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New Hep20 plumbing fittings


David Schweizer

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Maybe Polyplumb is more tolerant to bad workmanship.

I've always found on boats at any rate that with whatever make of plastic pipe systems and mixtures 'of' are used, apart from frost damage failures are almost always caused by bad fitting workmanship. Pipes not cut accurately to length and badly cut, pipes forced at angles into fittings possibly causing leaks or cracked fittings because of stress. Failures are almost always stress related!!! STRESS!!!!!!! bad workpmanship, Botched!!. In my lowly experience and opinion anyway. :)

As I have never had an Acorn or Hep20 joint fail, I naturally agree with you. :lol: There is no substitute for carefull workmanship.

Edited by David Schweizer
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When the new style white Hep2o came out I got a 15mm "sample pack" direct from the manufacturer for free, which included one elbow, about 6in of pipe, and, importantly, the new blue dismantling tool. No idea whether that offer is still on though, I think there was a website to request the pack.

 

I seem also to recall that the grey Hep2o came in two versions with plastic grab rings - green and white, but I could be making this up... There was a plastic tool available to remove the grab ring from the pipe, but with care it would be done by hand or with a bit old card rolled round the pipe. The new style seems overly complex.

The later type of screwed Hep20 did come with both green and white grab rings, If I remeber correctly the green ones replaced the white ones.

 

For the record there were also three earlier types of Hep20 all with metal grab rings, two grey and one brown (Acorn brand), they are all interchangeble with each other.

Edited by David Schweizer
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Would you care to explain, as your statement makes no sense ( well at least not to me). Good riddance to what? the old type?, or the new type? as it is only the latest incarnation that requires a tool to dismantle.

 

The old type of fitting did not need any sort of tool to dismantle it and did not need a new fitting kit to re assemble it unless you were not going to use the pipe at the same length,as you merely used the old screw ring to attatch the new fitting. if you required a diffeent length, you cut the pipe to the length required and pushed all the components backwards to release them. If you did have to remove the grab ring using cutters as suggested by Alan, new ones were readily available as a spare.

 

I thought even with the old stuff you needed a tool to dismantle Hep20? Isn't a cutter a tool? :unsure: I could never get the bloodly joints undone by hand. I found that I often had to get that castlated stainless grab ring off and it was always facing the wrong way. Dismantling a Hep joint usually means dismantling or even destroying the fitting too. If you have to use tools or buy spare parts then it's not a true make & break push-fit plumbling system. I'm not surprised they've changed it - although from your description it sounds like they've changed it to something equally bad!

 

I never liked Hep and always preferred Sprredfit - a much simpler, fully integrated system. You don't have to remember how the parts within the fittings go together because the fittings don't fall apart in the first place, there are no tools required at all to dismantle joints (especially not a cutter), and there are no spare parts to fall out, cut off or have to re-buy.

 

and another vote AGAINST speedshite seen too many failed fittings and similar with Hep2poo

 

personally I have found polyplumb and plumbfast far better for longevity.

 

The only failed Speedfit fittings I've seen are ones that weren't put together properly in the first place. Likewise Hep. I've seen castelated grab rings put on backwards (so they don't grab) and the pipe comes out. Whether that happened in manufacture or by the user I don't know.

 

Speedfit's not difficult to use but some people don't push the pipe in properly or don't tighten the outer locking ring.

 

I've always regarded Polyplumb as the inferior copy of Speedfit, but each to their own. People should use whatever they're happy with.

Edited by blackrose
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Is the pipe interchangeable between the fittings? I have to do some modifications to what looks like an old grey Acorn system and I'd rather use speedfit.

Yes, AFAIK all pipe is the same external diameter, and there should be no problem interchanging Hep2O and Speedfit fittings.

 

That is backed up buy the fact that either can be used directly on standard 15mm copper pipe.

 

I don't know if they have changed it, but in my limited experience of Speedfit, (or some similar system), what many are praising as a strength could also be taken as a negative - namely the fact that just by pushing on something the joint would come apart, without the need to dismantle anything else at all. I like the fact that the Hep2O types I'm actually familiar with cannot be removed without the need to unscrew an end cap, but it is down to personal choice, obviously!

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Waiting for a long and fiddly upload;

 

HEP20 (new type)

coupling.jpg

never seen these

 

 

HEP20 (old type)

10532319_1.jpg

 

polyplumb

PLUPB015.jpg

seen loads of these

 

speedfit

mid_product_HPPEM0310W.jpg

 

 

 

Can't find a picture of acorn fittings and at 14 years ago I'm guessing I haven't got those.

