Are copper push fit connectors any good?

[muffking]

I've never seen these before, but wish I had

I had to re-do the supply to my 2nd toilet today due to constant leaks in the compression joints, but as I have chrome pipes I had to renew the joints, which was a pain of a job to to poor access.

I've used plastic push fit connections before which are great, but I just wondered if copper ones were any good. Or better still, if you can get them in chrome.

http://www.screwfix.com/cats/101595/Plumbing/Copper-Push-Fit

 

[powell30]

My experience is that provided the joints are not out of alinment they work as well as any other way to joint copper.....but i think they are not as forgiving as some other methods if your joint doesn't marrying up well (say due to a middle of run repair or awkard connections)

 

[TicklyT]

I'm not too sure the grab rings will 'bite' into chromed pipes as well as they should.

 

[larrytheleak]

muffking
i use hep20 plastic fittings quite a lot depending on routes hidden or not etc etc
i do not use them on chrome pipe as hardness of chrome finish stops barbs from biting & making a good joint
if the two bits of pipe you are jointing cannot move apart it might be ok

 

[muffking]

muffking
i use hep20 plastic fittings quite a lot depending on routes hidden or not etc etc
i do not use them on chrome pipe as hardness of chrome finish stops barbs from biting & making a good joint
if the two bits of pipe you are jointing cannot move apart it might be ok

bugger. I've got a plastic push fit elbow hidden behind the toilet where the chrome pipe finishes off before leading up to the cistern. I'll keep an eye on it as it hasn't leaked so far. The damn compression type isolating valve keeps losing a drop every few hours on the supply side though.

 

[Kev F]

completed 150 social houses using the copper tectite push fit. worked really well although the m and f elbows cant be cut down and also never use any push fit on chrome it states it in all push fit spec that they dont grab the pipe

 

[gigz]

Dont want to worry you but they tend not to leak, but they can blow off when water pressure changes

 

[muffking]

What I've done so far is to give the plastic push fit elbow a damn good tug on both sides to check its grab stregnth. It doesn't seem to want to release so I'm hopng that it will last, otherwise I'll have to swap it r a compression type.

How about sanding off the chrome plating where the push fit connector coversto reveal the copperfor it togrip on to?

 

[namsag]

Muffking got a mate who has just had to have new ceilings etc pushfit on chrome that had been in over a year slid off during the day with no one in the house.

 

[muffking]

It's not looking good is it.
I'll turn the isolating valve off overnight & get a compression elbow in the morning. It's not a big job, just a pain to get to the joint.

 

[megawatt]

This technology (like many) started life decades ago in the aircraft industry on high pressure pipelines.

The higher the pressure the better they seal and you are far more likely to have problems where there are major fluctuations in pressure particularly on the low side.

MW

 

[Kev F]

every time we 1st fix a house we have to pressure test the whole system at 2 bar then 10 bar. Quite often a few months later you get leaks. Like an earlier comment they do seem better at higher pressure

 

[Softus]

every time we 1st fix a house we have to pressure test the whole system at 2 bar then 10 bar. Quite often a few months later you get leaks.

Why do you get leaks!

 

[megawatt]

Don't ask daft questions Softus

Act of God?

MW

 

[Softus]

Act of God?

I've never seen a leak that hasn't had an identifiable cause, so this is a serious question.

If someone is saying that they've installed push-fit fittings (which is implied, but not stated), and had a leak much later on, then it's either a failed component or wrong installation. Since I've installed thousands of push-fit fittings without any of them leaking, I know that it's possible to do it right.

It's not rocket science.