Isolating pipe left by outside tap

simonsmithsays

Hello

The previous owners of our house have left us this:

A black pipe supplying an outside tap which was leaking due to the pipe being split and the tap broken too.

The outside tap isn't able to be isolated from anywhere apart from the stop tap supplying the house by the water meter in the drive.

We aren't bothered about having the outside tap as the black pipe is really exposed to the elements no matter how much we insulate it or box it up - it's at least 20 years old.

So after we remove the tap we are really. struggling to find a fitting / stop end to blank the pipe off.

John Guest 15mm Speedfit stop ends are just a touch too small and of their next one is 22mm.

A leaky outside tap means no water for the whole house as we have to isolate in the drive.

Someone has told us the pipe maybe Alkathene?

Thanks so much in advance

Nobbie1967

Could it be 3/4” pipe, in which case maybe one of these is worth a go?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254890645562?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=anwDqWN7RoS&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=bm3GNDcwRm6&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

greyteam1959

It's the old black alkathene pipe.
Now replaced by blue pipe
Have a read here.
You should be able to get some fittings at Toolstation or Screwfix that would do.
https://www.stevensonplumbing.co.uk/black-alkathene-pipe-fittings.html

Simonon77

If its old it could be an imperial fitting. See if you can get a tap to fit that size, cut off the split part and leave the tap on there just turned off? 

Edit to say it looks like it is 17mm which was commonly used by the council in the past, so you would want a 17mm to 15mm coupler, then you can put a small length of copper tube on and an end cap

Simonon77

This should work

https://www.ringwayplumbing.co.uk/product/plumbing-and-heating/pipe-fittings/lead-locks/poly-york-pvc-x-copper-1-2-x-15mm-complete-with-liner/

simonsmithsays

greyteam1959 said:

It's the old black alkathene pipe.
Now replaced by blue pipe
Have a read here.
You should be able to get some fittings at Toolstation or Screwfix that would do.
https://www.stevensonplumbing.co.uk/black-alkathene-pipe-fittings.html

Thanks for the response @greyteam1959

Remeasurement again and it could be 16-17mm OD and 11-12mm ID.

Section62

simonsmithsays said:

Someone has told us the pipe maybe Alkathene?

Alkathene probably. Used to be joined using brass compression fittings with special copper olives.

Now replaced by MDPE.  Possibly a 20mm fitting would work on your pipe, but I'm not sure.

Edit:  If it is 3/8" Alkathene the OD would be about 17.1 to 17.5mm.  You'd need an adaptor to use with a modern pipe size.

simonsmithsays

Simonon77 said:

If its old it could be an imperial fitting. See if you can get a tap to fit that size, cut off the split part and leave the tap on there just turned off? 

Edit to say it looks like it is 17mm which was commonly used by the council in the past, so you would want a 17mm to 15mm coupler, then you can put a small length of copper tube on and an end cap

Thanks for the response @Simonon77 but the pipe has split once and is so exposed (a foot length of water outside in an aged pipe in a rural location on a South facing wall) will blow again we think - no matter the insulation.

The 17mm to 15mm coupler is an option to investigate.

simonsmithsays

Nobbie1967 said:

Could it be 3/4” pipe, in which case maybe one of these is worth a go?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254890645562?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=anwDqWN7RoS&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=bm3GNDcwRm6&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Appreciate the response but the OD looks to be just over 15mm though?