Home | A-Z contents | D.I.Y Forum | Safety First  | Disclaimer

Web www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

 

Well as some of you will be aware doing DIY gas work is not Illegal in your own home, there are some people out there that are totally competent and can do their own gas work, other people should not do their own gas work. In both cases it is advisable to get the work tested by a Corgi registered engineer. This project has kindly been supplied by Allan ( Jaeger_S2k  who is competent at gas work ). This project is for information only and should not be attempted by anyone who is not competent.

Moving a Gas Supply and fitting New Fire.

First step is deciding where the new fire will be positioned, that way we can mount the back plate and hang the fire and work out what we need to do.

The back plate has already been positioned and marked and drilled (the lower of the holes seen in the picture).

This is where the gas supply was

…

Now we need to look at where it needs to go.

While I was putting the back plate up and securing it with the bolts, one of them sheered! Should have got tensile bolts, worth a thought!

Of course I now have a bolt hole that’s full of the bottom of this bolt. Need to cut another hole and drill another plug point.

OK, now we can get the fire into position and work out what we need to do and where to cut.

I was quite fortunate that the fire is about level with the original supply line however this wasn’t an influence on where the fire was positioned.   TURN OFF THE GAS!!! And label or mark the meter as being worked on.   I can simply cut the supply at the first solder joint the elbow taking the supply down.   This pipe is 10mm soft copper and is very easy, too easy, to bend this allows me to get a good hold of the pipe and I recommend wearing protective gloves. I can have a secure grip as I don’t want to wrench the pipe about, but without fear of taking the skin of my knuckles!

Having cut the supply, I now make up the sections allowing me to take the supply to where it’s needed. I hang the fire on the wall plate and plan the route I will take to the control valve allowing for any obstacles.

This was done with an end fed 10mm straight, an end fed 10mm elbow and finally an end fed 10mm straight connecting to the supplied (this fire came from a showroom display) 10mm to 8mm reduced length and brass coupling.

All this pipe work is put in place ‘dry’ that is there is no flux on joints and the joints have not been soldered.

You can see the pipe goes behind the remote control holder and then come out from the wall but in doing so is further along the fire than we need. With 10mm and 8mm copper it is easy to put a controlled ‘kick’ (that is to bend the pipe) to get back to your desired path. The most important part of any bend is not the bend itself but it is the end of the pipe that is to enter the coupling or fittings as that part of the pipe needs to be straight to ensure either the olive (if a compression joint) is straight and is not angled in the shoulder and that it is into the shoulder fully. Any angle or shortage will cause the coupling to either place pressure on the pipe or pull the pipe from your planned route. Take as much time as you need to get these sections and connections just right, it will pay off in the end. I have always been happy (well not too happy) to cut another piece of pipe because I’ve measured wrong and it’s too short rather than try to ‘bodge’ it.

The setting out is a very important part of this operation and should be given plenty of time and thought. Good setting out will make the rest of the job easier.

Although this will be the final setup. The fire will be removed and kept safely out of the way while other works are carried out in the room, so the brass coupling you see here will be replaced later with a stop valve.

So I’m happy with my ‘dry’ setting out and I am now ready to clean, flux and solder the fittings in place.

Cleaning is so important, dirty copper does not solder. That’s a fact, solder will not stick to dirt, so the 2 pipes causing me most concern are the original supply and the reduced tail supplied with the fire. All other sections are new and have been cut with a pipe slice however they still need a light cleaning. The original supply, as you saw was cut with a hacksaw, they do exactly what they’re called they hack and leave horrible burs on pipes, these need to be filed and cleaned.

For small bore like 10mm I prefer some fine wire wool, just wrap the wool round the pipe and twist the pipe inside the wool, just enough pressure to take any oxidised material off, don’t go hard at it or you’ll have a very thin pipe. Practice on some old copper, doesn’t matter what size you’ll get a better idea once you’ve had a play with some ‘off site’.

