What to measure
Metric copper tube and the plastic push-fit pipe made to replace it are both sold by outside diameter, so a 15 mm tube should read 15.0 mm on a caliper. Two things change that. Half inch copper tube in inch-based systems is 15.9 mm outside, which will not enter this clip. Paint and foam lagging add thickness: a painted pipe is often 15.3 to 15.5 mm. Measure where the clip will sit, not at a fitting, and type the reading in place of the 15 used here.
Clearance, wall and material
Copper is hard and round, so this page uses a small clearance of 0.2 mm for a bore of 15.2 mm. Use 0.3 mm on plastic pipe, which is slightly oval when it comes off a coil. The wall is 2 mm and the opening 95 degrees, which leaves a gap of about 11.2 mm for the tube to push through. At this diameter a wall above 2.4 mm makes the arms too stiff to open without cracking in PLA. Hot water pipes run at 60 degrees or more, which is above the softening point of PLA: use PETG or ASA there and keep PLA for cold feeds.
Printing
Stand the clip on one of its C-shaped faces so the layers go around the tube. In that position the footprint is about 33 by 16.5 mm and the part is 12 mm tall, quick enough to print in batches of ten. No supports and no brim are needed. Use three perimeters at 0.2 mm layers so the 2 mm wall is solid plastic with no infill between the shells.
Fixing it
The tab is 14 mm long and 3 mm thick with a 4.2 mm hole for a 4 mm screw. One tab is enough for a tube this light. On a horizontal run, a clip every 1.2 m or so is usual for copper of this size and closer for plastic, which sags when warm; treat that as a starting point and follow your local plumbing rules.
Outline drawing
Schematic, not to scale. The clip is 12 mm wide along the pipe and about 16.5 mm high.
Parameters the generator will use
| Setting | Link parameter | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Model | model | pipe_clip |
| Pipe diameter | diameter | 15 |
| Fit clearance | fit_clearance | 0.2 |
| Clip wall thickness | wall | 2 |
| Clip width along the pipe | width | 12 |
| Opening angle, degrees | opening | 95 |
| Screw tab length | tab_length | 14 |
| Screw tab thickness | tab_thickness | 3 |
| Screw hole diameter | screw_diameter | 4.2 |
| Number of screw tabs | tabs | 1 |
All lengths are in millimetres. Outer size from these values: about 33.2 x 12 x 16.49 mm.
Open the generator with these values
This model needs the $7 licence key: one payment, one key, and it opens all five paid models. Get a licence key on Gumroad ($7)
The pipe and cable clip needs a licence key: without one the generator shows the model locked, lists the values from this link and fills them in as soon as you unlock. The fitted drawer organiser bin is the free model and downloads with no key.