plastic, whats the best?

[jase158]

Hi all, i know this has been covered before but what is the best plastic?

Is it jg speedfit or floplast or another?

and which is best for connecting to copper as need to tee off of copper.

I am a strict copper person normally but need a temporary connection for a person, with minimal cost, as very low pressure to bathroom.

 

[JCplumb]

I never used to trust pushfit, but have been using John Guest the last year or so when necessary. Not had any problems yet.

 

[dancinplumba]

sys ! sys where are you ? tell em

 

[SafeGasInstall]

poly plumb all the way

 

[SimonJohns]

I like the old hep but they don't make it anymore. So tectite is my new fav. But it is expensive

 

[Resolute]

I've used JG before without probs but if low pressure is a prob it'll be worse with plastic due to the smaller internal bore!

 

[Dannypipe]

Poly Plumb.

If you're not sure whether a joint has pushed home, you can dismantle it and check it, then re-assemble it properly.

With JG, you can do the same, but it's more of a pain...with Hep they now have these inserts with teeth, so you can rotate the fitting and if you feel it grind, you know it's pushed home. Which sounds great until you start using the stuff. Major ball ache.

Flo Plast is cheap N cheerful. Don't really rate it, though I have used it in the past without issue. (Have some in my own house).

Tectite is great but expensive.

Think that about covers all the UK products..

As you can tell, I have no issues with using plastic pipe!

 

[jase158]

I've used JG before without probs but if low pressure is a prob it'll be worse with plastic due to the smaller internal bore!

sorry should of explained bit better, pressure to kitchen is fine (hot) pressure to bathroom is poor, due to long run of pipe, old pipe and possibly taps.

 

[Dannypipe]

I liked the old Hep Si, but Poly Plumb is much the same thing.

The new white stuff just doesn't dismantle well. Even with the free tool they give you.

 

[dancinplumba]

pex or polybutylene even

 

[dancinplumba]

which expands in length the most ?

 

[SimonG]

Speed fit is the plastic of choice for me. Don't like hep, the pipe just doesn't seem right.

 

[jase158]

for future reference, if you were going to buy pipe, which pipe would suit all fittings or is it a case of only buying the fittings that are correct for the pipe?

 

[Dannypipe]

which expands in length the most ?

Don't know, but they do shift when you fill them up don't they?!

I do quite a bit of work in offices, running water supplies to the water coolers and coffee machines up in the suspended ceiling.

They nearly always want it done in plastic as it's cheaper and quite often you can do the whole run with two or three joints. Anyway, when you fill them up, in starts to all shift. (I cable tie the pipe in the racks, you can't clip it).

 

[Dannypipe]

Most makes of fittings (main stream) will work with most makes of pipe.

However that's not how it should be done, and I personally never mix makes. If I have to button onto another make of plastic, I prefer to go back to copper tube, and then onto my choice of pushfit.

 

[dancinplumba]

one expands more in length than the other when its heated

 

[Dannypipe]

Yeah, I'm sure it does as they're rated differently. I just don't know which one expands more.

Do you?

 

[dancinplumba]

lol yes , but av forgot lol its either pex or pb lol

 

[Dannypipe]

lol yes , but av forgot lol its either pex or pb lol

LOL - it's either pex or pb. Well that clears that up then!! Ha.

I thought you were testing us and knew all along! LOL.

 

[dancinplumba]

honestly av forgot

 

[Dannypipe]

Well I'm sure someone will know. I don't know either!! Sorry mate.

Tamz (AKA Yoda) will know.

 

[dancinplumba]

its pex !!

 

[SimonG]

It's the one that's more flexible, used for ufh. That's the one that expands the least.

 

[Dannypipe]

So you did know!! LOL.

It all expands, Pex, Pb, Cu expands quite a bit too you know!!

 

[dancinplumba]

true danny, forgot why i brought the subject up now lol

 

[Dannypipe]

Just chewing the cud mate.

Besides it's good to know this stuff.

I had a long run of plastic pipe, that shifted all over the place when I ran the hot water through it. I'd clipped it every meter, but it had more waves than brighton beach.

So it's good to know these things.

 

[Howsie]

Polyplumb all the way.

 

[dancinplumba]

check this out
Heat expansion of PEX tubing - Straight Dope Message Board

 

[Dannypipe]

Yeah, read it. That's bad. It's an American forum and they're talking about baseboard heating. I have no idea what tempretures they're talking about but could be high.

Never had any issues as bad as that.

I have had to fit an expansion loop on a long run of copper.

 

[JCplumb]

I was reading this at about 1am last night and realised I hadn't used Polyplumb before so had a quick shufters on their website, theres a bit at the side (I think) that says 'request a sample', so I filled it in.
3 o'clock this afternoon I got a delivery of a 15mm coupler, a stop end, a bonny key ring and a brochure.
Gave the keyring to my youngest lad, but the coupler and stop end will come in handy, delivered in 14 hours and free - I'm impressed

 

[goz666]

I like the convenience of using plastic but have had two incident's now with fitting's blowing off under pressure. First time I had used JG speedfit in a house extension for new rad runs, put the new boiler in, filled up and commissioned no probs then all of a sudden 'boom' water all down a new studded wall cut a hole in the new floor above and found a 15mm JG tee was off on one side.
Upon closer inspection I found the steel grab ring from inside the fitting was missing...gutted...but it was new and had no furniture or decorating done so easy clean up and fitting replaced.

Second time exactly the same in an extension that was being converted into a garage and extra room, stood right underneath a 22mm tee with my mate and that went boom under 1.5 bar and heating on full whilst commissioning and testing, lucky we jumped away and again no damage due to being new build, this time I was using polyplumb and AGAIN an internal steel grab ring missing from a brand new fitting. So am wary now, maybe I should've gone through all the fittings first when I bought them but should we need to ???
Anyway i like polyplumb it's much more flexible, and you can buy the internals on their own and reuse the fitting's if you ever take any off.

 

[AWheating]

polyplumb is my fav, its non demountable so the grap rings are alot stronger than most. The new hep2o is also quite good. JG Speedfit is good also but tend to be slightly higher in price than most.

 

[Bubblecraft]

I like the new Hep2o. Nice and easy to remove with the keys & you know when it's fully inserted with the new ridged inserts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - Couple a' Tools

 

[gravytrain]

alway use speedfit personally. once you start with one you end up with loads of fittings on the van
which encourages you to stick to that brand.

 

[Veggie Dave]

First time I had used JG speedfit in a house extension for new rad runs, put the new boiler in, filled up and commissioned no probs then all of a sudden 'boom' water all down a new studded wall cut a hole in the new floor above and found a 15mm JG tee was off on one side.
Upon closer inspection I found the steel grab ring from inside the fitting was missing

Speedfit don't have steel grab rings, unless there's a new design I don't know about. Hep fittings have them and are the only fittings I've ever had blow off. JG have never let me down so that's what I stick with.