Unfortunately the original supply pipe is buried in the mortar and I cannot see the side closest to the wall, I have given it a good scrub as best I can in the circumstances so I’m going to let the flux do the rest, to apply flux by hand (actually finger) would mean squeezing the pipe out and then trying to reposition it again I don’t want any more disturbance of that pipe than necessary so to get round that I load my solder with flux and use it to squeeze in the gap and give the backside of the pipe a good dose.

All other joints are cleaned and fluxed, for 22mm and 15mm fittings I use a finger to wipe the inside of the fitting with flux, on smaller fittings I just stick the solder in and wipe round (it’s also healthier as you shouldn’t expose your skin to flux, yeah right).   Flux becomes operational as soon as it touches the copper but works best when heated. Try it on an old piece of oxidised copper, just wipe one side with flux and watch it clean.

OK so all the fitting are clean and fluxed, I now assemble the pipes and fittings.

I always, where possible and practical, support my work to ensure during heating the pipes don’t slip and slide out of location.

It’s difficult to grab a hot pipe and put it back into position before the solder sets in the wrong place, no I’ll take that back it’s impossible, so support your work if you can.

On 15mm and 22mm this is very important as the fittings, I find, are a snugger fit but when the flux gets hot and runs it lubricates the joint and if there is weight or tension on the fitting it can slip and you’re snookered. 8 and 10mm I find to be a sloppy fit so it’s imperative to support the pipes and fittings, again the flux will lubricate the fittings and they’ll slide out and fall apart just as you lick them with your torch! I think that’s cleared that up then?

SUPPORT YOUR WORK! Yes?

The brass coupling is connected (finger tight) to the fire, this is a final fitting so everything has to be in the position it needs to be in when we finish. If there are any short pipes, cut a new piece. This is more important with 22mm and 15mm pipes as they are not as flexible as these narrow bore 8 and 10mm pipes, but it’s a good rule to follow.

The pipes are supported by the brass coupling and you can see there’s an extra pipe coming up from the floor to the elbow fitting. This is the old pipe I cut and is there to give added support to the elbow as that will be the last joint I’ll make.

Deciding the order of the joints should be done before you light your torch, it’s usually obvious. It’s very difficult to say which order you should do joints in as each job is different but I think I favour straights first, but it does depend on the situation.

Here are the 2 straights after soldering. If you look at the first straight, the one at the original supply, you’ll see the stain on the wall. That’s from the extra helping of flux I had added to the back of the pipe.

Allow the joint to cool naturally for a few minutes. In reality solder goes ‘off’ hard really quickly and will have solidified on pipes that you cannot touch, but it’s always safe to leave them exactly as you set them for a few minutes. I then apply a very damp cloth to the pipe close to the joint area and allow it to steam for a minute ensuring it’s nice and cool, don’t do that too early as the sudden shock of cold can and will fracture the joint.

Now, the elbow. I’ve allowed the straights to cool and have applied a bit of cold water to speed the process up a bit. I can now remove the support (because I don’t want it there as it will dissipate the heat) but because the straights are soldered they now support the pipes running to the elbow, so I don’t really need the support.

As you can see from the picture, just to the left of the elbow there’s some new plaster board, which could get a bit excited if I were to point the torch at it. That’s a bit of a pain as it’s generally better to hit the centre of the inside corner of the elbow. To get round this I could have place a metal protector behind the elbow to protect the board but this MUST NOT touch the elbow as it will dissipate the heat from the fitting.   As you can see I actually repositioned myself and hit the fitting from the back, again allow it to cool for a few minutes then a very wet rag.

The job is done and the stop valve in place. The joints tested with either leak test fluid, available from your supplier (not sure if the sheds do this) or with soapy liquid (washing up liquid) if you see bubbles you’ve got a leak. The final connection will be made by a Corgi Registered Gas Fitter and he will then make other soundness tests from the meter.   The pipes are taped and the fire removed ready for the plasterer.

As you can see the pipe actually sticks out from the wall at an awkward height. I applied some Yellow/Green tape the end and the middle to make it more obvious, no one walked into it. Phew.

The finished Article