Patent attributes
A thermal expansion compensating device has a conduit with a first opening and a second opening for connection to a first pipe and a second pipe of a hot water system, respectively, the first and second pipes being formed by removing a section from a length of pipe of the hot water system. A pre-tensioning force is applied to the device to axially displace the first opening from the second opening until after connection of the openings of the pipes. A resiliently deformable pipe segment defines a portion of the conduit between the first opening and the second opening and is resiliently deformed to a tensioned position by the application of the pre-tensioning force. Once the hot water system is activated, the pipes axially thermally expand such that the first opening moves towards the second opening and the pipe segment moves from the tensioned position towards a rest position decreasing the stress on the device.
