Removing olives
k.du...@virgin.net
Unfortunately, most of the valves are non-standard - in that where
they connect with the feed and return pipes they have the opposite
fittings to what are used nowadays. In other words, the valves are
female and the nuts that tighten up against the olive are male and
screw into them. So a standard olive puller can't work. And all the
olives I have come across so far seem to be impossible to pull off,
even though they can be turned. I would happily cut them all off by
sawing through the pipe below them, but many of the feed and return
pipes are concreted in (yes I already know all about the problems that
can be associated with that) and are very short, so I would rather
avoid making them even shorter.
Can anyone come up with a bright idea as to how to get these olives
off, apart from the rather tedious expedient of sawing through them
all (there must be about 20 to remove). I have tried that before and
have ended up grooving the ends of the pipes, which doesn't seem a
terribly good idea!
TIA
Keith
edaler...@gmail.com
You can get an "olive-puller"
I do as you do.Cut with hacksaw at about 45 degree acroos the
olive ,but only most of the way then prise apart with thin bladed
electrical screwdriver
Toby
news:89660957-0d72-4310...@a70g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
It might be easier with a dremel type tool, if you have or can borrow one!
A.Lee
> I have 40 year old radiators which I am in the process of replacing.
> Unfortunately, most of the valves are non-standard - in that where
> they connect with the feed and return pipes they have the opposite
> fittings to what are used nowadays. In other words, the valves are
> female and the nuts that tighten up against the olive are male and
> screw into them. So a standard olive puller can't work. And all the
> olives I have come across so far seem to be impossible to pull off,
> even though they can be turned. I would happily cut them all off by
> sawing through the pipe below them, but many of the feed and return
> pipes are concreted in (yes I already know all about the problems that
> can be associated with that) and are very short, so I would rather
> avoid making them even shorter.
I'd need to see it to have a better idea, but cutting the pipe just
below the olive, then fitting a copper push-fit fitting woudl give a
reasonable result.
<http://www.screwfix.com/prods/60835/Plumbing/Copper-Push-Fit/Cuprofit-P
ushfit-Straight-Coupling-15mm>
The best option is to cut them off and solder a new bit of pipe in,
you'd only need 3/4"/20mm or so of pipe showing from the floor to get a
solder fitting on.
Alan.
--
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TMC
Dremel with reinforced cutting disc most of way through then thin
screwdriver
Tony
Dave Liquorice
> Can anyone come up with a bright idea as to how to get these olives
> off, apart from the rather tedious expedient of sawing through them
> all (there must be about 20 to remove). I have tried that before and
> have ended up grooving the ends of the pipes, which doesn't seem a
> terribly good idea!
I cut 'em at 45 deg as has already been suggested but only enough to get
the blade of a 1/4" or 3/8" flat screw driver in, twist and they'll open
enough to slide off. Just be more careful with the hacksaw, I assume you
are using a junior hacksaw not a gert big one taking 12" blades...
You can also get a olive cutter tool not a puller.
http://www.tooled-up.com/ManProduct.asp?PID=6610
Available in 22mm version as well. I've not used one as I find the
hacksaw/screw driver method works for me.
--
Cheers
Dave.
Ed Sirett
There is an excellent tool (c. £25) which neatly cuts the olive off the
pipe.
http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=6610&MAN=Monument-2030b-Olive-
Removing-Tool-15mm
The pullers are hard work and can draw the pipe down to a smaller size.
The saws and dremels work but need great care and take time.
--
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Dave Plowman (News)
Toby <postm...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
> It might be easier with a dremel type tool, if you have or can borrow
> one!
Do you actually own one? They are a waste of time for that sort of thing -
far quicker and less chance of damage using a hacksaw. They're fine for
hobby stuff but not real work.
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John Stumbles
> There is an excellent tool (c. £25) which neatly cuts the olive off the
> pipe.
> http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=6610&MAN=Monument-2030b-Olive-
> Removing-Tool-15mm
Or from Toolstation:
http://www.toolstation.com/index.html?code=60412
However I find they *sometimes* cut the olive off: sometimes they cut
part-way through, distorting it into an oval shape :-(
However they are pretty good at gripping the olive allowing you to twist
and pull it off, if it's not on too tight in the first place!
--
John Stumbles
87.5% of statistics are made up
Arfa Daily
How about heating it with a mini blowtorch ? Might expand it enough to get
it over the groove it's cut for itself in the pipe.
Arfa
k.du...@virgin.net
> <k.dun...@virgin.net> wrote in message
>
> - Show quoted text -
Many thanks for so many helpful comments. Am a bit confused though!
Tried blowtorch - didn't help.
Can't use puller - as already explained pullers are designed for
modern fittings, not these antique fittings where the body of the
valve has a female thread and the nut a male thread.
I'm a bit anxious about pushfit - leakage/expense.
I though a Dremel might be best - don't mind taking the time - it's
only got to be done once and it might well come in handy for other
little jobs. Don't understand comment about more chance of damage -
surely using a Dremel is far more controllable than a hacksaw? (I see
Amazon do a v. good deal with a Dremel 300 and 100 tool tin.)
I can't really understand how the olive cutters work - but would be
pretty much redundant after job done.
Keith
Bob Mannix
"A.Lee" <alan@darkroom.+.com> wrote in message
news:1iic6if.12oxf3boq25vrN%alan@darkroom.+.com...
I agree. It is very unlikely you could make a new good seal having sawn an
olive off. You'll be messing about for ages and will wish you had cut back.
Concreted in pipes are a bit of a downer though :o(
--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)> --
meow...@care2.com
Die grinder works, hacksaw works. You dont need to be too
precious about scraping the pipe - an olive on its own will never
seal onto a scraped pipe, but apply a little putty first and they do.
