Toilet water supply pipe

Jem8472

Just a quick question.

We recently had some work done by a handyman/plumber and one of the things he fitted was a new ballcock in the toilet. Just noticed that this joint has a very small leak. Its more weeping rather than leaking.




When he first did the job he turned the water on and there was a bit of a leak so he just gently tightened up the joint until water stopped.

So question, do I just need to tighten that nut up again to stop it leaking, does it need ptfe tape or something on it? If its just a case of tightening the nut which way do I have to turn it. Is the nut screwing onto the plastic bit?

How are these joints usually kept water tight?

GlynD

I'd try it first but be careful you don't ovetighten the joint. If it can't be done up any more on hand tightness then bring the plumber back to reseal the joint with PTFE tape.

Meadows

Jem8472 wrote: »

Just a quick question.
We recently had some work done by a handyman/plumber and one of the things he fitted was a new ballcock in the toilet. Just noticed that this joint has a very small leak. Its more weeping rather than leaking.
When he first did the job he turned the water on and there was a bit of a leak so he just gently tightened up the joint until water stopped.
So question, do I just need to tighten that nut up again to stop it leaking, does it need ptfe tape or something on it? If its just a case of tightening the nut which way do I have to turn it. Is the nut screwing onto the plastic bit?
How are these joints usually kept water tight?

Is the nut tight? if not and you can not tighten (do watch you don't over do it).
As for Ptfe tape, you don't want to be doing that, just call the handyman/plumber and tell him since he left you have had the leak and you want him to come back and sort it out as it was okay prior to him changing the ballcock.

googler

I'd follow the

Turn water supply off
Tighten
Turn water supply back on to test

scenario, rather than

Tighten, find it's overtightened, causing it to leak worse whilst the water's still turned on....

STOCKWIRE

As the ball valve end has a plastic thread it should not need ptfe tape. It looks like it is leaking from behind the nut which indicates that it needs a new fibre washer.

southcoastrgi

as above you should ALWAYS replace the fibre washer on a tap connector as once they get wet (which is how they seal as they swell up) then they won't seal again, by tightening it up could make the leak worse not better

keystone

It shouldn't need any PTFE tape whatsoever and yes always use a brand new fibre washer. Bet he didn't. Fetch him back to sort it.

Cheers

Jem8472

OK cheers for the advice guys. If I want to just do this myself rather than have the faff of getting this guy back. If I undo the nut will it come off the pipe ok or is this a compressions joint. I have read somewhere that it can be impossible to get the compression ring off the pipe which would make it rather hard to change the washer.

keystone

No there will be no olive. What you have is one of these:



which is a half inch x 15mm bent tap connector. The "nut" is half inch and goes directly on the (also ½ inch) threaded part of the inlet valve. There is a copper ring on the pipework element that you will see when you look inside the nut that the fibre washer sits on. Fibre washer is compressed against the end of the threaded part by doing the nut up. No olive and no PTFE required either.

Cheers

Jem8472

Excellent thanks for your help. Great to show me whats inside before I have a go at taking it apart. Just hope all goes well when I attempt to fix it.

I have always been really nervous about doing plumbing things.

Also I think I might have to turn the stop !!!! off a little as the water pressure is really high now. New stopcock so I think its a lot more open that the old one managed to be.

southcoastrgi

If it's a plastic ballvalve for gods sake don't cross thread it doing it back up, it should tighten up easily by hand & only need a slight tighten with a spanner