Use of flexible hoses in central heating system

[BrianCuttell]

When investigating a problem (some radiators seeming to not work) in my Central Heating system I found some flexible hose used.

An 8 metre channel runs in a straight and level line under the floor, in this channel are 4 22mm pipes.
Each pipe has in its middle a flexible connector (stainless steel mesh), is this some sort of good practice for thermal expansion?
When I investigated I found that the connectors had an internal bore of only about 10mm!, not surprisingly it was here that the blockage occured.

So questions
Are these flexible hoses present for a good reason?
Should I replace them with Copper?
Should I replace them with flexible hose that has an internal bore of 19mm?

Any thoughts [/img]

 

[nickso]

its certainly unusual....

you sound competent....if you can see no reason for them to be there then just pipe them out.

 

[oilman]

you sound competent....

so do many posters on here...........

 

[Onetap]

Are these flexible hoses present for a good reason?
Should I replace them with Copper?
Should I replace them with flexible hose that has an internal bore of 19mm? [/img]

Thermal expansion, I'd think, about 8mm difference in length betwen 20 and 80 degC. You could design them out with expansion loops or the layout of the pipes might make them unnecessary.

If you cut them out, do let us know if the system suddenly springs a leak.

Flexible hoses aren't expansion compensators. Many flexible hoses aren't suitable for use as flexible hoses.