Plumbing nightmare

[Porthole]

Hello

We had one of our speed fit connections come loose the other day. It was the pipe going from hot water tank in loft to shower valve on first floor. So we had hot water at mains pressure gushing through the ceiling onto our belongings. Builder came back, took out piece of ceiling and found loose pipe which we worked out is the hot water feed to shower valve. Tomorrow, the builders will cut out a piece of plasterboard the other side of the valve to take a look. Can the speed fit connections just come loose ie we're we just unlucky, or is it bad workmanship? I will be looking closely when they inspect the pipework to see what kind of inserts they have used. They use Speedfit JG ones. Would you say it us foolish to use the ones without the superseal behind a shower valve which you cannot access unless you break the tiles? 

Thank you very much - your views are welcome. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow as I'm worried they haven't done it properly which means the whole house is a mess, from a plumbing point of view. 

[joe90]

There are different opinions on what makes are good and which are not, I prefer hep2o (as recommended by our in house magic plumber).

[LA3222]

@Nickfromwalesone for you bud, I'm sure over the years I've seen you talk about the potential for this issue with this type of fitting and that Hep is the go to. This is the first time on here that I've actually heard of it happening.

 

 

[PeterW]

Speedfit must be locked down and the collet locks fitted for 100% guarantee. Fit Hep2O and this isn’t an issue …. 

[Temp]

With all plastic pipe systems they have to be assembled correctly. My builder wouldn't use anything but Osma Gold.

 

The two errors to worry about with all systems are forgetting the insert and not fully inserting the pipe into the fitting. Our plumber always used a sharpie to mark the pipe to be sure it was fully inserted but he did forgot one insert that caused a leak. Lucky it was easy to fix.  

[Nickfromwales]

As peter says, the C-clip collars need to be fitted to JG Speedfit to have a fully correct and warranty-able installation. No plumbers bother because most push fit kings are lazy bastards. I’ve seen the collars used in probably 5% of installs I’ve come across. 
Add to that the issue that a lot only part tighten the fittings and it’s a worry for sure. JG Speedfit made an exceptionally poor fitting with the huge flaw of it eventually untwisted all by itself.
Hep2O is just night and day better, and just as available these days as screwfix and CPS carry stock. 
 

You absolutist must shadow these guys when on site opening this up. Do not leave their side, and tell them of your concerns before they start opening up to access the fault. Tell them you want a full and satisfactory answer for what has gone wrong. 
 

As a plumber of 30 years I can tell you I have had my share of issues / leaks etc, and any plumber who says they’ve never had a leak is a true bull-shitter. It’s sometimes down to a drip starting after you’ve left, or sometimes a faulty fitting. I recently had such an issue on one project. Was a failed o-ring in a Hep2o fitting, sorted in no time at all, at my expense, just one of those things. Fingers crossed this will be just a simple faux-pas and not negligence. 

 

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Nickfromwales

[Big Jimbo]

As Nick said above. I did a refurb in 2007 and used speedfit from the incoming mains. I always pressured with air when i ran new pipes and left it overnight. 5 months in and a pipe above the kitchen ceiling came apart. It had an insert, and had been marked with a sharpie to ensure if was fully pushed home. Then another One went on the central heating. I switched to Hep20 pipe and fittings after that and fingers crossed, never had a problem since. (Fingers crossed) Good luck getting it sorted.

[HughF]

Pressed mlcp for me, every time. Easy to inspect the o-rings, and there’s two or more of them…

 

Yeah, the pipe is 16mm and doesn’t fit anything, but what’s 1mm between friends 😂

[Nickfromwales]

On 29/04/2022 at 09:08, Big Jimbo said:

As Nick said above. I did a refurb in 2007 and used speedfit from the incoming mains. I always pressured with air when i ran new pipes and left it overnight. 5 months in and a pipe above the kitchen ceiling came apart. It had an insert, and had been marked with a sharpie to ensure if was fully pushed home. Then another One went on the central heating. I switched to Hep20 pipe and fittings after that and fingers crossed, never had a problem since. (Fingers crossed) Good luck getting it sorted.

Yup. JG Speedfit is just too flawed and multi-faceted in is installation to make anyone who knows about the alternatives to want to use it. B&Q posse love it lol.

[Porthole]

Thanks for your comments - interesting. Sounds like Speedfit fittings are unreliable - wish we'd known before or were at least given a choice. We would have paid more for peace of mind. 

The builders did not do anything last week for one reason or another but are supposed to be coming tomorrow to cut out the wall and investigate. We haven't slept too well this last week with every water sound giving us concerns for fear of another deluge. 

 

The faulty connection is likely to be the hot supply in the photo below. Left connection. Can anyone advise on how the new connection should be made please? Also, if the wall is opened up, should I insist on all other connections being re done in say copper connections although, it might be difficult with space. They are cutting the wall from bedroom side not taking out the tile where the valve sits. Thank you.