If you have an old pipe routing in your house or apartment, then it is best to install a new one using polypropylene products. Among their main advantages, ease of installation and durability should be highlighted. The installation process is quite simple, although it requires compliance with the rules.
Before starting the manipulation, you must prepare the appropriate tool for welding, as well as fittings that will allow you to route pipes throughout the house. Within half an hour after welding the joints, you can use the system for its intended purpose.
Choosing a Connection Method
Installation of polypropylene pipes between themselves can be carried out by fittings or by means of threads. Threaded fittings are divided into detachable and one-piece. The choice of installation method depends on the operating conditions. If you plan to embed a water meter or storage tank into the main, it is better to prefer detachable threaded fittings. But the flexible hoses are connected with an integral connection.
Coupling connection
If splicing of straight sections is carried out or the highway will switch to a different diameter, it is best to use couplings. Branches can be formed by tees. When the highway has turns, the connection is made by angles. Do not use dirty or damaged parts, as well as threading yourself. When installing polypropylene pipes, you must reliably protect them from the effects of fire.
Design Features
At the first design stage, a pipeline scheme should be created. The number of bends and parts should be minimized, since ergonomics are the main condition. The wiring should be connected to a centralized highway, while water should provide all devices, including taps, boilers and plumbing.
The wiring for the installation of polypropylene pipes can be performed open or closed type. In the first case, pipes are installed vertically at the corners, while horizontal pipes will be above the floor. This makes communications less noticeable. As for the hidden wiring, it is extremely difficult to perform, because you must first perform an accurate calculation.
Pipes laid in the wall should be solid, while all joints should be provided with free access. The wiring when installing polypropylene pipes can be:
- collector;
- consistent;
- with power sockets.
Collector connection
In the first case, water will flow through the collector. The cheaper wiring is consistent, and therefore more popular. The third option is almost never found today. Do-it-yourself installation of polypropylene pipes in the case of a wiring for heating should be done after a detailed design. The scheme should indicate the location:
- corners;
- couplings;
- adapters;
- heating appliances;
- fasteners.
You can connect to radiators using one or two pipes. Giving can be carried out from below or sideways. When designing a project, you should consider the possibility of expanding the material when exposed to high temperature.
Installation Instructions: Tool Preparation
Installation of a heating system from polypropylene pipes provides for the preparation of a tool, namely:
- apparatus for welding;
- set of nozzles;
- channel;
- special nippers;
- bevel picker.
As for the apparatus for welding, it consists of a soldering iron and a heater. Nippers are intended for cutting pipes. You can use a ring cutter, which is also called a pipe cutter. With the help of a shaver, you can remove the top layer of the aluminum coating. It is impossible to weld the pipes with improvised means. With ease and practicality, the process requires compliance with the quality of connections and the use of equipment. You can sacrifice only with a pipe cutter. If the volume of work is small, then you can cope with the task with a conventional wood saw.
An optional tool is a shaver that cuts the top layer of aluminum. This equipment is only necessary when using pipes reinforced with aluminum from the outside. If the reinforcement is hidden under the outer layer of polypropylene, you can refuse to use a shaver.
What else to keep in mind
Before starting work, you must prepare a plan according to which the installation will be carried out. The goal of creating a circuit is to reduce the number of welds that you will need to carry out on weight. The scheme needs to be worked out as competently as possible. If everything is done correctly, the work can be facilitated. Some masters advise collecting complex areas on the table and only then proceed with their installation in place.
Welding process
Installation instructions for polypropylene pipes are accompanied by heating the edges of the products from the outside and inside of the coupling to a certain depth. After that, the parts should be interconnected. Heated material will be welded securely. Products should be prepared in advance. For this, the pipes are measured and cut into separate pieces. A chamfer should be made on the outside of the pipe. It should have a slope of 15 ˚ and have a recess of 3 mm. If you follow domestic standards, then the chamfer should have an angle of 45 ˚, and the recess in this case is one third of the thickness of the pipe. In practice, you can use any option.
