Screwing into the cyclinder

[Mr Blobby]

I was surprised, and rather disappointed to find our plumber had screwed into my lovely Panasonic cylinder to fix pipes.  

 

Googling around it seems this is common practice to fix into the cylinder so I'm much calmer now.  However, the clips are all loose, suggesting the screws have not threaded onto the external skin of the tank.  I have a box or short wide self tappers on site that would probably have been far more effective but its too late now.

 

Any thoughts on this?

 

[LaChab]

I had an idea that Panasonic used Oso cylinders, in which case it's possibly not a good idea to use any screws as Oso use vacuum insulation, and state "no penetrations".

 

[JohnMo]

If its foam insulation no issues, if as said a vacuum insulated one, bang goes the insulation

[SteamyTea]

Easy fix, 25 quid.

 

 

[Nickfromwales]

9 hours ago, Mr Blobby said:

Any thoughts on this?

Post the manufacturers sectional detail, please, before we comment further.

 

I fix into cylinders like this routinely.

[MikeSharp01]

6 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

 

I fix into cylinders like this routinely.

Seems rather crude just to screw into a casing, might be more robustly done with rivnuts or some such. 

[JohnMo]

34 minutes ago, MikeSharp01 said:

rivnuts

We are talking plumbers - most don't understand priority domestic hot water - rivnut no chance.

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, MikeSharp01 said:

Seems rather crude just to screw into a casing, might be more robustly done with rivnuts or some such. 

There’s nothing wrong with doing so, just the difference being some use a screwdriver to put a self tapping screw in, and others use a hammer.

 

Rivnuts would require machine thread screws vs ‘what’s going to be in the van’, so that’s not likely to happen.

[Mr Blobby]

18 hours ago, LaChab said:

I had an idea that Panasonic used Oso cylinders, in which case it's possibly not a good idea to use any screws as Oso use vacuum insulation, and state "no penetrations".

 

Thank you for this.  Definitely an oso cylinder.  I had never heard of vacuum insulation on a cylinder, so I'll go take a look.

[SteamyTea]

24 minutes ago, Mr Blobby said:

Definitely an oso cylinder

Demand a replacement if it does have VIP.

 

Why don't they just glue on some clips? I had a early production 309 turbo, the extra wires were attached onto self adhesive clips, was about the only thing that did not fall off.

Except the brakes, they caught in fire.

[JohnMo]

47 minutes ago, Mr Blobby said:

 

Thank you for this.  Definitely an oso cylinder.  I had never heard of vacuum insulation on a cylinder, so I'll go take a look.

If it's an A rated cylinder the vacuum insulation, any other ratings it's most likely not vacuum insulation

[Mr Blobby]

3 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

There’s nothing wrong with doing so, just the difference being some use a screwdriver to put a self tapping screw in, and others use a hammer.

 

Rivnuts would require machine thread screws vs ‘what’s going to be in the van’, so that’s not likely to happen.

 

I can lift the screws on the top clamp with my fingernail, so its not doing much

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, Mr Blobby said:

 

I can lift the screws on the top clamp with my fingernail, so its not doing much

Fitted by a whelk then……

[Mr Blobby]

On 14/07/2026 at 10:27, JohnMo said:

If it's an A rated cylinder the vacuum insulation, any other ratings it's most likely not vacuum insulation

 

It is A Rated, and it looks like it does have Vacuum insulated panels and PUR.  So where inside the cylinder are the vacuum panels and who thinks they are punctured?  The tank is not yet filled or heated so I can't do a temperature test to identify heat loss around the penetrations to determine if the VIP are punctured.

 

Plumber has the hump with me ever since I told him to change the manifold 😕 

I think its about to get worse. 😬

 

What now?

 

 

 

Edited July 15 by Mr Blobby

[-rick-]

Call OSO and ask?

 

I'd guess you are probably be ok as it makes more sense to me to put the VIP on the inside and PUR outer. But it's just a guess.

 

Edit: But if the manual says no penetrations then making the plumber replace makes most sense. If you want to show flexibility then check with OSO and see what they say. If they are willing to warrant based on the screw being no longer than x then ok. No good to move forward with a void warranty.

Edited July 15 by -rick-