capping off a wetback ? safety
| # | Post |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hi there, last week had a hot watercylinder ripped out that was connected to a wetback, now have an outdoor cylinder and good water pressure throughout house, my question is pipes were cut from kent fireplace wetback , now just have the 2 copper connections out the back of fireplace both with thread, plumber is looking into regulations for safety so it doesnt turn into a bomb ( if fireplace is used again ) are these normally capped off ? or left open ?.. if I ever sell the house last thing I'd want is an incident where someone could get hurt.. or is there specialist people who can make sure its a safe working fire, Ive decided to leave it in despite having 2 good heatpumps one I put in, just another heating source option for the future if sold daz1968 - 2021-06-05 17:08:00 |
| 2 | leave them open. that way it cannot pressurise with the heat. tweake - 2021-06-05 17:44:00 |
| 3 | Just take the wetback out, blank the holes and fit non-wetback fire bricks. tony9 - 2021-06-05 19:43:00 |
| 4 | I would have thought that the certified plumber that did the work would have attended to that issue and documented the action taken. kenw1 - 2021-06-06 11:58:00 |
| 5 | kenw1 wrote:
This! ^^ hazelnut2 - 2021-06-06 13:44:00 |
| 6 | tony9 has it in one, remove or just keep the top cap off, first fire you have may expel so steam then nothing to pressurize left. Simple msigg - 2021-06-06 14:14:00 |
| 7 | Yea ok so it's not a common job now but BLIMMIN HECK mrfxit - 2021-06-19 11:12:00 |
| 8 | Oh & if both pipes are capped off & theres an explosion, someones in deep shite with insurance etc Edited by mrfxit at 11:14 am, Sat 19 Jun mrfxit - 2021-06-19 11:13:00 |
| 9 | kenw1 wrote: mrfxit - 2021-06-19 11:15:00 |
| 10 | mrfxit wrote:
And NOT fill it with concrete like i was once told to. Definately explosion territory. I saw a photo of what happens once. It shifted & removed most of two walls beside the cast iron coal range. marte - 2021-06-19 12:39:00 |
| 11 | take the caps off and saw off the threads so no one can cap them off in future. stylus1 - 2021-06-19 13:48:00 |
| 12 | Like Tony said... just take the thing out. m16d - 2021-06-19 20:50:00 |
| 13 | Just keep them open, nothing will happen to them, or just take the wetback coil out of your fireplace ( easy to do ) now if you leave the coil in there ( it’s a very thick copper coil) and you keep on having the fire going all that will happen over time is that the wetback coil will disintegrate over the years, so just in case someone will want to use the wetback again, it will need replacing as it has turned into a sprinkler system for your fireplace ???? on the other hand if you want to get a job in Afghanistan as an expert bomb maker, you could cap them off and see what happens…. But forcit to work you will have to add a few caps of water too???? argentum47 - 2021-06-22 16:48:00 |
| 14 | So, if the wetback is open (rather than sealed) it's safe to use a wetback without the water plumbed in?! It won't explode? luteba - 2021-06-24 16:31:00 |
| 15 | Yes it will be safe. As for later it all depends how hot the fire gets, If hot enough then it may distort the pipes, also depends what the construction is inside the fire, some are cast iron, years ago I make one with copper pipes inside, it was good. It should be ok, you will know in the future when you put water in it. msigg - 2021-06-24 17:26:00 |
| 16 | msigg wrote: Thank you :) :) luteba - 2021-06-25 11:06:00 |
| 17 | luteba wrote:
No, take it Out! Over time the wetback will corrode out as it is not designed for the raw heat with no water to take the heat away. when it cracks or rots air will get in and the fire won't control properly. Or flue gasses will come out the ends of the pipe, they are poisonous and may cause a fire. Do it properly unless you have no respect for your family or yourself. tony9 - 2021-06-25 16:59:00 |
| 18 | Take the wetback out, blank each hole with a pair of 30mm x M10 stainless steel bolts & hex nuts locking/sandwiching two 50mm M10 stainless square washers each with a smear of fire cement on the face. llortmt - 2021-07-02 18:16:00 |
| 19 | Some years ago I rented a cottage that had a Kent Tile Fire. These old Kents were able to be completely damped down overnight. This one couldn't. Turned out it was a second hand unit, had originally been connected to a wetback but wasn't in the cottage. The wetback itself had burned out which provided a uncontrolled air supply to the fire. We simply capped both pipe outlets which solved the problem. Proper way though would have been to completed remove the wetback and blank both holes. bagal - 2021-07-03 12:10:00 |
| 20 | luteba wrote:
The water going thru the wetback stops it from distorting or melting, without that wont be too good for it. mrcat1 - 2021-07-03 14:40:00 |
