BES still best for plumbing fittings?

[Tony]

I need to do an order to get bits for processor and settle tanks, are BES still the best bet or does anyone know of anywhere cheaper?

The painful bits will be 2x  1 1/4" ball valves and 2" four way cross, and I need 10x 3/4" valves for the settle tank and storage tank arrangements.  And 10x 3/4 to 22mm pipe adapters and about 30x 3/4 steel barrel nipples.  I think it's going to be expensive.

[photoman290]

have you r tried toolstation? i don't know if they are cheaper across the board, but might be worth checking both. BES have a clearance on some stuff at the moment might be worth a look.

[greasemonkey]

With that sort of quantity, I'd be inclined to try a few places, and see what they say. BES can't touch the builders merchants near me, mostly due to delivery charges, and the fact my Father has an account there.
Maybe try a few different plumbing places. You'd probably get a better deal from a privately owned place than a big chain store type place.

[Keef]

I'd check Tradwin too. Sometimes they can be remarkably cheap.

[therecklessengineer]

Just to throw a spanner in the works,

Try RS and Farnell. They'll probably do you a discount for a bulk order if you contact them.

[Tony]

I'd check Tradwin too. Sometimes they can be remarkably cheap.

Tradwin do indeed seem to be cheaper for nipples and the 1 1/4" ball valves.

I'm also concerned the BES cheap ones seem to only be rated to 80C, their more expensive ones are rated to 230C.  Tradwin doesn't say on theirs.

[willbuild]

I got 1 1/4 valves clearance from b&q £2 each at their tradepoint checkout

[photoman290]

just had a quick look at tradwins prices. cheaper if you spend more than £50 and get the free postage. otherwise not a lot in it as their postage is a quid more than bes. wish this question had come up last night before i spent £55 at bes.

[Tony]

Having looked at all the items I had in mind, TradWin are considerably cheaper - but they don't do mild steel barrel nipples (handly to chop in half and weld onto tanks for outlets/inlets).  Or bsp crosses, and some sizes of reducing bush (2" down to 1 1/4" for example).

I found this place with is cheaper again by quite a way http://www.hydravalve.co.uk/ but you need to order over £200 for free delivery and I'm not sure what their standard delivery is.

Differences for 3/4 lever ball valves:

BES £4.08
TradWin £3.45 (10+ £3.21)
Hydravalve £2.94

3/4" black equal tee individual prices

BES £1.28
TradWin £0.90  (10+ £0.81)
Hydravalve £0.83

Edit: Looks like delivery less than £200 from Hydravalve is £14, so you'd need to order a fair bit to justify the postage.

[Julian]

Might be worth listing TradWin and Hydravalve on the recomended suppliers page ... both are new to me.

[Tony]

Placed a BES order today for some unusual bits like the barrel nipples and 2" cross. TradWin is a funny one, I tried to add 20x 3/4 black iron hex nipples but the site wouldn't let me as it claimed they only had 10 in stock, I called them and they have more than that but the lady that updates the website with stock levels was on holiday.

There were also a couple of items that turn up in the search that I couldn't add to the order (3/4 BSP to 22mm couplers, male and female), and the pages for those items come back blank.  So I called back again.

In all fairness they are very helpful, and I get the impression it's bit more of a family business than BES.  They're going to call me back on Monday to see if between us we can sort out the order.  But so far, problems aside, I do like them.

I'll ask on Monday if they plan to extend their range (unequal tees, 45 degree bends, crosses, barrel nipples etc).

After the un-navigatable BES website it's a pleasure to have stuff categorised properly.

[Tony]

Finally got through a TtradWin order. They have been very helpful.  What I would say is make sure you log in before placing the order - I did so as a guest and then logged in, and it confused the basket tally of which bits had been ordered from stock.

From speaking to them, they do offer more than the website shows, and are happy to add to the website on request.

[photoman290]

while looking for a cheaper 54mm tank fitting than bes i came across "super discount plumbing" seem to be a fair bit cheaper than bes with the same delivery charges.