Dodgy Hep2o fittings!

I have never come across a fitting like this fail.

If it has been installed correctly then it should not fail.

I have had an insert that was plastic moulded at one end - so acting like a plug. i had to pull out a whole kitchen

Hep20 will never claim it is a fault of theres. you should have had independant inspection before sending it off.

good luck

 

Sorry to hear you are living out a plumbers nightmare.
Hep problems I have come across:

cutting with a hacksaw or other unsuitable tool, missing pipe insert, hep pipe is easily kinked or cut, re-using fittings is not good, broken steel teeth ring, pipe not pushed fully home.

The main reason I have found for Hep joints failing is them being reused and the cap nut threads getting damaged. I have never had one go as you described butI do prefer Speedfit although that can have problems too.
The only joints I have seen fail catastrophically were soldered joints which came apart ( Not mine of course!) - usually where someone has applied a twisting action somewhere along the pipe and strained the joint.

Good luck in sorting this out.

 

Yeah, it's an unlucky situation.

How do you prove who is in the wrong.

Captain Leaky....have you ever claimed against the manufacturer?

 

No I have never been able to prove to my satisfaction - let alone the manufacturer that the fittings were faulty. I agree though that you would want an independent assesment. As I have said I find Hep to be iffy when re-used and avoid that now.

 

Was it hot or cold? Hep quote max temp of 60 degrees c but hot water can get hotter than that in practice.

 

They cost next to nothing, so why risk re-using a fitting.

I do U/F heating, and the manufacturers will only certify there own pipe and fittings. They reckon others could be slightly out by 1/1000 of a mm. Enough to let it slip (Or possibly a sales strategy)

These are tested to 18 Bar for 1 hour.

I think it should be compulsery to test everything to 14 Bar like in NZ and OZ before pipes are covered

 

I agree, I am just commenting that I have come across re-used fittings that seem dodgy, so I agree with you, chuck em and use new.

 

i have been using it for 10years and never had a problem but i did once with speed fit 6years ago.

bad news is that the customer has the right to claim off you regardless of the answer from hep. then its up to you to try and reclaim off hep. you were the supplier of the product to the cusomer not hep.

 

Captain leaky,
Are you sure that hepp can't be used above 60 degrees? That would mean it could not be used on central heating.

 

I had a very similar problem about two years ago ( I had no P L insurance) doing a bathroom install plus full tiling, on the 2nd week after I had 1st fixed and all pipe work was under mains pressure at about 12 am a 15 mm hep socket blew off! I had fitted the insert and pushed it home, you could tell by the score marks that the grab ring had left on the Hep 20 pipe that it was all the way home! BUT there was only skid marks down the one side of the pipe! And As I remember the fitting that I had used had been rolling around in the back of my van for weeks so it was probably full of dust n ****, so I think that it got stuck between the grab ring and the pipe. I won't do that again.....

 

Hep can hold temperatures of 90 degrees at about 8 bar.

It will handle temperature 0f 120 degrees plus at lower pressures.

 

I've had a 15mm socket blow off the mains. I will never use Hep20 like this again!

 

I think with hindsight the 60 degree spec was underfloor heating - sorry, you are right 90 degrees is normal max.

 

as Clarts has said I think Hep fittings are more susceptible than most to bits of debris, being reused and abuse - of course all fittings should be perfectly clean, pipe cut square etc etc but I do find Hep a bit more fussy - I think it is because of the whole assembly of cap, rings, seal teeth etc has to be perfect for them to work properly.

 

If I were the end user, I would certainly be wary of 120 degree tempered water passing through Hepworth pipe.

Am aware of an instance where the boiler primary stat had failed resulting in plastic pipe splitting. I could be wrong, but at 120 or thereabout, plastic pipe is soft like chewing gum on a hot pavement and unzips/ split under pressure.

I would only use plastic where copper runs are difficult. Copper produces better runs, looks better, stays in shape where it is fixed, pulled bends are tidy and gives a proffessional finish. But then, it is my choice.

 

Certainly I have seen pushfit fittings that move when the pressure is taken off slightly. If I must use pushfit I only use speedfit. I always pressurise the pipe and then tighten up the fitting. This prevents the pipe being pulled out even when the water pressure is taken off.

I don't think that hep2o has this feature and you need a tool to demount it. Could your fitting have moved and then shot off the pipe?

 

Also, nobody has asked the question yet. What is the static water pressure at the property during the daytime and nightime?

As another question. Was your 22mm pipework clipped in any way?

 

just a thought.... did you bleed any air out of the cold feed run going to the dishwasher ?? there is a possibility then when they piped in the washer and opened that leg the air shifting may have given your push fit fitting that pulse movement you get from them the first time the mains are reinstated, and this is when anything untoward may have gotten worse...
just a thought