re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!
Always carry a 15 & 22mm speedfit stop end in your tool box. You don't want to make a mad dash to the van in case you need one in a hurry.
Don't over tighten compression fittings as you will crimp the olive too tight and it will weep.
Get into the habit of photographing work as you do it. Especially hidden pipe runs, and concealed work in general. It will make your life much easier if you ever have to revisit a job in the future.
Don't rely on a thermostatic rad valve to hold back the water. It may cool down in the room later and open up. Make sure you either cap the supply with a small length of 15mm pipe and a speedfit stop end, or use the correct cap on the valve head to completely close the valve.
A scaled up manometer can be cleaned with a bleach solution, left to soak over night. Flush through the next day and it will be nice and clean. I now fill mine with a Rothenberg fluid which never leaves a mark and is coloured.
If you're on a job, late call out and you don't have the appropriate circulating pump to replace one that's not working....try isolating the supply and removing the head (have something to catch the water) then clean and grease the insides. Can be done in 10 minutes and will often get a pump working again until you can return the next day with a new one.
Another tip is to practise things like above with any parts that you remove, that way when you're on site you'll be able to do it with your eyes closed.
Buy a wet vac, they can be used to remove airlocks, clean dirty F & E tanks, and catch water when it's too awkward to have a deep bowl or bucket.
If working in a loft for a considerable period of time, make sure you cut a small piece of ply to bridge three joists and give you a platform to work from, your knees will thank you for it and you won't slip and put a hole in the ceiling.
If an expansion vessel on a boiler is knackered and you face removing half the boiler to get at it....consider installing a new expansion of the correct size elsewhere in the system and leave the broken one in the boiler.
Buy the best tools you can afford. You'll only realise the benefit of this if you have struggled with cheap tools...and buy a decent head torch.
The quickest way to clean paint from a pipe you need to solder a joint on is to give it a quick blast with the blow torch and then a rub with some wire wool.
If a central heating system has no drain off point, find a small radiator downstairs (lowest point possible) remove it in the normal way and then attach a washing machine valve to rad valve, or suitable a small length of 15mm copper tube and a backnut/olive. Then attach a hose to the pipe or it using washing machine hose - cut the hose and fit a small length of 15mm pipe to the w/m hose with a jubilee clip. Then attach a hose. Finally run your hose to a suitable drainage point, open the rad valve and away she goes.
There’s loads more, but it's very hard to think about what you do on a day to day basis, and the silly things you did when you first started out.
