Copper Pipes and Plastic Fittings

Kenlen

Can anyone advise me on this....I have copper pipes in my house connected with copper fittings. Is this OK? I've been advised by a plumber that I need to get these fittings replaced, particularly the ones upstairs in the attic, because there's a strong chance they could split in the winter should the weather get bad, and he told me there should never be plastic fittings connecting copper pipes. He's saying it'll cost anything from €100 - €150 to get them replaced, and it could take about 2-3 hours, depends how many I get done. Should I take his advise and get it done or am I being had?

Joey the lips

It does not sound right to be honest. Can you post photographs of the fittings.

It would be simple to just lag the pipes and fittings and this would protect them from frost.

By plastic fittings i am guessing the plumber is refering to push fit thats why i need to see pictures

lomb

I think its ok to use plastic push fit on copper , in fact hepworth in the UK say its fine, but I wouldnt trust them personally. Copper compression fittings are much more secure on copper.

DublinDilbert

There is a bit of the, if it ain't broke don't fix it. If there not causing problems, I'd leave them till your getting other work done and things are drained etc...

I'm not fully convinced of the very long term longevity of these, but I'm no expert. There has been a few stories here about pipes freezing and pushing these off. But if the fitting hadn't of pushed off the pipe, it would of split somewhere else anyway.

As others has said, lag the pipes, make sure they don't freeze and you'll be grand.

Joey the lips

lomb wrote: »

I think its ok to use plastic push fit on copper , in fact hepworth in the UK say its fine, but I wouldnt trust them personally. Copper compression fittings are much more secure on copper.

You have just answered you question i imagine...:)

Solnskaya

Usually you will come across either brass bodied push-fit or plastic bodied push fits - the brass ones have plastic innards anyway, and both have a stainless steel high tensile toothed ring that retains the pipe, so it's much of a muchness. Compared to compression fittings, ice will press off a push on fitting easier-I replaced dozens and dozens last winter in the cold snap, many having caused thousands in damage when they gave way. But, equally I repaired just as many systems with copper compression fittings and soldered yorkshire fittings. In those cases, the pipes themselves burst. So, really it makes little difference. The crucial thing is to prevent the pipe from freezing in the first place, and I have found that lagging won't do the job. The important thing is to keep the ambient temperature of the room/rooms above freezing. If you do this, nothing will freeze and nothing will burst. In the case of important outdoor pipes I had good success with heated cables of the type used in Horticulture wrapped or taped along the pipe runs-eliminated freezing. In the case of indoor pipes, a heavy(and I mean heavy)covering of rockwool or other thick insulation seemed to work. So, don't sweat the fittings, spend your €200 on good insulation instead. And BTW, now is the time to get ready for winter, they say this one is gonna be cold, so install extra stop-valves so if somthing bursts, you can halt the flow no matter what the circuit, extra insulation, and invest now in a blowtorch for the sink press so you can thaw the ones that got away. A lot of people have upgraded their attic insulation recently, and this exacerbates the problem of attic tanks and pipes freezing, so look at getting a small electric heater for your attic space for when it really gets freezing- I spent a lot of last winter climbing into peoples frozen attics with a diesel blast heater to defrost the lot and this inevitably showed up burst pipes and tanks. A small heater would keep the attic above freezing and is a lot cheaper in the long run. Soln.

Billy Bunting

I winterize quite a few caravan annually and find that the plastic bodied push fits fittings do have a tendency to crack along their seem whether left with water in them or even if dry.

Sparkpea

I use plastic pushfit fittings onto copper all the time. I use them on plastic also. Yes theres a chance of them splitting in hard frost but theres as much chance of copper pipe splitting or a compression fitting blowing off. Each plumber has their own opinion on things and this is obviously his. If they are protected from frost and kept near heat then you'll be fine. You're in the same boat as thousands of people. Reality is you cannot guarantee anything with the past 2 winters frost.