UFH help - ever seen pipe like this?

[groubear]

Hi All,

I have underfloor heating that was in place when we moved in, but the pipe is like nothing ive seen (or anyone else has).

Photo is attached, its made of hard rubber and has 3 cores and where it is joined or meets a manifold it uses crimps..... the trouble is, now I need to join some of this pipe and cant find anything that will work.


Thanks for any Ideas...

 

[GeorgeNewman]

Hi groubear,

You may have old Kee Triple Tube UFH pipe. Have a look at this forum blog, and see if the description corresponds with your setup:

http://www.ebuild.co.uk/topic/4371-problems-with-nu-heat-underfloor-heating/page__st__20

It appears there are deterioration issues with this type of piping.

Hope this helps,

George

 

[groubear]

Thanks George,

You've depressed me ... but I think you are spot on. the description sounds like the pipe I have. Ive gone from a minor inconvenience to having a potential nightmare

Appreciate the fast response and you are the first person in a few months to come up with any idea

Cheers

 

[Roger928]

Know a guy who had that rubbish installed in the early nineties into a classy new build 5 bedroom home. Not sure how it panned out.
Just remember people talking about it and the trouble it caused.
Easy to get caught out when purchasing a new property.
And that link makes for depressing reading.

 

[muggles]

Looks like the stuff NuHeat used to use, it's absolutely awful, sell the house before it leaks

EDIT just read the link, which at least confirms my ID skills!

 

[brixtonia]

I have a kee triple pipe system fitted. It has been operating since 2003 and is fine although we have been very careful not to have anything ferrous in the system and were careful not to have any of the tube under stress.

Unfortunately, it did recently spring a leak at a manifold (I think it was actually the naifold itself) and the plumber snapped a nipple (which the pipe fits onto) off the manifold whilst inspecting it.

Does anyone have any idea where I might get a 6 port manifold for this size of pipe? The triple red pipe dimensions are outer 9.5mm inner 5.6mm approx. I think the main supply to the manifold is 28mm.

 

[brixtonia]

As it turns out Nu Heat sell repair / conversion kits for the old Kee pipework so that it can fit onto newer manifolds. Problem solved. They were very helpful.

As regards the pipes being leaky, mine has been in since 2003 and there is no sign of any degradation, even around the manifold connections where the pipework is under most stress. Obviously there is nothing ferrous on the system and I keep the temperature down to 50C. I'm feeling a whole lot more confident about the system now. Touch wood.

 

[Altaf]

I have a kee triple pipe system fitted. It has been operating since 2003 and is fine although we have been very careful not to have anything ferrous in the system and were careful not to have any of the tube under stress.

Unfortunately, it did recently spring a leak at a manifold (I think it was actually the naifold itself) and the plumber snapped a nipple (which the pipe fits onto) off the manifold whilst inspecting it.

Does anyone have any idea where I might get a 6 port manifold for this size of pipe? The triple red pipe dimensions are outer 9.5mm inner 5.6mm approx. I think the main supply to the manifold is 28mm.

Did you manage to locate a manifold for this type of key triple pipe? I have a leaking manifold.

 

[brixtonia]

Did you manage to locate a manifold for this type of key triple pipe? I have a leaking manifold.

NuHeat technical sorted out how to put together a replacement which works fine.

 

[Altaf]

Hi Brixtonia, Thank you for your response. Are you able to share some pictures of the replacement NuHeat technical put together for you. I've called them a few times but they don't seem to know what to do. My system is springing leaks at the manifolds and I don't know what to do.

 

[muggles]

Given that the original thread here is 8 years old, and NuHeat have now been sold off to another company, it's not entirely surprising they aren't able to provide support for this any more. New manifolds and adapters are probably going to be your best option short of replacing the whole system

 

[Altaf]

Given that the original thread here is 8 years old, and NuHeat have now been sold off to another company, it's not entirely surprising they aren't able to provide support for this any more. New manifolds and adapters are probably going to be your best option short of replacing the whole system

Thanks Muggles. Yes I'm trying to get new manifolds and adapters, if possible. Brixtonia replied last year and his replacement manifolds are working fine. The adapters are the issue as we need to make 3 smaller pipes into one larger pipe. Individual adapters are still available from NuHeat. Hence, I would love to see how Brixtonia adapted the system to a new style manifold.

Putting a new system would be a nightmare as it's over 3 floors and 3 different types of floors. Lower Ground floor would be easiest to replace as it's laid on top of a concrete floor, underneath a ply floor with wooden flooring on top. The Ground floor is within screed, with marble and granite floor tiles on top. The first floor pipes were screwed to the bottom of the floorboards between the joists and plasterboard. Manifolds are in the lower ground floor.

I'd have to pretty much strip the whole house to get it all replaced. It's a large 7 bedroomed house with 3 generations living in it, with my parents and children.