Hi,
SWMBO has requested said pipe for a few areas which will be on show (I'd be happy to polish and lacquer the copper but there you go).
Which would be the most advised method for jointing?
File the chrome off and solder or compression?
Anything to watch out for with compression - or is it just a case for olive onto chrome pipe and do up in the normal way?
Another one:
Does chrome pipe bend OK in a bending machine? (Thinking: or does the chrome fall off?)
Ta
Tim
I prefer soldered connections wherever access to make the joint is easy enough, but that's a personal preference and have used pushfit where access is difficult - you do need to strip the chrome for pushfit. Sorry can't help about compression.
I have been told here before that the chrome cracks off if you bend the pipe, but I have managed to make s-bends with no problem.
SteveW
Steve Walker coughed up some electrons that declared:
Yes - I'd come across this. I'll be soldering on easy and critical sections (eg where pipe passes over CU)
That's encouraging - thanks :)
Cheers
Tim
You can use compression directly onto chromed pipe. I always use brass rather than copper olives, to give them a chance of biting into the harder chromed surface.
For solder or pushfit you do have to remove the chrome, and it's difficult to get a smooth enough surface that I'd be very happy with pushfit.
It doesn't fall off, but isn't as shiny on the bent section.
YAPH coughed up some electrons that declared:
Thank you John.
Cheers
Tim
I've never had any problems bending chrome plated pipe using a proper pipe bender.
For removing the chrome I have used either a grinding wheel or latterly a Tormek water cooled stone which if you rotate the pipe as the wheel rotates gives a surprisingly good finish. Certainly no problems with soldered joints - don't know if it would be good enough for push-fit though.
Andrew
I've used a chrome paint (little pot bought in Halfords) which looks very much like brushed stainless steel in practice. Mainly for radiator tails. Maybe not quite as good as proper chrome but much nicer than white or painting to match the room decor.
Mrs F. expressed disdain at the thought of having polished copper on show. So we had to use something shiny.
It was going to be chromed copper, but stainless worked out cheaper and less likely to have problems - I've seen chrome peel and pit in some areas of use, notably outside which was one place (the gardener's loo) where she wanted chrome tube used.
Compression, attempting to solder will just look vile.
Compression works ok, there is no need to file the chrome off. However you will need to do them up a little tighter than on plain pipe.
Basically - but see the note on tightness - its harder for the olive to get a good grip.
With decent pipe it bends ok. Sometimes I leave it in the plastic bag it comes in while bending. Saves the bender from scratching up the outside too much.
Compression.
Chrome plating isn't hard. _Hard_ chrome plating is hard. It's a different process: thicker for one thing, and not plated onto copper. Where thin decorative chrome is on copper pipe it's still soft (at the dimensions of an olive edge), even if it's microscopically hard enough to resist scratching.
On 16 Jun 2009 09:44:19 GMT, YAPH had this to say:
For visible pipework in the bathroom I've used stainless steel rather than chrome-plated. It's not exactly easy to bend, so I used (chrome-plated!) elbows.
Silver solder looks nice, but it's pricey and really only for decorative use, not mundane plumbing.
Wouldn't the heat needed for this 'blue' the chrome?
But IMO a pain in the arse because of the work you have to do cleaning off firestain afterwards and there's the work you have to do "tinning" the bits you scraped the chrome off or you get green/brown bands at each fitting.
I've just brazed up a toy kid's pushchair for my child who thought that getting her brother to jump into it was a good idea, and then got upset because her doll kept falling out of it because the frame was broken. I used nickel/silver for that, nice colour and all that but now I have to repaint the entire frame after grinding the joints smooth because of the 1in band of firestained tube at each brazed joint.
I'd hate to have to do that on more than a couple of joints.
Dave Plowman (News) coughed up some electrons that declared:
That's a funky idea - I'll keep that in mind :0
Ta
Tim
Steve Firth coughed up some electrons that declared:
Funny you should say that Steve. I was sure that my dad used SS on a shower a long time back.
I went searching and only came up with chromed copper.
But SS would be good - not sure if my pipe bender would handle it though - that's the only downside. This is 22mm and copper's hard enough!
Aye - that's less of an issue. I plan to use a single 3m length, bent and inserted whole such the the joints will either be behind a cupboard or in the roof. Back to normal copper thereafter.
Ta
Tim
John Rumm coughed up some electrons that declared:
OK
That's a good idea. I've got a pipe bender that's OK (not great, but it doesn't slide the pipe so it will probably not cause any damage.
Ta
Tim
No so that a buff with Autosol wouldn't shift it.
Depends a bit on which grade of silver solder you use, but especially if you're using old stock with cadmimum the temperature can be pretty low. Low enough that firescale isn't a problem.
I have an SS ladder type towel rail in the bathroom mounted quite high up so the tails feeding it are pretty visible. I've used a chrome TRV etc and the carefully bent tails go into the wall then run down to the floor behind the tiles. And the painted tails look to me pretty good. I'll post a pic if anyone wants.
Use chrome compression fittings - bog standard. I've not bent chrome pipe but seen the odd offset double bend in pub toilets and not noticed chrome coming off.
Bob
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