Philmac connectors, why so wobbly?

[epsilonGreedy]

My first mains water job before Christmas was a breeze with MDPE 25mm pipe and Plasson compression connectors, as recommended on this forum.

 

Today I had to abandon phase-2 of my underground mains water extension because the Philmac connectors supplied seem second rate due to their design. I accepted the Philmac connectors as a substitution for Plasson on the reassurance by Pipestock they are just as good.

 

When attempting to fit the Philmac compression connectors I was underwhelmed by the wobbly fit, Plassons by comparison have a reassuring tight fit even before the compression collar is cranked down. I checked that the new connectors were for 25mm pipe and pipe inserts had been fitted. Before deciding to give up with Philmac connectors I walked across to seek advice from my pro builder neighbour, he recoiled on horror at the sight of Philmac and stated his dislike of them. Eventually after much wrestling we managed to get a semi reassuring joint with the Philmac bits.

 

Have others encountered the same problem? Maybe Philmac require a different fitting technique.

[PeterW]

Never had an issue with either - some don’t feel rigid until you lock the fittings down but they seal well. 

[Jeremy Harris]

I've never had a  problem with the Philmac ones either.  They always seem to be as reliable as the Plasson ones to me, but then again pretty much every MDPE fitting I've used has been OK, with the single exception of one pale blue one that I think may have come from Screwfix.

[epsilonGreedy]

22 hours ago, PeterW said:

Never had an issue with either - some don’t feel rigid until you lock the fittings down but they seal well.

 

 

That was part of the problem for me. Given the inherent loose fit of the Philmac before the compression collar starts to bite I wanted to understand how it worked and unlike the Plasson it was not obvious. With Plasson there is moderate resistance as the pipe passes the O ring then a reassuring clunk as the pipe seats fully home. With the Philmac connectors the pipe just comes to a slack end stop and the fitting then demands constant binding force with two hands while hands 3 & 4 screw in the collar.

 

It is interesting to note that the Plasson installation guide states their 25mm connectors do not require a wrench whereas one is recommended for Philmac. Tactile feedback when screwing in the collars for Plassons v. Philmac confirm a nice progressive build up for resistance with Plasson as compared with Philmac which offers high resistance all the way, this suggests a poorer design to me.

 

A word of warning about Pipestock. They do not routinely stock Plasson connectors so orders including these will often sit on back-order for a few days and thus fail their < 3pm next day delivery promise. Their very well designed web site does not indicate this stocking distinction. 

Edited March 30, 2019 by epsilonGreedy

[epsilonGreedy]

1 hour ago, JSHarris said:

I've never had a  problem with the Philmac ones either.  They always seem to be as reliable as the Plasson ones to me...

 

 

No doubt a recognizable brandname like Philmac produces reliable connectors, what I question is: do they create an extra degree of fitting hassle to achieve reliability.

 

1 hour ago, JSHarris said:

but then again pretty much every MDPE fitting I've used has been OK, with the single exception of one pale blue one that I think may have come from Screwfix.

 

 

That is strange because when I asked my pro builder neighbour what he used, he showed me a light blue one and said these are what are supplied from the local BM.