Connecting polypipe to lead pipe

Mine is lead, but I think the water hardness has in fact plated the inside of it with limescale. Just inside what would have been the larder is a join to copper which looks like two kind of indentations just after the join. I suspect its some kind of soldered sleeve. It predates our residency, but there are signs of it being replaced, so it was probably lead all the way up to the first floor at least originally. Brian

Maybe the plumber has run out of moleskin?

There is a lead-loc compression connector that might be useful to fit a short run of copper between the lead and MDPE?

mole?

In message <r8duh5$hji$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, at 08:25:21 on Thu, 30 Apr

That's my guess here, too.

Yes the existing plumbing was (as it turns out) Pb to a stopcock under the original sink, and then copper onwards and upwards. [The latter never being in dispute]

The only other possibility was a black polypipe, which I didn't think was a thing, but I got outvoted by the baying masses, who turn out to be not sufficiently informed observers.

The problem is the old stopcock is no longer within the footprint of the kitchen units in the proposed remodelled (extended) kitchen.

It needs moving about three feet sideways.

The MDPE has been installed (in a huge rush the day before lockdown) between the proposed new stopcock location and outside the house adjacent to the original lead piping.

That would get it under the pavement from my property to the meter, but I am not that enamoured with my concrete front path anyway. There's about 20m of life-expired slab.

Doesn't sound much of a plumber if he can't reshape lead sufficient to allow a seal to one of the available soft seal compression joints. (Most would have sweated a joint and said nothing)

In message snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com, at

Currently I don't have a choice as he's the subby nominated by the builders. If I can make his job easier in the short term that's a win.

Yes it's called a bit of copper pipe stuffed up the inside of the lead (might need flaring a bit) and a wiped joint done. A real plumber would have the skills to do that but I doubt many modern "plumbers" do.

There are modern simple fittings to join lead to copper or maybe even lead to polypipe. Provided the latter has an insert fitted as the connector will be compression.

Particularly since a "plumber" is someone who uses lead.

Roland Perry formulated the question :

What I have seen done, is a short section of tinned copper pipe pushed into the lead, then a solder joint wiped between the copper and the lead. Copper is then easy to adapt to polypipe.

Can you wipe a lead joint? Idea is to just heat the lead up to the plastic stage, before it melts.

Yup! A *real* plumber would bell out the end of the lead and make a sweated joint to a short length of 22 mm copper. I wonder if they have to use lead-free solder for that these days?

I've done a wiped joint from lead to a brass tube intended for the purpose (with a compression joint at the other end). Didn't look very stylish - I used wet rags rather than moleskin - but stayed waterproof. So it can't be that hard.

However in the OP's case it sounds as though MDPE to the stopcock would be the most reliable thing to do.

Parenthetically, my old underground plastic pipe was black, I think blue is relatively recent innovation.

You don't use solder. You use special bits of lead. Whether this is an alloy rather then pure lead I don't know, but it's not solder as generally found. Let alone lead free!

I have seen a plumber file the lead into a near perfect circle and then used a Lead-Loc compression fitting.

As others have said, I would be tempted to sweat a copper pipe into the lead pipe.

Drill a 15mm hole into the lead and solder. If there are any concerns over heating, then heat just the copper and allow the heat to travel naturally along into the lead.

Is sweating legal now for potable water supplies? I thought it had been banned quite some time ago.

Years ago, I saw a plumber join a short section of copper pipe (1/2" or

It isn't something I'd try myself ;-)

Yes, almost certainly. When I put a waterpipe in our garden about 40 years ago, black was all there was - and it was quite difficult to find a stockist. It's still there and not leaking.

Is this before or after the stop-c*ck?

Get a better plumber. He clearly has limited experience.

Roland Perry snipped-for-privacy@perry.co.uk> wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@perry.uk:

Perhaps one of the typical - "I can only fit what I have in my van"