Artist or Incompetent, You make the call.

[Brian E. Kelly]

2 year old gas water heater.

So I look at the piping in the first picture and am standing back admiring the tube bending job. Ah beautiful, done by a craftsman, I am saying to myself. I am so enamored with the work I almost overlook the tank nipples and the next photo. Now I am confused, how can someone take such care with the tpr piping and then not use a dielectric fitting?

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Are you kidding? That bend was done with an electricians' conduit hickey

[Brian E. Kelly]

Originally Posted by jpope

Are you kidding? That bend was done with an electricians' conduit hickey

Conduit Hickey?

The technical jargon is not my strong suit, Jeff.

[Ted Allen]

Originally Posted by jpope

Are you kidding? That bend was done with an electricians' conduit hickey

If they used a "hickey" they have had a lot of practice.

[Michael W. Gault]

Is it a "doo-hickey" for bending pipe?

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Originally Posted by tallen

If they used a "hickey" they have had a lot of practice.

Maybe if they used a rebar hickey, but it's pretty easy with a conduit hickey.

[Ted Allen]

Originally Posted by jpope

Maybe if they used a rebar hickey, but it's pretty easy with a conduit hickey.

I have bent a lot of conduit with a "hickey" and it's not easy to keep the little dents out of regular electrical conduit, it seems it would be very hard to do with something as soft as copper.

[Ted Allen]

I think it was heated and then bent around the WH to get the "perfect" fit.

[Brian E. Kelly]

Well maybe a sparky did the install, that would explain the lack of dielectric.

But they shoud have used the proper tools.

[phinsperger]

Or you fill the pipe with sand, plug the ends, and use the hot water tank itself to bend the tube around (as close to the top or bottom of the tank as possible so as not to dent the tank). Unplug the ends and dump out the sand. viola!

Or

you could just cut a peice out of copper tubing (not pipe) as it is still coiled up. The coils are fairly close to that diameter anyways.

[Ted Allen]

Originally Posted by phinsperger

Or you fill the pipe with sand, plug the ends, and use the hot water tank itself to bend the tube around (as close to the top or bottom of the tank as possible so as not to dent the tank). Unplug the ends and dump out the sand. viola!

Brilliant!!!

[jclark1]

Actually Jeff, the tool you showed is a emt bender. A hickey is used for small rigid conduit.

[Russel Ray]

Originally Posted by phinsperger

viola!

Viola?

I play the violin and the piano, and I sing. Jim also plays the piano. Hop on over this way and we could have a chamber music trio.

[Mark A. Timpani, CMI]

very nice

[bkelly1]

Originally Posted by jclark1

Actually Jeff, the tool you showed is a emt bender. A hickey is used for small rigid conduit.

Bingo! The other bender showed is a typical EMT (thinwall) Bender.