Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

[tamz]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

For your bending machine.
Measure your bend as you would normally and put it in the machine and put a pencil mark on the wheel at your size mark.
Pull your bend and check the size is correct. If it is cut a saw draft on the side of the wheel where the pencil mark was (you may need to adjust it a mil or 2 back or forward). Do the same with the other wheel.
You now have a permanent mark to go by and don't need to fk about measuring.

 

[vincentsrus]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Use a piece of bicycle inner tube and a jubilee clip as a temporary repair for a punctured pipe.

 

[WHPES]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Don't use washing up liquid when fitting WC pan connectors as this can spoil the rubber. If you don't have any of the proper lubricant, use normal household soap.

To clean brick dust off grout I use an old worn out shaving brush of mine.

When you are using a spirit level to get a straight line over a distance, think - is it easier to use a plumb bob and / or chalk line? The hosepipe trick I mentioned on a previous post is useful when marking out for tiling long walls / around rooms

Joiners plastic shims are extremely useful for siting sanitaryware on uneven floors or boxing in on uneven walls. The white ones are the ideal size for spacing tiles off a bath / shower tray or worktop when tiling, to leave enough room for silicone

When making push fit joints, make a line with a marker pen on the pipe approximately level with where it should push into the fitting so you can tell if it's completely home when assembled.

If you are using the service valves supplied with Armitage Shanks WCs these have a plastic olive (which I have seen slide off the pipe under pressure on two occasions) so do not install in such a way that the pipe can blow off - Install into rigid pipework or use another brand of service valve.

 

[fagsanbooz]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

When drilling holes on concrete floors or walls for a fixing, after removing drill bit, use a air bellows pump (normally used for air testing on soils or air testing 1st fix gas carcass) with a piece of 8mm/10mm copper tube wedged in and insert to base/end of hole and pump out all dust and debris thats left after drilling. Sometimes helps to look away or wear goggles though!!

 

[Dannypipe]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

When drilling holes on concrete floors or walls for a fixing, after removing drill bit, use a air bellows pump (normally used for air testing on soils or air testing 1st fix gas carcass) with a piece of 8mm/10mm copper tube wedged in and insert to base/end of hole and pump out all dust and debris thats left after drilling. Sometimes helps to look away or wear goggles though!!

I use a turkey baster. I kid you not. Hilti have a tool for blowing dust out before resin fixing. It's basically a turkey baster with a red handle.

Hilti - £50
Sainsburys - £3

Just as good.

 

[Barry98]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

just read threw these and im sure i read it on hear before but instead of leaving your solder brush in the bottom of your tool bag/box take an old length off 15 mm flatten and roll one end the cut to the length of your brush and use a jg speedfit on the other end keeps your brush nice and clean and stops making a mess in your bag

p,s thanks to whoever posted this before

 

[WHPES]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Attach the formers for your pipe bender onto the bender frame with large strong rubber bands - you will never need to go hunting through the toolbox for them again!

Leave your welding rods in a biscuit tin in the bottom of the oven after it has been on. It will keep them free from damp and ready to use.

If you have left rods in your van and they have got a bit damp overnight, lay them on tinfoil on top of your engine block (provided you have had a decent drive).

four lengths of threaded bar, washers and plenty of nuts make an ideal jig for setting up parallell flanges and pipe sections for tack welding.

Always carry a basin and sink telescopic P trap as part of your kit - one size fits all!

 

[WHPES]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

A sherry bottle cork is the ideal size to use as a quick temporary plug for a sprinkler head when the bulb has blown.

 

[kay-jay]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

if. like me your van has no roofrack and you keep your copper tube inside the van and it can be seen through the windows...

i simply put my 15 in my 22 and my 22 inside waste pipes, then to any opportunist scrote having a sneaky look inside can only see plastic pipes and is more likely to leave my van alone.

KJ

 

[PlumbBobBob]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

if you get that fresh pasta that comes in plastic trays, hang on to the trays as they make good drip trays also ice cream and margarine tubs.

 

[gasmarc]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Always cover any glass with vinyl on the inside rear doors , a very easy cheap deterant against getting robbed.
If you have rear doors make a shelf about 18 inches high. This is ideal for keeping expensive tools hidden ,even if someone pops a rear window they cannot get to the expensive drills etc ,unless they can unlock the back doors.
buy a leatherman TTI or gerber and you can avoid carrying a tool case at all
buy a pretzel head torch, get a wickes wet and dry perfect for airlocks.
Use pipe lagging to get rid of air locks ,charge more work less lol

 

[franz]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Hello GASMARC can you explain the last bit about lagging to get rid of airlocks,
regards

 

[PlumbBobBob]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

i think he means to use it to make a seal between the wet & dry and the pipe.

 

[WHPES]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Tutorial - How to remove an immersion element which has been stuck in with jointing compound:

Time - Approx 1/2 hour from draining.

