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
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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