Replace stop tap

[murdock]

My house is about 35 years old and i need to replace my dodgy stop tap.
The pipe coming into the property is black polyethylene
How can tell if its MDPE or LDPE and will it be metric or imperial. Also what adapters will i need to put a 22mm stop tap on.

 

[pathfinder]

MDPE (Medium Density) is coloured blue for water services. The black pipe you have is the imperial size - probably 3/4".

I would suggest that you purchase a 25mm Pushfit Stop Cock together with a couple of converter kits. The converter kit comprises of a 3/4" Grip ring and 'O' ring. You will need to remove the grip rings and 'O' rings from the stop cock (prise out with a screwdriver) which are metric and replace them with the imperial sets.

If you intend relaying your side of the service with ne MDPE (blue pipe) then you only need to replace one set.

This is assuming your black pipe is 3/4". If it is 1/2" then you will need a 20mm stop cock etc and it is your boundary stop cock.

If it is your internal i.e garden/building then I suggest getting a pushfit/compression stop cock

 

[keego]

Be careful there were 2 different classes of pipe used for water, C class & I think the other was D. Same size pipe but different wall thickness so the inserts are different. If your lucky you might find it stamped on the pipe but this was only done every meter, I'd go for C class as that was the most common but be prepared for another trip to the merchants just in case.

 

[murdock]

Thanks for the advice mates now i can do the job

 

[leakydave]

As a plumber, I always cut a short piece of the old pipe (where poss) and take it to the merchants so they can see the width, thickness etc of pipe so I get the right fitting...

plumb center etc not so hot on some older fittings... I always go to a 'family firm' who have every type of every pipe fitting in one of their many wooden drawers, for these fittings.