re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!
Oil fired boilers:
A windscreen wiper bush puller is ideal for getting burner fans off, and removing small motor bearings. It is also a good deal cheaper than a bearing puller.
Most Riello / Electro Oil motors take 6202RS bearings. These are the same as many alternator bearings and are readily available from car parts suppliers and as such a good deal cheaper than from plumbers merchants.
For tanks below the level of a burner you need a priming pump to draw the fuel into the burner. Again obtainable from most automotive tool & parts dealers.
When installing fuel lines to tanks below the level of the burner, remember to use the correct bore pipework, (usually 8 or 6mm diameter but given in your OFTEC installation file). 6mm plastic coated copper is cheaper to buy from a hydraulics merchants than an oil fired heating suppliers.
If you are into night fishing or night activities, get a Tilley lamp as you can run this on all the waste kerosene from cleaning filters / emptying old tanks etc.
Fitting Taps:
Hang onto a few short lengths of different size MDPE (Alkathene) pipe. For a basin tap, cut a 3mm ring off some 25mm alkathene pipe and it makes an ideal spacer to centralise the tap in the basin hole, likewise 32mm for bath taps (you may need to open the ring or cut a little out in some cases.)
Overflows:
To connect 21.5mm solvent weld overflow pipe into the Marley or 3/4" solvent weld, warm the end of a piece of 21.5mm overflow pipe with a blowtorch and shove some 20mm MDPE pipe inside and allow to cool. The end of the pipe will be spot on to fit in the larger bore overflow fittings.
Likewise if you have one make of overflow where the pipe is too tight to fit into another make's fittings, warm the pipe and shove it into the fitting to make a looser fit.
Levelling guttering, checking pipe levels or general building:
Forget messing about with Dumpy levels - use the centuries old tried and tested way - take a length of semi transparent hose which is clear enough to see through and tie both ends pointing upwards where you want to check levels. Fill the hose with water so that the water level is visible at your reference point. The water level at the other end of the hose will be exactly horizontal to the one at the reference end.
Oil fired boilers:
A windscreen wiper bush puller is ideal for getting burner fans off, and removing small motor bearings. It is also a good deal cheaper than a bearing puller.
Most Riello / Electro Oil motors take 6202RS bearings. These are the same as many alternator bearings and are readily available from car parts suppliers and as such a good deal cheaper than from plumbers merchants.
For tanks below the level of a burner you need a priming pump to draw the fuel into the burner. Again obtainable from most automotive tool & parts dealers.
When installing fuel lines to tanks below the level of the burner, remember to use the correct bore pipework, (usually 8 or 6mm diameter but given in your OFTEC installation file). 6mm plastic coated copper is cheaper to buy from a hydraulics merchants than an oil fired heating suppliers.
If you are into night fishing or night activities, get a Tilley lamp as you can run this on all the waste kerosene from cleaning filters / emptying old tanks etc.
Fitting Taps:
Hang onto a few short lengths of different size MDPE (Alkathene) pipe. For a basin tap, cut a 3mm ring off some 25mm alkathene pipe and it makes an ideal spacer to centralise the tap in the basin hole, likewise 32mm for bath taps (you may need to open the ring or cut a little out in some cases.)
Overflows:
To connect 21.5mm solvent weld overflow pipe into the Marley or 3/4" solvent weld, warm the end of a piece of 21.5mm overflow pipe with a blowtorch and shove some 20mm MDPE pipe inside and allow to cool. The end of the pipe will be spot on to fit in the larger bore overflow fittings.
Likewise if you have one make of overflow where the pipe is too tight to fit into another make's fittings, warm the pipe and shove it into the fitting to make a looser fit.
Levelling guttering, checking pipe levels or general building:
Forget messing about with Dumpy levels - use the centuries old tried and tested way - take a length of semi transparent hose which is clear enough to see through and tie both ends pointing upwards where you want to check levels. Fill the hose with water so that the water level is visible at your reference point. The water level at the other end of the hose will be exactly horizontal to the one at the reference end.
Last edited: