If you have an old piping in your house or apartment, then it is best to install a new one using polypropylene products. Among their main advantages, ease of installation and durability should be highlighted. The installation process is quite simple, although it requires compliance with the rules.
Before starting the manipulation, you must prepare the appropriate welding tool, as well as fittings that will allow you to route pipes throughout the house. Within half an hour after welding the joints, you will be able to use the system for its intended purpose.
Select connection method
Installation of polypropylene pipes between themselves can be carried out with fittings or using threads. Threaded fittings are divided into detachable and one-piece. The choice of installation method depends on the operating conditions. If you plan to embed a water meter or storage tank into the main, it is better to preferdetachable threaded fittings. But flexible hoses are connected with a one-piece connection.
Coupling
If straight sections are spliced or the line will change to a different diameter, it is best to use couplings. Branches can be formed by tees. When the highway has turns, the connection is made with squares. It is unacceptable to use dirty or damaged parts, as well as to cut the thread yourself. When installing polypropylene pipes, you must reliably protect them from fire.
Design features
The first step in the design process is to create a piping layout. The number of bends and details should be minimized, since ergonomics is the main condition. The wiring must be connected to a centralized main, while water should be provided to all appliances, including taps, boilers and plumbing.
Wiring during the installation of polypropylene pipes can be done open or closed. In the first case, the pipes at the corners are installed vertically, while the horizontal pipes will be above the floor. This allows you to make communications not so noticeable. As for hidden wiring, it is extremely difficult to execute, because you must first perform an accurate calculation.
Pipes laid in the wall must be solid, while all joints should be provided with free access. The wiring for the installation of polypropylene pipes can be:
- collector;
- serial;
- with feed-through sockets.
Manifold connection
In the first case, water will flow through the collector. The cheaper wiring is serial, and therefore more popular. The third option is almost never found today. Do-it-yourself installation of polypropylene pipes in the case of the formation of wiring for heating should be carried out after detailed design. The location should be indicated in the diagram:
- corners;
- coupling;
- adapters;
- heaters;
- fasteners.
You can connect to radiators using one or two pipes. The feed can be done from below or from the side. When designing, you must take into account the possibility of expansion of the material when exposed to high temperatures.
Installation instructions: tool preparation
Installation of a heating system from polypropylene pipes involves the preparation of a tool, namely:
- welding machine;
- set of nozzles;
- channel;
- special cutters;
- beveler.
As for the welding machine, it consists of a soldering iron and a heater. Nippers are designed for cutting pipes. You can use a ring cutter, which is also called a pipe cutter. Using a shaver, you can remove the top layer of aluminum coating. It is impossible to weld pipes with improvised means. With ease and practicality, the process requires compliance with the quality of the connections and the use ofequipment. You can only do it with a pipe cutter. If the amount of work is small, then you can cope with the task with the help of a conventional saw for wood.
An optional tool is a shaver that cuts the top layer of aluminum. This equipment is only necessary when using pipes reinforced with aluminum on the outside. If the reinforcement is hidden under the outer layer of polypropylene, the use of a shaver can be dispensed with.
Things to keep in mind
Before starting work, you must prepare a plan according to which the installation will be carried out. The purpose of creating a circuit is to reduce the number of welds you will have to carry out in the air. The scheme must be worked out as competently as possible. If you do everything right, then the work will be easier. Some masters advise to collect complex sections on the table and only then proceed to install them in place.
Welding process
Installation instructions for polypropylene pipes are accompanied by heating the edges of the products from the outside and the inside of the coupling to a certain depth. After that, the parts must be connected to each other. The heated material will be reliably welded. Products should be prepared in advance. To do this, the pipes are measured and cut into separate pieces. A chamfer should be made along the outer part of the pipe. It should have a slope of 15˚ and have a recess of 3 mm. If you follow domestic standards, then the chamfer should have an angle of 45 ˚, and the recess in this case is one third of the pipe thickness. In practice, either option can be used.
