Tectite Classic Fitting Range Problems

margueriteob

Since building my house in 2002, we have now had 13 water leaks from tectite fittings breaking down on the hot water circuit. They were manufactured by Yorkshire Peglar and supposedly have a 25 year guarantee! Has anyone else had issues with this product??

Dtp1979

margueriteob wrote: »

Since building my house in 2002, we have now had 13 water leaks from tectite fittings breaking down on the hot water circuit. They were manufactured by Yorkshire Peglar and supposedly have a 25 year guarantee! Has anyone else had issues with this product??

Not me personally. We're the fittings located too close to the cylinder or boiler?
Will they honour the warranty?

margueriteob

The house is located 12 meters from the boiler, which is in the garage at the back of the house. An independent analyst determined that the fittings broke down due solely to poor composition. No they are not honoring the warranty.

Dtp1979

margueriteob wrote: »

The house is located 12 meters from the boiler, which is in the garage at the back of the house. An independent analyst determined that the fittings broke down due solely to poor composition. No they are not honoring the warranty.

What reason did they give for not honouring it?

Sleeper12

This might sound stupid but were they installed correctly. I've only ever seen them fail if not pushed home or no insert fitted.

margueriteob

Dtp1979 wrote: »

What reason did they give for not honouring it?

They are refusing the fact that the fittings are disintegrating.

margueriteob

Sleeper12 wrote: »

This might sound stupid but were they installed correctly. I've only ever seen them fail if not pushed home or no insert fitted.

They are installed correctly. The fittings are actually disintegrating, and as it's happening to literally all of them on the hot water circuit, there's no other explanation other than the fittings being bad.

Dtp1979

margueriteob wrote: »

They are refusing the fact that the fittings are disintegrating.

Yes but if the fittings are leaking they must give you an explanation. They can't just bury their heads on the sand.

Sleeper12

margueriteob wrote:

They are installed correctly. The fittings are actually disintegrating, and as it's happening to literally all of them on the hot water circuit, there's no other explanation other than the fittings being bad.

If it's only on the hot water pipes & not the cold I wonder has a thermostat failed & the water hotter than the recommended maximum. A friend replaced an immersion thermostat last week. The Tennant rang the landlord afterwards giving out. He couldn't understand why he no longer had steam on the hot kitchen tap.

SmallBalls

I fit them all the time and have never had any issues with them.

Is it the brass part of the fitting that's breaking down or the rubber o-rings? Possibly something in the water attacking the fitting, are you drawing water from a well by any chance? Have you had the water tested?

Sleeper12

Are they actually tectite fittings? Brass body with green plastic? Or a different brand?

Edit. After googling I discovered that genuine tectite fittings are brass and brown plastic.

PK27

I would have a water test done, like the post above me, I use them a lot and never have trouble. In the past if used the ones with the brown plastic and we were having some trouble with them weeping. Not by deterioration, but from the rubber o ring failing. The green plastic are always perfect.
Now, consider that the "seal" on a tectite fitting is literally just the rubber o ring (simple, but cleverly done). If that isn't failing then the intended seals are working. If the ACTUAL BODY of the fitting is disintegrating, then there are two reasons in my opinion. Either something in the water source is eating away at the brass, which is unlikely, or possibly something was added to the system that's attacking it.
What's strange is that regardless of the brand of fitting, all fittings, compression or push fit, are made from brass. So would the same thing be happening regardless of fitting brand???
That's why I would go towards something being added to the water.
Lastly, is there a problem with the actual brass mix of the fitting? I'm no scientist but I imagine fittings are a large percentage brass, with some "fillers".
So has the manufacturer messed up on the brass itself?
I'd be very interested to hear how this turns out, I've never heard of it before.

Dtp1979

It's on the hot water side. So there's nothing that coujd be added. If it's well water, it could be that the water is acidic.

PK27

Also, are the leaking fittings in concrete? If so, it would explain a lot.

SmallBalls

Sleeper12 wrote: »

After googling I discovered that genuine tectite fittings are brass and brown plastic.

PK27 wrote: »

I would have a water test done, like the post above me, I use them a lot and never have trouble. In the past if used the ones with the brown plastic and we were having some trouble with them weeping.

The brown plastic ones are metric and the green ones are imperial.....probably explains why you've had some weeping...

margueriteob

Dtp1979 wrote: »

It's on the hot water side. So there's nothing that coujd be added. If it's well water, it could be that the water is acidic.

The chemical make up of the water is fine, it has been tested.

margueriteob

PK27 wrote: »

Also, are the leaking fittings in concrete? If so, it would explain a lot.

No they are fitted in timber joists, with a double fire slab underneath and a high degree ventilation in between the joists.

margueriteob

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Are they actually tectite fittings? Brass body with green plastic? Or a different brand?

Edit. After googling I discovered that genuine tectite fittings are brass and brown plastic.

The fittings are made from brass. A metal laboratory tested the fittings and said that they develop pinholes which cause the leaking. The green and brown parts of the fitting disintegrate also.

Sleeper12

This doesn't make sense to me. I could understand either the plastic or the brass failing though I've never heard of either failing but for both to fail does suggest that the fittings have been contaminated. If it happened in the factory there would be a whole batch of them & the place you bought them from would have gotten more complaints. It's possible there was something in the water at some point but not there at time of testing.
It's also interesting that it's only on the hot water side

Edit: I just read that back to myself and it might sound like I don't believe you. This is not the case

SmallBalls

Any pics of the disintegrated fittings?

margueriteob

I am a new user to boards, cant post pics yet

Dtp1979

margueriteob wrote: »

I am a new user to boards, cant post pics yet

Go post a full stop on another forum 42 times then you can post pics

john kinsella

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I was wondering if OP had any update or how it ended up?

A friend is having a very similar problem with Tectite fittings leaking in several areas in ceiling voids and wondering if she will have any comeback in what could be a considerable cost to replace them.