A person who has become the new owner of a house often faces the problem of rusty and dilapidated pipes. Not surprising, because if the house has served many years, then surely such systems as water supply, heating and sewage have worn out significantly.
Here other problems begin to appear. For example, a heating riser in an apartment building is a common property, for the replacement of which all residents must pay. And if the house is serviced by the housing management, and the replacement of the riser is urgent (for example, in an accident), then the problem falls on the shoulders of the employees of this institution.
Features of replacing risers and heating pipes
To replace the heating pipe, the following steps must be performed in sequence:
- Block and drain the water.
- Using a grinder, cut old pipes and pull them out of the floor slabs.
- Decide on the location of the battery and install it using a level and a punch.
Tip: before starting work, it is better to get permission from neighbors living above and below, since if the heating riser remains the same in the floors, the repair will lose its meaning.
System wiring
It is important to remember that installation must be carried out in accordance with the level, since skewing will inevitably lead to air accumulation and poor battery performance. Far not superfluous is the acquisition of shut-off valves, which allow you to block the site (for example, if a leak occurs), without thereby disrupting the operation of the system as a whole.
If you plan to independently carry out installation work, then the best option is metal-plastic pipes that easily take any shape. Special threaded connections allow fasteners to be made.
Wiring heating requires the purchase of metal pipes (preferably stainless steel).
Charting
Installation work cannot be started without the most detailed scheme. To do this, you need to determine the type of heating, the type of system itself and the ways of laying pipes.
The wiring of the heating can be two-pipe or single-pipe. The first option provides direct and reverse wiring. So it will be easier to regulate the temperature in the house. After completing the calculation of the number of pipes, their length and diameter, you can proceed with installation work.
Options for wiring diagrams for heating
If preference was given to a one-pipe vertical system, then the highest floor or attic should be chosen as the location for the supply line. In this way, the vertical riser can supply heat to each heater.
The advantage of this is the economical use of pipes, and the disadvantage is the inability to separately turn off the heating devices.
In the case of laying a two-pipe vertical heating system with a lower wiring, the supply and return pipes should be carried out directly on the floor or slightly above its surface. This allows you to provide each radiator with its own coolant. Such a choice leads to an increase in the length of the pipeline, but it allows you to adjust the heating and turn off the heater at any time.
A horizontal two-pipe system involves laying the return and supply piping along the perimeter. Each heating device must be equipped with a special faucet that allows air to be released from the structure. Such a scheme involves a floor shutdown of heating and the use of radiators with a lower connection.
The choice of a two-pipe floor collector system involves the installation of a supply and return manifold. During installation, plastic pipes are used for heating.
Riser Disconnect
How to turn off the heating riser? The lower spill involves pairing. The simplest option to determine its location is to go up to the apartment located a floor above and familiarize yourself with the location of the jumpers.
If the house has an overflow, then turning off the heating riser involves shutting down one valve in the basement and in the attic. How to determine where they are located? The main thing is to choose the right entrance, and calculating the position of the valve itself is simple. After closing both valves, unscrew the plugs and open the vents. A complete runoff of water is followed by a check of the health of the shutoff valves. Everything, the heating pipes in the apartment building are turned off!
Important! Implementation of work during the heating season is possible only if there is access to the apartment located at the very top. If nobody lives in it, then it will not be possible to start heating.
The easiest way to disconnect the heater is to cut the lead to it. Then, a lock nut is given, and a piece of eyeliner is twisted out of the radiator plug.
How to choose the right place for cutting the riser? It all depends on relationships with neighbors living above and below. Practice shows that it is better to change the heating riser through the floors, since the destruction of pipes by corrosion is most often observed in places of contact with concrete.
Plastic pipes
The modern market has a huge assortment, so the buyer only needs to decide which plastic pipes for heating he wants to install.
The main types:
- metal-plastic;
- polypropylene;
- crosslinked polyethylene.
The positive characteristics of the former include:
- corrosion resistance, therefore, long service life;
- excellent passability and constant diameter, since the formation of salt deposits is impossible;
- low level of roughness of the inner layer, which guarantees minimal loss of pressure of the coolant;
- minimum linear expansion, and this is the most important indicator for heating, especially if there is a place to be hidden wiring;
- high values of frost resistance.
Why are metal-plastic pipes characterized by such high technical characteristics? It's all about the multilayer structure: polyethylene (2 layers), aluminum foil (1 layer) and adhesive (2 layers). In addition, plastic pipes can boast of the following properties:
- The maximum operating temperature is 95 ° C.
- The parameter of the working pressure at the above temperature is 10 atm.
- When the temperature drops to 25 ° C, the value of the working pressure increases to 25 atm.
- For a short time, temperatures up to 130 ° C are allowed.
Polypropylene pipes
The heating pipe in the apartment is often connected to polypropylene pipes. They have many positive qualities. These include:
- affordable price;
- flexibility to get any desired shape;
- long service life;
- good resistance to high temperatures;
- high thermal conductivity.
Pipes made of cross-linked polyethylene
The riser of the heating system can also be extended with a pipe made of cross-linked polyethylene, a material that is not afraid of high temperature effects. The polyethylene itself is soft and plastic, which is incompatible with heating, but scientists were able to identify a method that turns it into a durable product.
Technical characteristics of cross-linked polyethylene:
- operating temperature maximum - 95 ° C;
- ability to withstand pressure up to 7 atm .;
- lowering the temperature to 70 ° C increases the value of the working pressure to 11 atm.
Compliance with the maximum load threshold guarantees the service life of cross-linked polyethylene pipes for at least 50 years. It is impossible to ignore the high flexibility of finished products. In addition, almost all manufacturers produce a long hose (the bay can reach 200 m), which ensures a seamless construction of the heating system. A minimized number of connection points reduces the likelihood of leaks.