Copper 'street' fittings

[marbles]

B&Q have taken to selling what they call Cu 'street' style in endfeed solder fittings. These have a normal size adapter female fit at one end and at the other a tube size male fit. One store I use doesn't offer what I regard as normal female-female type except on straight couplers and 90deg bends.

I can see that sometimes these fittings can save space but it won't be often. Mostly an additional standard (ie female-female) coupler is needed to continue the pipe run.

Am I missing or not understanding something?

TIA

[Christian McArdle]

Yes. The male end goes into the fitting that needs adjustment (either solder or compression). You don't use them to change pipe size in the middle of a run, only at the end, where there is a fitting of the wrong size that can swallow the "pipe" sized end of the reducer. Indeed, in my experience, they are much more useful than femalefemale.

Christian.

[Guy King]

The message from "marbles" contains these words:

You can get a mandrel tool which expands the end of a pipe so the street fitting plugs into it.

However, in the case of BQ it's probably 'cos some arse in head office has noticed they're marginally cheaper so is flogging them while not understanding what the difference is.

[Aidan]

Just another fitting, used where the fitter finds it useful.

Only in that you're buying fittings in B&Q. Try

or Screwfix.

[John]

only if you want Mad Cow Disease. The OP could try if he want plumbing bits ;-)

HTH

John

[marbles]

and they're open on Sundays? ;-)

Thanks for the replies: I fear it's that head office idiot who's behind it....

No one said what 'street' means or refers to in this context. Anyone know?

[John Rumm]

If you have one of those then you don't actually need a fitting at all in many cases. Just stick the unexpanded pipe end into the socket created by the tool.

[Bolted]

marbles wrote: > No one said what 'street' means or refers to in this context. Anyone

It means that one end of the fitting is a pipe size male to fit directly into another (normal female) fitting, so you can have two (or more) fittings joined together without adding little stubs of pipe to connect them together.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Interesting point - I've known that an elbow with a male and female end is referred to as a street elbow, but not where the term comes from.

I'm surprised at B&Q stocking them - you don't tend to need them that often.

[Andy Wade]

Yes, but that surely is only for use for manipulative joints using soft (Table Y) tube, not normal Table X tube.

And why "street"?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You can use them on table X after annealing it. But that is a bit of a fiddle.

[Doctor Drivel]

When water mains were first run to houses the iron pipe has a tee for each house. The tee was usually facing upwards and an M&F elbow fitted directly on the tee, which could be turned to the appropriate house. So an M&F elbow became a street elbow.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Quite believable - had it come from someone who could be trusted.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Thinking on it's probably rubbish since it would mean an internal and external thread on the same elbow - and I've not seen this on any old barrel work. Unless a *real* expert can confirm it.

[Aidan]

Yes, steel/iron street elbows exist.

't know if that's the origin of the term; I read the same explanation on a US-based forum.

[Doctor Drivel]

Richard Cranium, this is encouraging. The pills the warden gave you must be working.

[Doctor Drivel]

Richard Cranium is now replying to himself. Sad isn't it.