Rotating chrome pipework: would it leak?

[amfisted]

Afternoon all

I had occasion to swap a heated towel rail in our bathroom today. Straight replacement of an old version, using the same pipework. Had great difficulty releasing the compression nut underneath one of the chrome valves and whilst doing so, the vertical chrome pipe turned about 90 degrees when I was trying to hold the valve with one spanner and turn the nut with another. I'm assuming that those chrome pipes are attached underneath the floor to the rest of the system via plastic elbows, otherwise there surely wouldn't be so much movement, so I'm keeping an eye on the boiler pressure in case the pipe movement has created any leaks.

Is it feasible, however, that the chrome pipe could have rotated that much in its plastic joint without leaking? I'm not too familiar with plastic fittings, my only experience being fitting a new kitchen tap for my daughter using reinforcers inside plastic pipework then attaching it via a copper compression fitting to copper pipework.

Edit: I haven’t lifted any boards to check because it’s laid with stone tiles over a suspended floor. However I can remove them if I need to, because we’re refurbing the bathroom later this year.

 

[terryplumb]

Chrome plated copper pipes should not be used with push fit fittings ,unless all the chrome is removed from it where it enters the fitting .

 

[aveatry]

Chrome plated copper pipes should not be used with push fit fittings ,unless all the chrome is removed from it where it enters the fitting .

Is that because they are slightly different size or that they can slip in the fitting being all chromey and shiny - like has been experienced here

 

[terryplumb]

The chrome plating is very hard,not soft like copper. Push fit fittings have a metal grab ring ,or small metal tabs, that dig into plastic and copper pipes to prevent them coming out of the fitting. They cannot grip into the hard chrome.
Plastic and copper pipes can be turned /rotated a bit in push fit fittings, and still remain leak free.

 

[amfisted]

The chrome plating is very hard,not soft like copper. Push fit fittings have a metal grab ring ,or small metal tabs, that dig into plastic and copper pipes to prevent them coming out of the fitting. They cannot grip into the hard chrome.
Plastic and copper pipes can be turned /rotated a bit in push fit fittings, and still remain leak free.

Thanks for that. No idea what fittings have been used under the bathroom floor, but I’ll monitor for pressure drop and if needs be, I’ll expose the pipes.

 

[gas112]

yep as per terry you better hope the chrome has been removed if it goes into push fit
IF still chromed they can stay on for years and suddenly slip off

 

[amfisted]

yep as per terry you better hope the chrome has been removed if it goes into push fit
IF still chromed they can stay on for years and suddenly slip off

If it is “chrome into pushfit”, I’ll change the fitting for metal compression. I’ve got one of those endoscope thingies, so I’ll enlarge the pipe hole in the floor, poke the endo down there and see what turns up.

 

[robinbanks]

Incidentally, the seal in a push fit fitting comes from a rubber o-ring and should be reliable even if the pipe is rotated post assembly. Where unreliability creeps in tends to be from not deburring pipes before assembly, causing damage to the ring. Sometimes a joint can be fine with a damaged ring because of the way gravity/bends affect the joint, applying the right pressure to the damaged part to maintain a seal, then something happens, the joint is moved and it starts leaking at the damaged part because whatever pressure was sealing it up before has changed

 

[Elsa TLC]

Showing the carpenter and shower room we are doing , and my mate told him about all the chrome radiators tails we had to replace while crawling a rat invested floor.

''I didn't know that'' he said. ''The plumber done just that under the floor we have just tiled.''

He spoke to the plumber asking if he knew that he shouldn't use chrome and push fit together.

''Yea but I thought it would be alright''
Eeeor

 

[amfisted]

Showing the carpenter and shower room we are doing , and my mate told him about all the chrome radiators tails we had to replace while crawling a rat invested floor.

''I didn't know that'' he said. ''The plumber done just that under the floor we have just tiled.''

He spoke to the plumber asking if he knew that he shouldn't use chrome and push fit together.

''Yea but I thought it would be alright''
Eeeor

We bought this bungalow in May 2022. Since then I've painstakingly worked my way through it, correcting the bodges of the previous owner where possible within the limitations of my DIY ability and where those abilities fell short, employing tradesmen. It was a rental property before we bought it, and its clear that everything done to make it ready for renting was for legal purposes only, and not "pride in a job well done". Given the amount of movement in the pipe that there was yesterday ( and now that I know its not a good idea) it wouldn't surprise me if they've "chromed into pushfit" here as well.

 

[amfisted]

Well, I drilled a hole in the floor ( we're replacing it later this year) and got my endoscope down there. The good news is that there's no plastic--its one of those old fashioned knurled connectors in brass, with 10mm copper into one end and 15mm chrome tails out of the other. No sign of any leaks, though hard to be sure given the not-terribly-clear images, but I'll check, tighten or if necessary replace after we take up the flooring. Still beats me how the chrome pipe has managed to rotate 90 degrees in the connector without leaking.

 

[terryplumb]

"old fashioned knurled connector" ?? A compression fitting maybe ?

 

[Elsa TLC]

Compression fitting are not ideal under floors if they are not easy accessible

 

[amfisted]

"old fashioned knurled connector" ?? A compression fitting maybe ?

Admittedly I’m no plumber, but I haven’t seen one of those for a while. All my recent encounters with compression fittings have been of the “flat faced” variety.

 

[terryplumb]

Pity you can't show us a pic