Any Plumbers here?

Windofchange

Hi all, 

I have been doing a lot of DIY today, and one of the jobs I had was to take some floorboards up to take a look underneath. Whilst doing this, I popped one of the radiator pipes out of its tee connector and got the obligatory face full of (thankfully) cold water. I rushed downstairs and turned off the boiler before draining the system, and will leave it as so tonight until I can get to the shops tomorrow.

My question is that I want to get a semi-permanent solution that will last me a month or so until such time as I can do the work to move the radiator and the associated piping. I was planning on buying one of these:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/compression-stop-ends-15mm-2-pack/65021

I am however now sure that I have enough length on the tee bit of the connector to get the compression ring over? Is this what you would suggest to do, or am I missing something? I'm not competent enough to blow torch a bit of copper pipe back into the tee connector, and not sure if you can do that anyway with one that has already been sealed? Any ideas? Picture attached of the pipe - the arrow points to where it popped out and the tee connector is a standard 15mm copper one. 

Mickey666

A fairly easy 'semi-permanent' solution would be to use some plastic push-fit parts to replace the failed Tee or just to 'stop-end' the open pipes.   I used these parts for some 'temporary' work to a bathroom before re-fitting it completely and that was a few years ago now but they've been fine all that time.  I'll get around to the re-fit eventually!

Have a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2rUYxchT8Y

grumbler

The stop end will fit the pipe, not the connector. You have either to solder or to cut out the connector and then add two compression couplers and a small piece of pipe between.

Owain_Moneysaver

You can't put a compression or any other sort of connector over the end of a solder ring fitting. You are going to have to solder a pipe into that solder ring tee, then a blank end, or cut it out completely and replace it with a coupler. 
You could probably replace the tee with a repair coupler such as this compression one or this speedfit one. You might need to cut the pipe to a particular length between the gap using a pipeslice. Or you could put a pushfit tee into the gap if you have sufficient play in the pipes to wiggle them. 

Windofchange

Thanks for the replies all. I have been looking at buying a blow torch and trying to de-solder the tee out of where it is and then replace it with a new plastic push fit one. I can then add a small bit of pipe and put a push fit end cap onto that? 

The pipe itself is in a bit of a hard to access nook. I won't be able to get any twisting force through the tee, and there is very minimal movement in the pipes laterally to allow for me to jiggle it about. I am willing to have a go, but have never tried this before so will get a plumber on speed dial I guess!?

grumbler

For any other type of connector the pipe surface has to be very good.

Even if you manage to de-solder the tee, cleaning the pipes from the solder will be not easy. IMO cutting is much simpler to do.

Windofchange

grumbler said:

For any other type of connector the pipe surface has to be very good.

Even if you manage to de-solder the tee, cleaning the pipes from the solder will be not easy. IMO cutting is much simpler to do.

Thanks. I think what I am going to do is to cut the pipes and then fit new push fit connectors and a small length of copper pipe to join that up. I have been looking at electric radiators, and I think I am going to get one of those now as it will save me a lot of hassle lifting floorboards etc. 

Rosa_Damascena

Windofchange said:

grumbler said:

For any other type of connector the pipe surface has to be very good.

Even if you manage to de-solder the tee, cleaning the pipes from the solder will be not easy. IMO cutting is much simpler to do.

Thanks. I think what I am going to do is to cut the pipes and then fit new push fit connectors and a small length of copper pipe to join that up. I have been looking at electric radiators, and I think I am going to get one of those now as it will save me a lot of hassle lifting floorboards etc. 

Are they not very expensive to run vs GCH?

Jeepers_Creepers

WoC, the simplest way to tackle this is as Owain Money says above. 

Get that compression repair union (it's extra long...), a small pipe cutter as shown and a small tub of Fernox Jointing compound.

Cut one horizontal pipe just where the solder ring ends so you have a clean copper pipe end to work with. Ditto the other end making sure your repair union is long enough to go over both for the repair (which it will).

Sit the union on top of the pipe ends and position it equally covering both pipes - make a felt tip mark there. When you actually fit the union, these marks will be your guide.

When the pipes are cut you should find that you can gently push the two ends sideways away from eachother so's you can slip this repair union on one end - realign the pipes and slip the union over the other end too - equally.

I'd normally do this by dismantling the union first, slipping a nut on to each pipe, adding a smear of Fernox over each pipe end, slipping on an olive each, adding a greater smear of Fernox over the olive and finally a further smear over the male end threads of the union - this will add as a lubricant. You'll need two adjustable spanners, or one adjustable and one wrench. Hold the union body steady and tighten one end nut checking when the olive 'bites' by seeing if you can still rotate the fitting on the pipe. When it bites, give it - ooh - one more full turn. Then do t'other end.

That's a 'repair'. 

To reinstate the rad later, you'll need a short length of pipe and some fittings. TBH, if you ARE going to keep the rad, then the thing to do right now is call in a plumber whole simply replace that solder tee with a fresh one - a dead easy job for him and by far the best solution.

Windofchange

Thanks for the above all. I ended up doing a lot of YouTubing and research, and decided to take the plunge this morning and buy a blow torch and some copper piping. I used a standard coupler for one end, and a slip coupler for the other end which had zero movement in the piping. I brought these with pre-soldered rings in so I didn't have to hold the solder with one hand. System re-pressurised about 2 hours ago and not a drip of water in sight, so I am assuming that I have done a good job as something would have gone pop by now? Central heating will come on in a few hours and I will see with the hot water running in the system that all is still tight and then assuming so, floorboards back down this weekend just to be extra sure. Feel like I have learned a useful new skill!

FreeBear

Solder joints are not too difficult. Just make sure the copper is clean and bright, smear flux over the tube before pushing it in to a fitting, and don't over heat the joint. Once cool, wipe down with a sponge soaked in water with a teaspoon or two of bicarb of soda (raid the kitchen for it). That will help neutralize the acid in the flux and prevent the copper from corroding.

If you do any other plumbing jobs, make sure the pipes are completely drained of any water and stopcocks/taps are not letting dribbles of water through - Water will conduct the heat away from the joint, and you'll never get it hot enough if there is even the slightest hint of water flowing.