Flexi (braided) hoses in a central heating system?

[Blair]

Hi all,

I had a bit of a mishap yesterday - I managed to nick a microbore central heating pipe with a chisel. That was quite a fountain...

Anyway, of course it's 5pm, no shops open, so I had to put in an "emergency patch" - reducer into a braided "flexi" hose, attached to a 15mm capped end.

That in itself was a challenge, involving cutting and removing part of a floorboard and cutting the pipe back to a section that was straight and still round enough for the reducer and olive to fit over (and working in an extremely tight space...)

Currently the system is full again (drained it down but refilled to check for leaks) but the pump is isolated from the electricity, because I'm not sure if a flexi is up to the job.

Can flexis be used in a central heating system, or do the pressures involved require copper tubing throughout?

I only ask because to replace the flexi with copper is going to be a major headache, but having said that if it needs to be done, it needs to be done.

 

[seco services]

flexi's are not suitable for central heating

 

[mehran]

is this one of your jobs Blair?
[img]http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9125/dsc00012vc5.jpg[/img]

found this job on the week end, some nice pipe work...done by a real pro i think. maybe i should put it in the @what not too do file

 

[Blair]

Hehe, thanks, that's what I suspected

And no, that's not one of my jobs thankfully! I do like the spectacular twisting of the rightmost flexi, very artistic...!

I've seen rads attached with flexis before (not in my house!) and suspected it was just plain wrong, but didn't know for sure...

Right, off to the plumbing supplies shop at lunch then...!

 

[Kes]

Just wondering, why aren't they suitable? If they are used for, f'rinstance, hot and cold supplies to a bath then they will have to stand pressure and heat (not constant heat, I agree).

Rgds.

 

[Bon]

Just wondering, why aren't they suitable? If they are used for, f'rinstance, hot and cold supplies to a bath then they will have to stand pressure and heat (not constant heat, I agree).

Rgds.

Unless your skin is Teflon-coated Kes, a comfortable DHW temp (45 - 50 degC is nowhere near as hot as CH water (80+ degC.

You can get suitable flexies for CH though, but it would be better to remove and replace the bit of damaged copper.

 

[ChrisR]

Recently saw some much-better-than-average-ones, Speedfit/JG, rated 65ºC.

High temp hoses are available, at a price!

 

[Terrywookfit]

They are supplied with "Kickspace" heaters so there must be different grades !!

 

[lagunaglen]

If copper is too tricky for you then you could use plastic pipe and fittings for ch pipework.

 

[bengasman]

If copper is too tricky for you then you could use plastic pipe and fittings for ch pipework.

but not this close to the boiler

 

[bengasman]

And your gas pipe appears to be undersized,
And your bonding is faulty,
And your other plastic pipes should be replaced,
And your condensate looks dodgy,
And your controls don’t seem to be compliant with part L
And your electrical connection is questionable.

Whole boiler a diy project by any chance?

 

[mehran]

To add too that the return filter is on the flow so good as useless
it was plugged in using a 3 pin plug
it had no auto-pass

Landlord property

 

[fitz1]

dont suppose its a heatline vizo in a landlords property by any chance.

 

[bengasman]

it had no auto-pass

auto bypass on combi?

 

[mehran]

it had no auto-pass

auto bypass on combi?

yes all heat-line boilers need a external automatic by-pass. there is a internal one but needs the one out side to take the heat away from the boiler.