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infloor plastic manifolds leaking

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briang
briang Member Posts: 2
in Radiant Heating
Hi,



I am a homeowner and experienced leaks showing up as damage to woodwork, looked at my infloor (grey plastic) manifolds and saw them dripping. Its been over ten years since installation and now I have some damage and mold. Is there any recourse (my contractor, infloor or lawsuit) to get this fixed? Going to be very expensive, pleaded with infloor and their quote for parts is $1000!. Can't handle that right now ;(



Also don't want to give my money to infloor, what is a better (cheaper solution)?



attached pic of one of the leakers.



Thanks,



Brian

Comments

  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,572
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    Cut it out.

    I did a couple of these about a year ago. Just cut them out and put in the manifold of your choice. Infloor made a bad product. Your contractor and others bought them. I do not know of any lawsuits.
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
  • zacmobile
    zacmobile Member Posts: 211
    edited June 2012
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    water quality

    Before jumping the gun and replacing the manifolds outright I would get the water in the system checked out, I've found that fine sediment can weasel it's way through o-ring connections & cause leaks especially if you have glycol. Then disassemble the manifolds & check each connection, replace & re-grease o-rings if necessary.



    Edit: I see they have crimp-connections instead of the usual compression o-ring deal on the floor circuits, that may make things a little nightmareish, especially since the manifolds are mounted so low.
  • kcopp
    kcopp Member Posts: 4,438
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    best bet is to cut open.....

    the walla bit lower and then go w. a couple of sioux chief manifolds.... it will be the cleanest way to go.
  • briang
    briang Member Posts: 2
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    Thanks for the replies!

    I was told there are no replacement parts. I have the radionics guy coming out tomorrow. We shall see what he says.



    Infloor passed the buck, said that they bought the infloor name and its Maxxon who designed/bought the bad manifolds:

    FYI:

    Maxxon® Corporation

    920 Hamel Road

    P.O. Box 253

    Hamel, MN 55340

    Phone: 1-800-356-7887 or (763) 478-9600



    Anyone know what kind of warranty I should have expected with my system? What should I get with the new manifolds?



    Thanks again, this forum is proving invaluable.
  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,572
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    That's the same...

    That's the same thing infloor told me.

    You may want to look at manifolds that have flow meters and balancing valves. I am assuming the numbers written on the valves are the footage of your loops.300' is long for 3/8" tubing period. Things get a little strange when other loops are as short as 132' How does the system heat? Are the rooms heating evenly? With a big enough circulator it may be a moot point.
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
  • Paul Pollets
    Paul Pollets Member Posts: 3,656
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    Maxxon manifolds

    Usually these manifolds were attached to non-barrier pex. Make sure the piping has an oxygen barrier if you want the boiler (or any ferrous component, including iron pumps) to last.
  • OLDGOAT66
    OLDGOAT66 Member Posts: 4
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    LEAKY INFLOOR MANIFOLD

    We had similiar problems 6 years ago for our system..located part at CTI corp in Ridley PA...it is leaking again which we did not expect until ceramic floor tiles in hall starting popping up traced to leaky manifold into adjoining wall from heater room. We cannot locate the part now  thanks for help and suggestions. We called our installer both times and were told that he was a distance from our home and would have to come in slower season.  We never heard from him either time again.
  • OLDGOAT66
    OLDGOAT66 Member Posts: 4
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    any help on replacement part that works?

    Does anyone have a suggestion for a good replacement, ie, type - manufacturer - ?

    We want to retain our separate zones

    .
  • OLDGOAT66
    OLDGOAT66 Member Posts: 4
    edited September 2012
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    thanks

  • OLDGOAT66
    OLDGOAT66 Member Posts: 4
    edited September 2012
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    error

  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,572
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    Convert to PEX

    The solution that we used was to use 3/8" poly to pex crimp fittings, my wholesaler was able to order them.  The pex pieces were only 6"-8"  long. From there we prefabbed a new manifold assembly. The one we used had balancing valves as I was unsure how consistent the lengths of the loops were. It turned out they did not require much balancing. 

    Carl
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
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