Pex shrinkage problem

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scrapwood_72

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Sep 15, 2014
2
Greater Peterborough
I hope that someone can suggest a solution to my outdoor furnace problem.

After 9 years of happy, maintenance-free operation of a 1998 vintage central boiler that came with my house, I finally decided I should flush the water out because it sounded like there was some sediment going through the pump last winter. My first problem after draining was that the "cleanout" access shown in the manual could not be located on my stove. I took off the panels - nothing but blown foam insulation, so I removed one of the lines coming out of the bottom of the stove to flush it out. So far so good...
...until it came time to reconnect it only a 1/2 hour later.

It seems to have shrunk 1/2" and I don't have the strength to pull the line up far enough to re-attach the fitting.

Has anyone run into this? Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can re-attach the line? The cold weather is almost here.
 
Pics might help here.....
 
Basically I unscrewed the brass ball-valve from the bottom of the furnace, and the line coming up out of the ground is no longer long enough to reach back up to the furnace to engage the threads & re-attach.
I'll try taking some pictures tomorrow when there is daylight.
 
I think your going to need to buy a pex crimper, doest he tubing go underground. If so its probably thermal contraction as the connections were probably made while exposed then backfilled. The ground underneath would then get cooler?
 
I would use a short piece of rope with loops on both ends and tie a rolling hitch around the pex as low as you can. Then try to use the rope with a come along or a high lift jack pull the pex back into position.

gg
 
goosegunner said:
I would use a short piece of rope with loops on both ends and tie a rolling hitch around the pex as low as you can. Then try to use the rope with a come along or a high lift jack pull the pex back into position.

gg
Click to expand...

At least its pex and if you try this you dont have to worry about damaging it. The stuff is almost indestructible....
 
bobdog2o02 said:
At least its pex and if you try this you dont have to worry about damaging it. The stuff is almost indestructible....
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry too much he said it shrank about 1/2", I don't think it will be too hard to pull it that distance.

gg
 
scrapwood_72 said:
I hope that someone can suggest a solution to my outdoor furnace problem.

After 9 years of happy, maintenance-free operation of a 1998 vintage central boiler that came with my house, I finally decided I should flush the water out because it sounded like there was some sediment going through the pump last winter. My first problem after draining was that the "cleanout" access shown in the manual could not be located on my stove. I took off the panels - nothing but blown foam insulation, so I removed one of the lines coming out of the bottom of the stove to flush it out. So far so good...
...until it came time to reconnect it only a 1/2 hour later.

It seems to have shrunk 1/2" and I don't have the strength to pull the line up far enough to re-attach the fitting.

Has anyone run into this? Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can re-attach the line? The cold weather is almost here.
Click to expand...


If you can't pull it like gg suggest above, and you don't have a way to connect to the PEX, you can do what I did. I ran into this last winter, but my shrinkage was much more significant. I ended up putting in a flexible connector from www.worldsbestconnectors.com . If I can be of more help, let me know.

Bob
 
If you could somehow run a little hot water threw it, maybe it would expand.
 
I'm not understanding how the pex was disconnected without cutting it, unless there was a union or something there?

I think I would do what McKraut did, and put something flexible there. Even if you could get it hooked back up again without, I think it would introduce stress to your boiler fitting either as soon as you hook it up (pulling), or after it gets up to temp (pushing). Then while you're at putting the flexible connector in, you could put it back together in a way that would make this easier to do in the future, if you had to.

Did you find any dirt?
 
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