Yes I know thats not how olives are designed to work, but they do it
perfectly well.
NT
Pete C
Do you /have/ to remove the olives?
I'd consider reusing with a leak sealer like Fernox LS-X
cheers,
Pete.
Dave Plowman (News)
<24fa4138-9406-44cc...@56g2000hsm.googlegroups.com>,
<k.du...@virgin.net> wrote:
> I though a Dremel might be best - don't mind taking the time - it's
> only got to be done once and it might well come in handy for other
> little jobs. Don't understand comment about more chance of damage -
> surely using a Dremel is far more controllable than a hacksaw?
Not at all. It will tend to wander like any hand held grinder. A hacksaw -
once it's started the cut - is far easier to control.
Sounds like you rather lack DIY skills. I'd cut off the pipe below the
oilive using a proper pipe cutter and solder on new pipe to the length
needed.
--
*Stable Relationships Are For Horses.
Roger Mills
Pete C <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:
Yes, he does! His OP (above) clearly says that most of the pipes have the
wrong gender of 'nut' behind the olive to fit his new valves - so it all has
to come off.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Rod
>
> Yes, he does! His OP (above) clearly says that most of the pipes have the
> wrong gender of 'nut' behind the olive to fit his new valves - so it all has
> to come off.
Which prompts question/suggestion. Are there gender benders for this
type of thing?
Obviously, trheir use might force relocation of radiators...
--
Rod
Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
<www.thyromind.info> <www.thyroiduk.org> <www.altsupportthyroid.org>
Roger Mills
>>
>> The best option is to cut them off and solder a new bit of pipe in,
>> you'd only need 3/4"/20mm or so of pipe showing from the floor to
>> get a solder fitting on.
>> Alan.
>
> I agree. It is very unlikely you could make a new good seal having
> sawn an olive off. You'll be messing about for ages and will wish you
> had cut back. Concreted in pipes are a bit of a downer though :o(
>
I have to disagree - based on very recent experience! I have just replaced
both valves on each of 10 radiators, putting a TRV one end and a drain-off
lockshield on the other end. In the majority of cases I had to remove the
olives - either because the compression nut on the old valve had a finer
thread than that on the new one, or because the olive was too far from the
end of the pipe to fit the new valve - particularly the Drayton TR4s - and
it was easier to remove the olive than to cut some off the pipe. I used the
technique of nearly cutting through the olive at 45 degrees with a junior
hacksaw, and then twisting a small screwdriver in the slot to break the last
bit, and not one failed to seal when I fitted the new valve and olive.
Pete C
> off, apart from the rather tedious expedient of sawing through them
> all (there must be about 20 to remove). I have tried that before and
> have ended up grooving the ends of the pipes, which doesn't seem a
> terribly good idea!
Right, now I know what you're on about, are these any good?:
<http://www.toolstation.com/search.html?searchstr=24305>
<http://www.bes.co.uk/products/158a.asp> part #6564
cheers,
Pete
Pete C
> Right, now I know what you're on about, are these any good?:
>
> <http://www.toolstation.com/search.html?searchstr=24305>
>
> <http://www.bes.co.uk/products/158a.asp> part #6564
and:
<http://www.screwfix.com/prods/90848>
> cheers,
> Pete
John Stumbles
> Many thanks for so many helpful comments. Am a bit confused though!
...
>
> I can't really understand how the olive cutters work - but would be
> pretty much redundant after job done.
Simplest & cheapest approach would be (as others have suggested) using a
junior hacksaw to cut through the olive almost parallel to the pipe until
you can break it off with a screwdriver in the slot you've cut. The only
thing I'd add to that us use a *good* junior hacksaw and *good* blades.
Been there, done that .... having used el cheapo saws and blades and now
using an Irwin http://www.screwfix.com/prods/20767/ and half-decent blades
http://www.toolstation.com/index.html?code=61510 I can assure you it makes
a big difference. OK so you'll be spending over a fiver on this kit, but
after the job you still have a useful decent junior hacksaw :-)
I've removed a lot of olives using this technique and it works, the only
problem typically being actually getting access to work the hacksaw in a
confined space and the remaining pipe tail possibly being too mangled by
an over-tightened olive and/or valve twisted out of line with the pipe. A
dollop of Boss White will make up for a lot of imperfection in the pipe,
but if it's too bad you may have to cut back the pipe and solder on a new
bit. For this you'll have to have the pipework draind right down, and if
the pipes are buried in concrete that may mean sucking the water out with
a wet vac.
--
John Stumbles
Things don't like being anthropomorphised.
Toby
news:4fad77f...@davenoise.co.uk...
> In article <484ed190$0$649$bed6...@news.gradwell.net>,
> Toby <postm...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
>> It might be easier with a dremel type tool, if you have or can borrow
>> one!
>
> Do you actually own one? They are a waste of time for that sort of thing -
> far quicker and less chance of damage using a hacksaw. They're fine for
> hobby stuff but not real work.
>
I do, but have never used it in the way I have described here.
I thought you would be far less likley to catch the pipe with this, as the
contact area will be very small on a round disk (5mm ish), unluke a long Jr
hacksaw blade (15cm), and the fact you will just need to tickle the olive
would mean, Iwould think you were less likeley to slip, where as with a
hacksaw, you need to put a *lot* more effort into it!
Toby...
Dave Plowman (News)
John Stumbles <john.s...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> For this you'll have to have the pipework draind right down, and if
> the pipes are buried in concrete that may mean sucking the water out with
> a wet vac.
I find it better to blow it through rather than suck, as it were. Assuming
you have a device that can do this. I use the compressor from my HVLP
spray set.
--
*The most common name in the world is Mohammed *