1, drain to below level of element

2, remove all cover, thermostat, wires etc

3, make a saw cut across top with hacksaw as in the first picture, down to the gasket but be careful not to cut through the gasket or you will damage the face which the gasket seals onto. Make another saw cut at about 45 degrees to the first.

4, with a 3mm drill, drill a series of holes across the face of the element joining the saw cuts and going round the thermostat hole and element terminals.

5, use a 5mm drill to enlarge the holes so that a continuous gap is created across the face.

6, next we need to cut through the vertical sides of the element cap where the threaded section is (first picture). Work a hacksaw blade along the gaps to clear out and parts between the drill holes. Next cut into the threaded part, being careful not to cut beyond the thread or you will cut deep into the cylinder thread and risk damaging the cylinder.

7. with a pair of grips, try to pry out the 45 degree segment. Once you have cut through enough thread you should be able to remove this (second picture). Once removed, you should be able to squash the remaining sides of the element top together to free from the cylinder and unscrew.

8, With a wire brush and miniature screwdriver, clean out the threads on the cylinder and clean any jointing compound from the mating face.

 

[PLUMB-KING]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

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.

I use one to drain rads if customer wants to decorate behind them it's much cleaner then using a small tub & bucket under the valve to drain it off. ( dont forget to turn both sides of the rad off ) have the wet vac on & ready to go,crack the rad valve nut then just put the hose right on the rad tail then suck it all out,this method works well on small rad(s) with 3/4 union nuts.

Use a water proof dust sheet at all times when working on rads in this way because there is always the risk of you dripping dirty rad water on a customers carpet! & you dont want that!

 

[tamz]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Easier just to pull carpet back a few inches wrap 2 old towels (supplied by cust) round the pipes, split the nuts fingers over the ends and out the door. Watch you don't burn your face if it has been on. You should be able to do a 700 x 1200K2 or smaller on your own. 5 minutes max

 

[tamz]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Here is one i did for the first time today as never really thought of it.

Doing a combi swap. Cust didn't want a pwr flush and the water was pure brown. Prv had been running for 3 or 4 months topping up once a day
Bungalow with all drop feed rads so there was i thinking it will take ages to drain all this 10 times then the idea came to me. Probably been done a hundred times but here it is.

Fitted new boiler and sentinel system filter on return. Filled towel rail with X800 and left closed off.
Filled system and left fill loop open but let it drain through filter at the same rate. Left it that way for 10 minutes or so then fired it up with it still draining for another 20 mins or so.
Water running clearer, closed drain opened towel rail to let X800 in and left for an hour or so while i filled out the logbook and other stuff, chatted to my mate for a bit then flushed it through as above once more until clear.
Final drain and X100 in. Paid and out the door.
Took around 1hr 50 mins to flush it but got all the tests done and paperwork filled in while it was happening.

Btw for all the trouble of doing this it was the easiest swap i have done for a while. Back in the house for half 2.

 

[Guest123]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

When using JG Speedfit, use only the standard inserts in compression fittings and not the Superseal ones (the ones with the rubber O rings). Also don't use them with compression fittings that have a short slip or with cheap ball type valves on mains supplies as they will blow off!!!

 

[fuzzy]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

my biggest tip and secret is to work within yourself, speed doesnt mean good, be prepared, get everyhing ready, dont put yourself under pressure, jobs done wen its done, get the right tools and equip

also, people dont know the difference between good plumbing or bad very often but do know if you were polite or rude, be polite, put dust sheets down, clean up after yourself, and your on a winner

 

[Plum Bob 66]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Absolutely spot on !!.

 

[PLUMB-KING]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Clean up after yourself!

Absolutely!!


Even if the customer says "dont worry I'll do it" that has come back on me many times over the years! Anyone will do anything to get money off the bill! or even try to get out of paying it all together! So yes! always clean up after yourself!

Question.... Why cant sparkys do this?

 

[GQuigley67]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Absolutely!!


Even if the customer says "dont worry I'll do it" that has come back on me many times over the years! Anyone will do anything to get money off the bill! or even try to get out of paying it all together! So yes! always clean up after yourself!

Question.... Why cant sparkys do this?

not just sparks alot of people don't do it ! when I got sky fitted came back from work to find my room in a complete mess ! was really ****ed off and made me hate them now lol ..

the customers who say "dont worry i'll do it" usually are just sick of you and want you out the house but I usually try to insist on tidying up as its part of my job.

 

[gas57]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

if you do file crome off pipe

 

[REDSAW]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

no chatting on this thread.

if you dont have a tip then dont post////

 

[franz]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

I always put a 5pence piece and a washer in a open end of a ballafix if i leave a job for a while and there are others on site
blank off a 22mm pipe the same with a 10p piece and washer