For chamfering, you can use any suitable tool for this tool. He must remove the material smoothly and evenly. Before welding, the inside of the chamfer and the product are cleaned of dirt and degreased. Installation of polypropylene pipes in the bathroom is carried out according to the following algorithm. The welding machine should be placed on a stand. On the regulator, you must set the temperature to 260 ° C, if this option is provided. This temperature level is optimal, and it will be enough to heat the product. For pipe welding, it is not recommended to use other temperatures than the above value, therefore, when choosing a machine, you should not focus on the regulator.
As soon as the soldering iron is warmed up, you can start welding products. To do this, a fitting is seated on a special pin, while on the other side of the heater the pipe is inserted into the sleeve. The products are then removed simultaneously and connected. It is not worth holding the elements on the heater for a long time, the time is calculated taking into account the diameter of the pipes and the wall thickness. If you overdo it, the fitting and pipe material will overheat, resulting in loss of strength and deformation. After this, the products will no longer be able to be connected.
If the warm-up is not sufficient, the connections will be unreliable, and you may subsequently experience leaks. You can find out the holding time of the material on the heater by reading the special table of international standards.
Connecting parts
The technology of installation of polypropylene pipes provides for the installation of pipes and fittings in the sleeve. This requires some effort. This is due to the fact that the nozzles on the heater have the shape of a cone and a slope of 5 ˚. When you put the pipe in the sleeve, it should be brought to the stop, but you should not press further. If this rule is neglected, it will negatively affect the conductivity of the pipe, because after the connection, a thickening forms at the end.
It is best to measure the depth of the sleeve to the stop and mark the distance from the edge on the product. As a result, you will be able to control your actions visually. But with experience, you will feel with your hands the moment when the pipe rested on the edge. Heated products should be connected as quickly as possible. Turning them in relation to each other is unacceptable.
The pipe is inserted straight, while observing the alignment of the axes. In stock, you will have a few seconds to correct the situation. The materials then cool down, and any movement adversely affects the quality of welding.
Installation recommendations
Do-it-yourself installation of heating from polypropylene pipes in an apartment or house is carried out using mounted sections with turns and fittings that you welded separately on the floor or table. The transitions between the walls and the connection to the inputs are left until the moment of installation on site. Pipes should be fixed to the surface with clamps that are attached to the wall.
For heating inin private houses, pipes are not brought to the boiler. They are connected by transitional fittings with a metal pipe. The length of the latter should be 0.5 m. It is directly connected to the heater. When installing polypropylene pipes in a private house, you must remember that welded joints are not serviceable, which distinguishes them from screw ones. That is why welded polypropylene sections are laid inside the walls. First, it will only be necessary to carry out a check for tightness and reliability. The same requirement must also be observed for terminals made in the form of crimp inserts.
Additional soldering tips
In addition to the welding machine, when installing plastic pipes, you will need an electric jigsaw. Before starting work on the device, it is necessary to put on nozzles of the desired diameter. It is important to wait until the device warms up, the warm-up time is indicated in the instructions for the equipment.
Before you start cutting pipes, they must be marked. The ends should be cleaned of burrs. Using a marker, you will need to mark the depth of the pipe entry into the fitting. The end of the pipe should not rest against the coupling, for which a millimeter gap should be left.
When installing polypropylene pipes with your own hands, you must put the pipe and fitting on the nozzle, both parts must be heated at the same time. If you notice that a part does not fit well, such as being too loose or too tight, it should be discarded.
Primaryadjustment can only be made for a few seconds after mounting, then the parts are finally fixed. The heating time will depend on the diameter of the pipe. The latter value also affects the cooling time. If the diameter is 20 mm, then the heating and cooling time will be 6 and 2 seconds, respectively. With an increase in diameter to 40 mm, the heating and cooling time increases to 12 and 4 seconds. When installing polypropylene pipes in the house, you can also use 90 mm products that heat up and cool down for 40 and 8 seconds, respectively.
In closing
The connection will be reliable only if there are no slots and gaps on it. You can make a welding machine for carrying out such work yourself. To do this, prepare an electric drill and an old iron. If the work is one-time, then it is better to rent equipment or from friends, but if you plan to engage in such manipulations on a commercial basis, then it is better to purchase high-quality equipment.
This requirement is due to several reasons. Among others, it should be noted that high-quality installation cannot be performed without special equipment. In addition, the lack of tightness of the connections will certainly lead to the need for repair.
