You can get plastic pipe, normally used for internal plumbing that is 22mm eg Speedfit, Hep2O.
Though I've not seen it in black. I've got some Speedfit 15mm pipe outside feeding a tap , supposed to be covered or painted to protect from UV I think, but it's was only 'temporary' . So has been fine outside for the last 7 years.
IME of both copper and plastic outside, copper is more likely to split, plastic is likely to pull out of a fitting (I've have it pull out of compression fittings)
Attached to the garage wall I have a 15" length of plastic mains pipe that is outside and connects to an outside tap. It has not suffered from frost damage in the last 3 years and I don't know what happened before. The property is close to the Irish sea. Last winter we had about
1" of snow tht quickly went away unlike much of the rest of the country.The pipe connects to the mains stop c*ck in the pavement as does the bungalow, so turning of the mains stop c*ck in the bungalow does not stop water going to the garage tap.
The plastic pipe now has a ball valve and about 3" of 22mm copper pipe before the tap. Is it any more likely to freeze now than it was in the past?
copper conducts heat much better & is much less freeze-tolerant.
NT
In my experience putting a stop tap is more likely to make a pipe burst that not having one unless you can drain any standing water out.
Pipes burst when expanding ice had nowhere to go. If there is no stop tap, the ice can expand back along the pipe. If you have a stop tap then unless you've remembered to leave the outside tap open as well, the ice has nowhere to expand except outwards.
Tim
I'd be looking at the connectors as much as the pipe - apparently push fit plastic pipe connectors are the weak spot.
I'd suggest its the unions that might suffer. The pipe of copper will conduct heat better but is stronger I'd imagine. If it were my tap I'd want to be able to isolate it and drain it during the cold weather from an inside c*ck. However that is just me and my feeling that if something can go pear shaped, it will eventually! Brian
Besides, how on earth is that going to be lagged? Just a thought. Brian
In message , Tim+ writes
Annual avoidable event here!
Picture 25mm poly pipe riser to shut off valve having a 15mm compression outlet. Short length of 15mm copper to standard wall mounted tap with hose outlet.
Most Winters, I turn off the lower valve, remove the hose and fully open the outlet tap.
Most Springs I find two more 15mm olives, cut a length of pipe and re-fit the link......
The black plastic pipe connects to the brass fittings as a 22mm copper pipe would. i.e. using an olive and a nut. There may be a plastic insert inside the pipe as you would use in a normal plastic fitting.
I am surprised by this pipe. Is plastic pipe with an outside diameter of
22mm and works with copper fittings generally available?Ideally I would like an outside tap that has a flange that can be attached to a wall and where the pipe goes straight into the wall but I have failed to find one. I could have an elbow just below the existing tap and then a copper pipe wrapped in Denso tape going into the wall.
This is what you need, Bib tap screws into the brass flange and that is all that is visible outside.
Thank you. I was not aware that they existed!
Add non-return valve that should also be fitted in the feed to an external tap. Yep, pipes burst when there is nowhere for the ice to expand into, either becasue it's trapped between a stop tap/isolator/non-retrun valve and a closed tap. *OR* between already formed ice plus and/or valves...
That's what has caught me twice isolating the feed (and also non return valve) and forgetting to open the tap. Thanks for the reminder, been on and off sleet all morning, tops are snow covered.
PVC pipe goes brittle and will crack in frost when the water freezes. ABS pipe is supposed to be frost proof, ie freezes but won't crack.
ISTR taps that look like regular tpas, but shit off the water inside the building, i.e. a tpa with a very long valve stem.
That insures that the the parts that get cold are dry, and can freeze merrily. (This works well if (and only if) there is no hose attached, as a hose could keep the water draining from the outside bit.) Leftpondian invention, dunno bout UK.
Thomas Prufer
Well water expands just as it freezes and if it has nowhere to go will easily burst a copper pipe and will push out a push fit connector. A plastic pipe will stretch a little enough to mitigate the force.
Cheaper at Toolsatan
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