To perform a chamfer, you can use any suitable tool for this. It should remove material smoothly and evenly. Before welding, the inside of the chamfer and the product are cleaned of dirt and degreased. Installation of polypropylene pipes in the bathroom is carried out according to the following algorithm. The welding machine should be installed on a stand. On the regulator you must set the temperature to 260 ° C, if such an option is provided. This temperature level is optimal, and it will be enough to heat the product. For welding the pipe, it is not recommended to use other temperatures other than the above value, therefore, when choosing a device, you should not focus on the regulator.
Once the soldering iron is warmed up, you can begin to weld the products. To do this, the fitting sits on a special pin, while on the other side of the heater the pipe is inserted into the sleeve. The products are then removed at the same time and connected. It is not worth holding the elements for a long time on the heater, the time is calculated taking into account the diameter of the pipes and the wall thickness. If you overdo it, the fitting and pipe material will overheat, which will lead to a loss of strength and deformation. After this product it will be impossible to connect.
If the heating is insufficient, the connections will be unreliable, and subsequently you may encounter leaks. You can find out the exposure time of the material on the heater by reading the special table of international standards.
Connection parts
The technology for installing polypropylene pipes provides for the installation of a pipe and fitting in a sleeve. However, some efforts should be made. This is due to the fact that the nozzles on the heater have the form of a cone and a slope of 5 ˚. When you put the pipe in the sleeve, it should be brought to the stop, but you should not push further. If this rule is neglected, this will negatively affect the conductivity of the pipe, because after the connection at the end a thickening forms.
The depth of the sleeve is best measured to the stop and mark the distance from the edge on the product. As a result, you can control your actions visually. But with experience, you will feel with your hands the moment when the pipe rested against the edge. Heated products should be connected as quickly as possible. Turning them in relation to each other is unacceptable.
The pipe is inserted directly, while aligning the axes must be observed. You will have a few seconds left to correct the situation. The materials then cool down, and any movements adversely affect the quality of welding.
Installation Recommendations
Do-it-yourself installation of heating from polypropylene pipes in an apartment or a house is carried out using mounted sections with turns and fittings that you welded separately on the floor or table. The transitions between the walls and the connection to the inputs are left until the installation on site. Pipes should be fixed to the surface using clamps that are attached to the wall.
For heating in private homes, pipes are not brought to the boiler. They are connected by transition fittings to a metal pipe. The length of the latter should be 0.5 m. It is directly connected to the heater. When installing polypropylene pipes in a private house, you must remember that welded joints are not serviced, which distinguishes them from screw ones. That is why welded polypropylene sections are laid inside the walls. Previously, it will only be necessary to carry out a check for leaks and reliability. The same requirement must be observed with respect to the findings made in the form of crimp inserts.
Additional soldering recommendations
In addition to the welding machine, when installing plastic pipes, you will need an electric jigsaw. Before starting work on the device, you need to wear nozzles of the desired diameter. It is important to wait until the machine warms up, the warm-up time is indicated in the equipment manual.
Before you start cutting pipes, they must be marked. The ends should be deburred. Using a marker, you will need to indicate the depth of pipe entry into the fitting. The end of the pipe should not abut against the coupling, for which a millimeter gap should be left.
Carrying out the installation of polypropylene pipes with your own hands, you must put the pipe and fitting on the nozzle, both parts must be heated at the same time. If you notice that some part is poorly fitted, for example, it is too loose or tight, it should be rejected.
Initial adjustment can be performed only within a few seconds after planting, then the details are fixed permanently. The heating time will depend on the diameter of the pipe. The latter value also affects the cooling time. If the diameter is 20 mm, then the heating and cooling times will be 6 and 2 seconds, respectively. With an increase in diameter to 40 mm, the heating and cooling time increases to 12 and 4 seconds. When installing polypropylene pipes in the house, you can use 90 mm products that heat and cool for 40 and 8 seconds, respectively.
Finally
The connection will be reliable only if there are no gaps and gaps on it. You can make a welding machine for such work yourself. To do this, prepare an electric drill and an old iron. If the work is one-time, it is better to rent equipment from friends or acquaintances, but if you plan to engage in similar manipulations on a commercial basis, then it is even better to purchase high-quality equipment.
This requirement is due to several reasons. Among others, it should be noted that high-quality installation cannot be performed without special equipment. In addition, the lack of tightness of the joints will certainly lead to the need for repair.