Wavin Piping

Bettyboop

Hi just a question for anyone who might know! I have had 3 plumbers
to my house to put another mixer shower on my bath but none of
them will touch it because of the wavin pipes. I opted for an electric shower
as I thought with immersion in press beside the bath it wouldn't be too much
work, however seems my hot press may have to come out. My current mixer
taps just need new spindles as I have had to use vice grips to turn them on and off as the on/off knobs are gone. :pac: easy fix would be new spindles but was told they are obsolete not exactly sure what size they are but dont look antique to me . So what is it with wavin that makes all plumbers run for the hills?? Any advice appreciated.

TPM

wavin water pipes are not that common, they may not have seen it before, and if they have they know how hard it is to work with.

i would think it should be possible to get inserts (spindles) for your existing taps

my3cents

Are these the pipes that have solvent welded joints?

TPM

thats what i am thinking they are

K.Flyer

Bettyboop wrote: »

Hi just a question for anyone who might know! I have had 3 plumbers to my house to put another mixer shower on my bath but none of them will touch it because of the wavin... [...]
So what is it with wavin that makes all plumbers run for the hills?? Any advice appreciated.

Not many (especially younger lads) are familiar with 3/4" and 1/2" wavin water pipe.
Its easy enough to work with, but can be fragile and there are not many places that stock the adaptors.

Wearb

Is it that red/orange piping? If so, I have all my heating done with it. It uses standard instantor fittings, but with special inserts.
I have some inserts left, thought they were unavailable now. Who stocks them?
I can't blame plumbers for avoiding them. I ran into lots of problems. All caused by wavin using a guillotine to cut them into 20' lengths. The guillotine invisibly crushed the ends and caused a 1" long split at the end, and that leaked. The solution was to cut 2" off the ends before using.
24,years ago. It didn't remain popular for long. Acorn was next. My system still ok. Fingers crossed.

K.Flyer

I thought O.P. was referring to the old dull grey hard plastic pipe. Used I think in the 70s and early eighties but usually only on the cold runs.
Terrible stuff. But adapters can still be found, I think I might still have a couple in a box somewhere.

Wearb

K.Flyer wrote: »

I thought O.P. was referring to the old dull grey hard plastic pipe. Used I think in the 70s and early eighties but usually only on the cold runs.
Terrible stuff. But adapters can still be found, I think I might still have a couple in a box somewhere.

He probably was referring to that stuff. The pipes that I fitted didn't last long on the market, probably due to the problem mentioned in my post, something that was easily resolved. But by then the rot had set in in peoples minds to keep away from it.
The pipes that I fitted were the same colour as the soil pipe. It did mean a reduced bore, so you had to oversize a little, well I did anyway.

TPM

K.Flyer wrote: »

I thought O.P. was referring to the old dull grey hard plastic pipe. Used I think in the 70s and early eighties but usually only on the cold runs.

I've seen it in mobile homes as well, as it ages it gets more brittle and every time you go near it you run the chance of it cracking

machiavellianme

Have the black plastic wavin for a lot of outdoor runs and it's great stuff. Very easy to work with (until it bursts and is only good for driving cattle). The indoor stuff is easy to use too providing you've the adaptors.

For the love of God, don't use the vice grips to turn the taps. You'll wear down the grooves on the stems and no spindles will work on them after.

Wearb

Wearb wrote: »

Is it that red/orange piping? If so, I have all my heating done with it. It uses standard instantor fittings, but with special inserts.

Here is a 3/4" example of the stuff I used.