 

What about irrigation fittings? any good? frost proof?

 

any other types for Pink's Handy Plumbing Identification Guide?

Edited by Chris Pink
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Chris,

 

Page 4 of this PDF Document

 

Identifies five different styles of Acorn / Hep2O since 1979......

 

(Let's try a Mayall moment....)

 


  • . 1979 The Acorn push-fit system
    . 1991 The Hep2O Original push-fit system
    . 1998 BiTite push-fit system
    . 2001 The Hep2O Smarter push-fit system
    . 2010 Next Generation

 

I must admit I'm not exactly sure what the difference is between the 1998 and 2001 systems, as both look externally similar, but assume only the 2001 has the blue plastic style grab rings with embedded teeth, and is hence the first that can be taken apart non-destructively with the right tool.

 

I think I have the 1991 system for original plumbing, (the boat dates from 1995), and all my own additions are probably the 2001 system.

 

Both work fine, and the actual "body pieces of each are interchangeable, so it is perfectly possible to have 1991 style parts at one end of a fitting with more modern 2001 parts at the other,but you need all the parts at the same end to be the same generation, assembles in the correct order, and with the lock ring facing the correct way, (of course!)

 

Now awaits David Schweizer to describe other more obscure types not covered amongst those 5 - actually I think there may be!

 

EDIT:

 

Post built up in pieces before I found the bit that was stopping it posting - it looked like text, but I guess there must have been a non-displayable character got into it somehow - normal service now resumed!

Edited by alan_fincher
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Not defendimg latest version of Hep2O, but just noting that if you look further down that document link, they make claims as to what it offers that Speedfit and Polyplump do not, which include.....

 

Secure demounting, (I think that means only with a tool).

Joint Recognition, (positive way of knowing pipe fully in).

Low insertion force, (whatever that means!)

Streamlined shape, (it is now slimmer than the others)

All metal grab ring, (is that an admission that their move to plastic ones had not been without problems?)

50 year guarantee, (25 year on the other systems).

 

I've not tried it, so am only repeating what they claim......

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Chris,

 

Page 4 of this PDF Document

 

Identifies five different styles of Acorn / Hep2O since 1979......

 

(Let's try a Mayall moment....)

 


  • . 1979 The Acorn push-fit system
    . 1991 The Hep2O Original push-fit system
    . 1998 BiTite push-fit system
    . 2001 The Hep2O Smarter push-fit system
    . 2010 Next Generation

 

I must admit I'm not exactly sure what the difference is between the 1998 and 2001 systems, as both look externally similar, but assume only the 2001 has the blue plastic style grab rings with embedded teeth, and is hence the first that can be taken apart non-destructively with the right tool.

 

I think I have the 1991 system for original plumbing, (the boat dates from 1995), and all my own additions are probably the 2001 system.

 

Both work fine, and the actual "body pieces of each are interchangeable, so it is perfectly possible to have 1991 style parts at one end of a fitting with more modern 2001 parts at the other,but you need all the parts at the same end to be the same generation, assembles in the correct order, and with the lock ring facing the correct way, (of course!)

Now awaits David Schweizer to describe other more obscure types not covered amongst those 5 - actually I think there may be!

 

EDIT:

 

Post built up in pieces before I found the bit that was stopping it posting - it looked like text, but I guess there must have been a non-displayable character got into it somehow - normal service now resumed!

You know me too well Alan, and yes there is another type which was the first one manufactured after Hepworths took over Acorn, it identical physically to the 1979 brown fitting but moulded in grey. The difference between the 1998 version and the 2001 version is that the earlier one had a white moulded grab ring, and the later one had a green moulded grab ring. Hepworths always said that the different coloured grab rings were not interchangeable but I believe they actually were, Probably a sales ploy to get you to buy new fittings rather than just new grab rings, as they did not offer the white ones as a spare once the green ones were introduced.

 

There are also several clones of the earlier types available in both grey and white which are identical to the early Acorn/first hepworth type. For a while B&Q sold them and they are currently available from Toolstation.

Edited by David Schweizer
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Is the pipe interchangeable between the fittings? I have to do some modifications to what looks like an old grey Acorn system and I'd rather use speedfit.

 

Yes, I have a mixture of grey Hep pipe/fittings that came with my boat and white Speedfit that I installed. It's fine. Just don't forget to put those ferrules in the end of each pipe on your joints. The Speedfit superseal ferrules incorporating extra o-rings are difficult to get into Hep pipe, but personally I don't think they really acheive anything over ordinary plastic ferrules.

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