01243 841464

Factsheets - Plumbing Glossary

Whilst all advice given is correct to the best of our knowledge, we cannot be held responsible for any problems should you choose to take our advice.


Select from the following:

Plumbing Glossary
Emergency plumbing
How to disconnect a washing machine
Mould in bathrooms and showers
Taps and shower valves
Earth bonding
Preparing for winter
Power showering in flats
Buying a bathroom suite
Advice when doing building work
Water pressure
Pressure and stored hot water
Flow and pressure
Water softeners
Boiler breakdowns
Gas Rating
Asbestos Awareness

Plumbing Glossary

Radiators

  
Lockshield Valve The valve at one end of the radiator which you can't turn
Manual/Wheelhead valve The valve at the other end which turns on and off
TRV (Thermostatic Radiator Valve) Instead of a manual valve, this one can be turned to the required setting
"Rad" What every plumber calls a radiator
Venting Bleeding the air out of a radiator
"F&E" (Feed and Expansion Cistern) The small tank (often in the loft) which feeds your radiator circuit.
Primaries The pipework for the radiator circuit (as opposed to the secondaries which feed your taps)

Taps
Quarter turn or ceramic disc taps Modern taps that do not have washers. They turn from full on to off in just a quarter twist of the handle.
Screw-down taps Traditional taps which require many twists of the handle to turn off. They have washers.
O-ring Black rubber ring often found in mixer taps
Seating The edge on which the washer sits to seal off the water
Tails The part of the taps protruding under the basin or sink

Showers
Trap The u-bend
Waste The plug hole
Cartridge The inner workings of the shower valve
Calibration The temperature settings on thermostatic mixer showers
Baths and Basins
Trap The u-bend
Waste The plug hole
Discharge The waste pipe

WC's
FOV (Float Operated Valve) The ballcock
Trap The u-bend
Stack or Soil stack The large vertical pipe, often outside your house, where all your toilet waste goes
Close coupled suite A toilet where the cistern sits right on top of the pan
Corbel type toilet A wall hung toilet
Flush pipe The pipe between the cistern and the pan (if any)

Pipework
Compression fitting Joins 2 pipes using 2 nuts
Soldered or capillary or end feed fitting Joins 2 pipes using a blowtorch, solder and flux
Pushfit/Speedfit fitting Plastic fittings where the plastic or copper pipe is simply pushed in
"15 mil" Pipe the width of your index finger (15mm)
"22 mil" Pipe the width of your thumb (22mm)
Passover A u-shaped bend in a pipe allowing it to go around another pipe.

Heating Systems
Cold water cistern The large tank in your loft which feeds your cold taps and the hot water cylinder
"F&E" (Feed and Expansion Cistern) The small tank in the loft which feeds your radiator circuit.
Hot water cylinder The insulated hot water tank, normally in your airing cupboard.
Combi or Direct or Instantaneous Heating System A floor or wall mounted boiler which heats water on demand (you will hear it fire up when you turn on a hot tap). No tank in the loft or hot water cylinder.
Megaflow or Unvented A system which takes water straight from the mains and heats it up in a pressurised cylinder, with no tank in the loft.
Vented or Gravity A traditional system where cold water is stored in a tank in the loft and hot in a cylinder in your airing cupboard
"stat" Thermostat
Immersion The round thing on the side or your hot water cylinder which contains an element and a thermostat to heat your water, often just used as a backup if your boiler fails.

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