I've always used soldered joints but am being tempted by the Tectite push-fit range for a heating re-furb I'm about to embark on - maybe even plastic pipe rather than copper! How long have they been around? Any horror stories? Are there any other competing ranges I should consider?
I've also used all of the above, as well as CuproFit, and have had no problems with any of them.
I recently tried the ToolsStation offering, made by QualPlumb. They are similar in construction to Hep fittings, but come in white plastic. I was quite impressed with them.
The main difference in price comes from where you buy them and how many you buy. The most expensive way of buying them is to buy just one from B&Q or a plumbers merchant. The cheapest way is to buy a bag of 10 from Screwfix or Toolstation.
They all use standard pipe, so 10mm, 15mm, 22mm, 28mm are the main sizes. The only thing to look out for is pipe inserts. When using plastic pipe, you need to use plastic/copper/s.steel inserts in the end of the pipe. Use the correct insert for the fitting.
I have one of each. The SpeedFit cutter (blue) is by far the best way of cutting. It's very quick, and gives nice clean square cuts. The cheap Screwfix cutter (red) is ratchetting, and is good for cutting big MDPE pipe. Does a pretty good job on 12/22mm PEX pipe, but not as quick as the blue cutter.
But who was ranting on about how bad push fit couplings were a couple of months ago, when a certain someone f*cked up a fiends pluming because he couldn't read the instructions ?...
Surely it wasn't the same 'IMM' as who has just posted the above message ?!
It is not worth it. "It gives a clean straight cut very quickly. You can acheive this with other tools, but it will take longer." That is all you need to know.
After that little hacksaw thread I did a fair bit of playing around with various pushfit fittings, being of a curious disposition. It's actually really, *really* hard to get one to leak.
The easiest to damage were CuproFit, where the O ring can be pushed out if you insert the pipe at a sharpish angle. I failed to make any speedfit or hep fitting leak while 'making' them, or subsequently by applying sideways pressure to the pipe. In both JG and Hep fittings it was the plastic casing that broke first.
On another matter, 3 years ago I installed a 'temporary' water valve outside near the stables. This made use of 3 JG fittings and a Pegler
1/4 turn ball valve. It has been sitting on a concrete block outside for
3 years, through quite a few freeze/thaw cycles. No leaks yet from the fittings, but I had to replace the valve last year because of frost damage.
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