit and that all appears to be PE-X apart from the blue underground MDPE stuff.

BTW I do appreciate you can't connect plastic pipe direct to the boiler _pale_

Anyway any advice on this greatly received, if i cant be sure about this then i will go with copper and get in some more soldering practice :whistle:

bestyman

Hi,
You are right that MDPE is for underground only. Running any pipe outside and exposed is not a good idea due to freezing , but if you must then fit a stoptap before the pipe goes outside and turn it off in winter and drain the pipe, insulate it wll and perhaps put it in a wooden boxing. I use hep 2O or speedfit, hep is slightly more flexible.Insulate it first then use say 1 1/2 clips to clip it to the wall.
To do the job right use MDPE burried 2foot 6 underground ( if outside the house) and bring it up inside the building - yeah its hard work and easier to run the pipe externally so the choice is yours. Could you not drop a pipe down from above? another option?


If the feed is just to top up the boiler it does not need to connect at the boiler it can connect anywhere. For example in the bathroom or kitchen you will have cold water and central heating pipes so why not do it this way? If the pipes are near fit 2 tees and a filling loop ( could fit another pressure gauge if you really wanted

For the perfect bodge fit a washing machine tap on a cold pipe and a washing machine tap on a rad pipe, but a really long washing machine hose and fill it that way .( to comply with regs a double check valve must be fitted and the hose not left connected). The only downside is you cannot see the pressure gauge at the same time as filling. )


If your feeling really lazy simply use the garden hose pipe ( big bodge)

All the above ways work, I admit some are better than others. If you just need to top the boiler up every 6 months then the choice is yours.

Paul

robowen

I agree with most of that.

Outside pipework must be insulated...copper or plastic.

No reason to have the filling loop sited at the boiler, you can have it anywhere. Just gets a bit more expensive to put a guage on it to see what the pressure is. Yeah you could do it without a guage but its best to see what your doing especially if its on another floor to the boiler.

and the last bit :whistle:

rob

< If you plan putting a filling loop away from the boiler, make a clear notice of this at the boiler so that any future owners or repairmen are aware of it >

alanobrien

bestyman wrote:

Hi,
You are right that MDPE is for underground only. Running any pipe outside and exposed is not a good idea due to freezing , but if you must then fit a stoptap before the pipe goes outside and turn it off in winter and drain the pipe, insulate it wll and perhaps put it in a wooden boxing. I use hep 2O or speedfit, hep is slightly more flexible.Insulate it first then use say 1 1/2 clips to clip it to the wall.
To do the job right use MDPE burried 2foot 6 underground ( if outside the house) and bring it up inside the building - yeah its hard work and easier to run the pipe externally so the choice is yours. Could you not drop a pipe down from above? another option?


If the feed is just to top up the boiler it does not need to connect at the boiler it can connect anywhere. For example in the bathroom or kitchen you will have cold water and central heating pipes so why not do it this way? If the pipes are near fit 2 tees and a filling loop ( could fit another pressure gauge if you really wanted

For the perfect bodge fit a washing machine tap on a cold pipe and a washing machine tap on a rad pipe, but a really long washing machine hose and fill it that way .( to comply with regs a double check valve must be fitted and the hose not left connected). The only downside is you cannot see the pressure gauge at the same time as filling. )


If your feeling really lazy simply use the garden hose pipe ( big bodge)

All the above ways work, I admit some are better than others. If you just need to top the boiler up every 6 months then the choice is yours.

Paul

Like the hose pipe, but surely i need jubilee clips as well ?
:rotfl:


To explain further all i need to do is go from one side of the kitchen to the other BUT without messing up some very expensive units.

Running it outside will really be a temporaryish solution until i redecorate the kitchen then i will re do it through the ceiling. Temporarish = at least 1 year though

I took a look at speedfit in BandQ today and to be honest found it a bit fiddly so i will probably go with copper, mainly because i have loads of fittings in the garage. It will be insulated and i will use isolating valves each end. After readiing your response i will also add a drain to empty it when not needed, this is an excellent idea.

Lots of good stuff there, many thanks bestyman much appreciated :T

alanobrien

robowen wrote:

I agree with most of that.

Outside pipework must be insulated...copper or plastic.

No reason to have the filling loop sited at the boiler, you can have it anywhere. Just gets a bit more expensive to put a guage on it to see what the pressure is. Yeah you could do it without a guage but its best to see what your doing especially if its on another floor to the boiler.

and the last bit :whistle:

rob

< If you plan putting a filling loop away from the boiler, make a clear notice of this at the boiler so that any future owners or repairmen are aware of it >

When i was first after quotes I recall one plumber telling me he could put it in the airing cupboard with a pressure gauge, never even occured to me you could put it anywhere other than with the boiler.

Methinks I will keep the filling loop in the cupboard with the boiler, i like to keep things as simple as possible.

Thanks for the comments.

plumb1_2

thought about running a pipe under your Kick-plates if you dont want to drill through the units etc.

if you want to run it outside you can wrap it with tracer cable(low voltage) and have it linked to a frost stat.

alanobrien

plumb1 wrote:

thought about running a pipe under your Kick-plates if you dont want to drill through the units etc.

if you want to run it outside you can wrap it with tracer cable(low voltage) and have it linked to a frost stat.

Yes thought about the kick plates but i still have to cross the kitchen door up and over or below ugly either way so outside it is.

Good point on the low voltage wrap though, forgot about that, i will be off to TLC at lunnch time to take a look tomorrow....thanks.