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

[WaterTight]

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

When taking WC cistern off pan and faced with undoing the metal nut that connects to the plastic thread of a toilet inlet valve - if there is the opporunity to undo a metal-to-metal or push-fit connection further down the pipe (if it's flexi tap connector or there's a compression coupler or isolation valve) undo that instead. Worse that can happen on reassebly is you need a bit of ptfe round the olive and you eliminate chance of cross-threading inlet on re-attaching nut.

When putting your silicone away give the gun a little squeeze and leave a little bit peeking out the end. That way when you come back and it's dried over you've something to grab on to pull out the dried top bit.

When offering tips and secrets of plumbing start every sentence with when.

 

[noleaksihope]

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

spot on WaterTight , always look for a metal to metal connection that can be disconnected , removing the tap adapter from the plastic thread is the last resort!

keep both foam and rubber doughnuts in the van , and always replace if you ve had the cistern off to replace the syphon/washer. silicone , p's mate or putty is rough rough .


wipe your feet at the custards door, carry non slip over shoe covers for expensive looking carpets .

 

[dontknowitall]

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

I use two dust sheets in wet weather. First one goes on top of customer's doormat and second one where I'm working. Usually this means I don't have to take my feet off, but if I'm working in the snow I take my wellies and work in my socks.

 

[quality]

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

I know what ya mean I carry a small 1/4 drive socket set shallow and deep sockets

 

[crunchy]

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

always have ya aqua vac at hand on old heating systems that have more sludge than water in them sudden releases of air blockages are rather annoying especially when you think you have drained a system down

 

[kay-jay]

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

one i remembered from the previous incarnation of hints and tips is about rodding a blocked crapper. stick a short length of wastepipe down the pan and rod thru this to prevent scratching the pot

 

[kay-jay]

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

ok then one more.

for those of you fitting surrey flanges for a seperate shower feed. don't bother!!

although they offer airfree water supply, the twin outlet design restricts flow which WILL affect the performance of the shower you are fitting! also the extended connection to the cylinder can force the slight rise to the vent pipe into a downwards fall causing trapped air.

a simple and cheap and quicker way of providing a seperate less restricted, air free shower feed is to put an equal 22mm tee into the horizontal section of pipe between the cylinder top and the vent ensuring that the tee points down (obviously the pipe then needs to be bent round to go up into roofspace), alternative position is again a 22mm tee fitted on the vertical section below the open vent tee,

both these positionings ensure airfree supply to the shower based on the fact that air bubbles can not travel downwards!!


regards

KJ


KJ

 

[Davehiscock]

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

keep speedfit caps or iso valves in your tool box, never know when u might slice a pipe full of water

 

[secret squirrel]

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

Don't trust what your being told by the customer or another professional:

I've recently been told that a cylinder I was to replace had been drained down etc.

Be sure before cutting pipe:

momentary lack of concentration, I froze the hot pipe, pipes crossed over behind the cupboard I was talking to the customer and cut the wrong pipe.......... lucky I had a 15mm stop end in my pocket

 

[WHPES]

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

Keep a few lengths of scrap 22mm copper when changing boilers - they are perfect for making rollers to roll a boiler across a floor.

Save a few lengths of scrap 1/2 and 3/4" lead pipe. They are excellent for making templates for awkward bent copper sections.

 

[REDSAW]

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

good for a heat mat/protection, find an old ironing board and rip of the iron pad.
or if your lucky ask a joiner if he has a piece of fiber-lux (same-thing) and cut your own size 'mat'.
this stuff will out last any expensive heat mats.

if you need one for bends or corners- carry some aluminium sheet that you can bend by hand around the joint.
works just as well.

finally; heat gell stops closely soldered joints near to where you are working from de-soldering by heat transfer.

 

[noleaksihope]

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

when your going to replace a ch pump on an s or y plan , and it has ball type iso valves on the pump (turn with an alen key , no a flatty), chances they ll leak from the gap around the spindle you ve just turned (non serviceable o-ring perished from the heat), you might even get a wee jet hitting you in the eye.

when they re fitted , explain this might happen to customer , have them watch you if they think your just trying to create extra work. find where to drain the heating and have a pair of gate type pump valves to replace the kak ball types if they do leak , please think of the next man and dont replace with the same kak ball types - rant over but a good one for newbs and probably mentioned before.

 

[WaterTight]

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

Put a penny washer on one of the rings on your bunch of keys. Sits there not taking up any room and can be used as a screwdriver to turn off isolation valves. I did it once incase I couldn't find a screwdriver in an emergency. Since then it turns out my keys are often closer to me than a flat-headed screwdriver so I use it all the time.

 

[GQuigley67]

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

my yale key pretty much does the same as your suggesting, I have used it numerous times

 

[WaterTight]

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

when i first started working for a plumber and was nervous and eager to help i tried to lift the cover to the external stop-cock with my car key rather than go back inside for a screwdriver. i bent it in half. was pleased as punch.

 

[GQuigley67]

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

lol well I wouldn't do that, but it is ideal for certain iso valves not all of them mind you some have required a bit more force and that's when i get my screwgie

 

[Barry98]

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

for jobs with lots of rads and espically if your going to be on your own.

get a prv a couple of flexi hoses to fit onto the filling loop connections , saves running back to the boiler to top up every two minutes

 

[lewisplumber]

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

Trade wipes are good at getting black rad sludge out of carpets. As long as it is fresh and the carpets arnt white!!

 

[lewisplumber]

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

Always have a tapered rubber plug in your pocket to bung tanks if you are in the loft on your own!

 

[lewisplumber]

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

spray window cleaner on a fresh bead of mastic before wetting your finger to smooth it off as the window cleaner stops it from sticking to un wanted places as you run your finger along the joint. This keeps the bead thin and tidy.

 

[leelister6]

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

'Never put yer fingers where you wouldn't put yer privates!' Was taught that 25 years ago from an old pipefitter in steelworks as a first year apprentice and I always take a second to remember it.............. I miss old 3 and 1/2!!

 

[Guest123]

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

When cutting out worktops for a sink with a jig saw or any other type of wood that has a finished surface, put masking tape on the surface first where it's to be cut and it won't splinter. Good this on Conti board too.

 

[tamz]

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

Or use a down cutting blade or score it with a knife

 

[carpstu]

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

or cut the work top upside down if your cutting to length with a skill saw

 

[Dannypipe]

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

Or get your chippy to do it, and blame him when it chips, saying you wished you'd done it yourself.