Your thoughts please

[luggsy]

going to drain the antifreeze for the first time l am thinking of cutting the bottom hose from the skin tank to the engine then make up a tee with a gate valve with a small piece of  hose on so that I can fit a 12v pump in  , so the next time I change the antifreeze I can pump it into drums so it's not in the engine/bilge area good or bad idea ? Also would it be alright to make the tee in copper ? Something like this 

[rusty69]

I will be interested in the replies, as i need to do something similar. Think a ball valve may be better though? 

[alan_fincher]

It can be quite difficult to really get reinforced host to seal tightly on to just copper pipe, if that's what you are proposing.

If you use some kind of "worm drive" clip, they tend to appear tight at first, but loosen as they bed into the pipe over time, and may either start to dribble or (worse!) come off.

It might be worth getting at least an olive crushed onto the pipe to give a "lip", or (better still?) use proper barbed connectors.

I would also always prefer a ball valve to a gate valve - I'm not sure the latter are actually ever very good at sealing completely, and I suspect coolant might get past it.

[PaulJ]

My system is exactly like that luggsy. I used a 22mm gate valve because I happened to have a shiny new one sitting unused. The gate valve is also fitted with a blanking cap (just in case)- I remove this and replace with suitable compression fitting and hose to an old 3/4 inch shower drain pump when I need to drain the system. Saves alot of faffing about when needing to do anything to cooling system.

[BEngo]

Your idea is fine.  As others have said, use a ball valve not a gate valve and use a solder ring fitting for the Tee.  That way you can push the hose over the bumps the solder sits in and  fit the jubilee clips over the bumps.  Then there is no need to mess about with olives to create bumps on the pipe.

 

N

[nicknorman]

5 minutes ago, BEngo said:

Your idea is fine.  As others have said, use a ball valve not a gate valve and use a solder ring fitting for the Tee.  That way you can push the hose over the bumps the solder sits in and  fit the jubilee clips over the bumps.  Then there is no need to mess about with olives to create bumps on the pipe.

 

N

Well except that it might be difficult to get the hose over the outside of the fittings, and not a huge amount of room left for jubilee clips. I suppose it depends on the ID of the hose. I’d prefer the copper pipe / olive solution, unless the OD of the T fitting is a better fit.

[luggsy]

Thanks for your ideas, the gate valve idea was so it could not get turned on accidentally So Gate valve with a screw on cap is a good, idea, also the olive is a good idea as well , the inside diameter of the hose  is 35mm 

[Boater Sam]

Yorkshire Tee 35mm  is bore size, you will struggle to get 35mm bore hose over the outside and the rings.  Solder short bits of 35mm pipe (get bits from a scrap yard) into the tee and solder a turn of 1mm copper wire around the pipe to give you a hose grip rib.

You can get a tee with a reduced branch so you can use a smaller valve, save cash. Or even a BSP female thread on the branch so you can screw the valve straight in.

 A plug or cap on a gate valve is a good plan if you don't use a quarter turn ball valve.

[rusty69]

34 minutes ago, luggsy said:

Thanks for your ideas, the gate valve idea was so it could not get turned on accidentally So Gate valve with a screw on cap is a good, idea, also the olive is a good idea as well , the inside diameter of the hose  is 35mm 

Can a ball valve handle be removed to prevent accidentally turning it on? 

 

Answers on a postcard please. 

[luggsy]

16 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Can a ball valve handle be removed to prevent accidentally turning it on? 

 

Answers on a postcard please. 

Exactly what I was thinking 

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, Boater Sam said:

 Solder short bits of 35mm pipe (get bits from a scrap yard) 

You can also buy short lengths of 35mm copper pipe on eBay.

 

[alan_fincher]

2 hours ago, rusty69 said:

Can a ball valve handle be removed to prevent accidentally turning it on? 

 

Answers on a postcard please. 

That's what I do with one that sits at the foot of our calorifier, as an easy method for draining it.