Copper Pipe Chased Up Wall

Aug 20, 2006 10 Replies

Hi,



I am about to chase a small length of 15mm copper pipe up a wall for a towel rail. I know I can but pipe specially coated for this job but only need about half a metre!



I have bought a metre of plastic pipe to go over the copper but it doesn't bend.



Is there another way to stop corrosion like putting ptfe tape on it?


I am sure there is, I don't know much about such things, but I did just have a thought on the matter, how about using a bit of rubber hose? Say a bit of your garden hose pipe that your water company is most likely telling you not to use anyway.

//J

Buy some black ribbed hose as used for garden ponds e.g

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The correct product to use is Denso tape:

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tape is non-adhesive, and very soft. It would be quite tricky to wrap half a metre of pipe in PTFE tape.

//snip//

55deg C. Desno makers specify Denso Hotline above 55deg but is much less rreadily available. Manufacturers state that above 55deg, std tape petroleum products in the tape will leech into the plaster. Maybe for a short length, you could try using std, but cover it in something like Duck tape??

Be aware that denso tape is messy stucky stuff & leaves you hands covered in brown gunge (unless you wear gloves of course).

I used 20mm plastic electrical conduit which is a good fit for

15mm copper tube. One sleaved inside the other bends nicely using the 22mm former on a pipe bender. You might get away with a 15mm bending spring too inside the copper. Electrical conduit is designed to bend.

Plaster does not corrode copper. Some types of cement do if moisture is present. Moisture can result from condensation if the pipe is a cold water pipe, but this is unlikely with a heating pipe. Expansion/contraction of the pipe will be an issue, which is why sleaving it is a good idea (and it should remain movable inside the sleaving).

Large diameter sleaving for vehicle wiring looms? Vehicle Wiring Products sells such stuff.

Richard

Why not change it to HEP2O before it goes into the wall? .....just a thought

[or put it into 20mm plastic conduit and then bend it]

or heat shrink sleeving, or self amalgamating tape Somebody will pick faults with all of these, i suppose.

I did in fact mean ptfe tape but realize it's a non-starter.

I think it will either be the heat shrink or pond pipe as they seem the most "bendable", I don't like messy denso tape even though this is the preferred method.

Thanks for your time and advice

Sleeving keeps a gap between copper and plaster, enabling differential thermal expansion, and any junk can do that. Theres no need to go buy stuff. If youre buying for a job then sure, but if you just want to get the job finished and its miles to town, its quicker to wrap a short bit of the pipe with card & cling film than travel to town.

NT

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