Plumbing help !

MehulLakhani

MehulLakhani

MehulLakhani

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Joined
12 Jan 2003
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Location
Watford
Hi All

I have just found out that a piping joint behind the fridge is leaking. It is the one that supplies the fridge with water for ice etc etc.

I have isolated it to the ptfe junction or the valve itself - not the push fit connector.

So I need some help now as my knowledge has run out !

1 . How do I go about tightening it , or should I replace the PTFE ?

2 . Can I buy a proper replacement, which wont have PTFE tape on, and if so what do I ask for in B+Q, or does anyone have any on line links

3 . How do I replace it with regards to undoing a push fit connection ? Do I need a special tool ?

Pic below




Thanks

Mehul
 
Push fit is same to undo as do up, push the spring loaded piece to "unlock"

PTFE tape isnt a botch btw its required to help seal what is probably a compression fitting which basically has an olive inside that when under pressure creates a seal but its often not 100% perfect. PTFE tape in the threads helps make the seal.

You could try giving it a tiny tighten to see if that does it, but if some reason its leaking its more than likely not going to fix it.

Are you sure this is a new leak and couldnt have been doing that since plumbed in?
 
Hi All

Thanks for the replies

What is plumbers mate ? Where is the olive ? Sorry to be so dim !

As for leaking previoulsy, we actually got in a plumber to do all sorts of odd jobs when we moved in, and it was watertight when done, but over the last few days I heard dripping, and then pulled the fridge out, and this is when I noticed the leak, but it could have been a slot leak for a few weeks I guess ?

R

Mehul
 
I agree
try tightening a little if that doesnt work new PTFE.
If that doesnt work new comp fitting.

Screwfix do like 10 rolls of the PTFE for a couple of quid.
I guess its probably like £1.49 a roll in homebase / B&Q etc

If you have a B&Q near then its worth a trip there, they often have decent tradespeople who can help you out. The "old boys" are often ex trades just doing some B&Q work for some cash and to keep them going.

What worries me most from that picture is, is that the main up pipe its tapped into, if so even turning off the mains hes likely to see some serious water when he cracks it open
 
Hi

This is the closest I can find:

don't hot link

Anyone able to find me something closer to what I have already, without the join ideally, dont mind if it doesnt have the 90 degree bend in it

R

Mehul
 
Oh dear me, im guessing the replies are not from plumbers.

Its a bit vague about where the leak actually is, if its on the tee then a simple push together could be all thats required.

Could also be that there wasn't an insert put in the pipe when it was fitted, this would cause the pipe to deform and give you a leak.

There's o-rings in the tee and if these are damaged you'll need a new tee.

Now, those type of fitting dont 'un-clip' as previously sugested, the plastic nuts on the end unscrew and you can then remove the pipe and o-rings with it, easy job to replace the o-rings and tee, just make sure you put everything back in the right order!

Now if its the compression joint then ignore the PTFE comments, using that you will make it worse and harder to get a water tight joint. You dont actually need anything, just removing the PTFE will halp you.
However most plumbers (including me) use a jointing compound of some kind, doesn't matter which as they all do the same. Put a bit around the olive and a bit around the threads, thats all you need.

Now to aid you in not flooding your kitchen/utility id suggest you take off the fridge hose, this way once the water is off and you've let the pressure off through the kitchen/utility taps, you can drain any pipework using the (fridge) tap, you'll know the water is off properly before disconnecting pipework and getting very wet.

Also, if you don't feel confident then get a plumber, its a 10 min job so shouldn't cost too much.
 
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Completely off topic, but why do so many people put spaces before question marks, exclamation marks, and other punctuation?
 
robskinner said:
What worries me most from that picture is, is that the main up pipe its tapped into, if so even turning off the mains hes likely to see some serious water when he cracks it open
Click to expand...

Thats why you disconnect the pipe the the fridge and then you have a tap to drain any water left into a bucket.
 
Danm54 said:
Now, those type of fitting dont 'un-clip' as previously sugested, the plastic nuts on the end unscrew and you can then remove the pipe and o-rings with it, easy job to replace the o-rings and tee, just make sure you put everything back in the right order!

Now if its the compression joint then ignore the PTFE comments, using that you will make it worse and harder to get a water tight joint. You dont actually need anything, just removing the PTFE will halp you.
Click to expand...

Couple of points, why would you not recommend PTFE tape, maybe its not the lastest thing but Ive seen plumbers using it for over 20 years on compression fittings and never had any issues, so all of a sudden its a bad idea? Its theory is no diff to a compound or a loctite used in other applications its to help fill the voids caused by two imperfect fitting threads. So why would you say better off without thats clearly bonkers.

If you inscrew its not a push fit, he said push fit so assumed thats what it was.

But yeah hose onto fridge filter bit should do the trick but there always seems to be some water make it through the stopcock in my experience and if its that close its always worse. No idea why I guess they get kind of gunked up where i live so the seals dont work properly. They seem to use gate valves as stop cocks and imo they are the worst type for leaking.

Happy to step away now we have a "pro" to help out the OP tho
 
robskinner said:
Couple of points, why would you not recommend PTFE tape, maybe its not the lastest thing but Ive seen plumbers using it for over 20 years on compression fittings and never had any issues, so all of a sudden its a bad idea? Its theory is no diff to a compound or a loctite used in other applications its to help fill the voids caused by two imperfect fitting threads. So why would you say better off without thats clearly bonkers.

If you inscrew its not a push fit, he said push fit so assumed thats what it was.

But yeah hose onto fridge filter bit should do the trick but there always seems to be some water make it through the stopcock in my experience and if its that close its always worse. No idea why I guess they get kind of gunked up where i live so the seals dont work properly. They seem to use gate valves as stop cocks and imo they are the worst type for leaking.

Happy to step away now we have a "pro" to help out the OP tho
Click to expand...

That supposed to be a dig? Ive been doing it for 9 years so not an old boy but certainly know more that your average amateur.

I rarely see FTFE on fittings because its not designed to be there. Think about it, its a poorly designed fitting if it needs PTFE to make it seal. Compression fittings are designed to, and can be used without any paste/PTFE, paste or jointing compound just makes it easier to tighten up without the fitting sticking to the pipe, this makes it a lot easier to get elbows etc pointing in the right direction.

The fittings are push fit, they just have a nut to undo instead of un-clipping.

Ill step away now if my advice is not required.

Oh, gate valves are for low pressure systems, they're not used on mains pressure.
 
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Not a dig the PTFE was a genuine question. I know in theory it makes iteasier to turn as it acts as a lubricant, or makes the joint self lubricating, not sure if thats classed as the same thing. I had half a feeling the threads were tapered, maybe thats changed though, quite possibly they are all parallel?

I can tell you categorically I have had gate valves as stop cocks, I used to work for a valve maunfacturer (well a fitting manufacturer and valve maunfacturer), gate valves also do very high pressures as well as low. The inherent issue is that you can get deposit stuck at the bottom making a poor seal hence my comment. So what tyes of valve are fitted now? They arent ball or buttefly that I have seen so that only leaves gate surely? (also the bodies match the shape of the gate bodies we used to make)
 
Ive seen gate valves fitted on mains before too, really not reconmended though as they dont hold mains pressure, even new ones. Maybe the ones you made were different from the cheap crap the plumbing trade gets supplied with. Either way, they dont work.

Water meters are fitted with quarter turn ball valves above the meter, all mains water is fitted with stop tap where it enters the property. Older ones are globe valves and the newer ones are a similar design.

Compression fittings are parallel threads, BSP fittings still have tapered threads.
Thinking about it, the cheap fittings do seem to have slight tapers on the threads, I don't think they're designed to though, just cheap.
 
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