HEEEEELP! - Plumbing Knowledge?

[Deleted User]

Crisis!

New Dishwasher delivered today - when trying to connect , realised that old "Compression Valve" was knackered - bought new one but cannot instal as I can't remover the old "rose" - the soft Metal that gets compressed to make the seal which has stubbornly remained in place on water pipe.

Cannot get plumber until tomorrow - cannot turn water back on as there is no stopcock before dishwasher.

Any ideas how to get old "rose" off - it happily rotates on water pipe but will not slide off to let me put new one on - like a ring on your finger that can rotate but can't get over your knuckle!!

Very much waiting for inspiration!!

Yours in anticipation.

WR

alictait

Hi there,

The old rose is actually called an olive.

You will have to cut the pipe, sand / file it down, making sure that there are no burrs on the edges, Get a new olive for the pipe (about £1 for 5 from any DIY place, just make sure it is the right size 10mm or 15mm usually).

Then before you tighten up the nut, cover the thread with PTFE tape (about 50p for a roll), and tighten, do not over tighten, get it finger tight and then turn it about another full turn.

Hopefully this helps.

Oh and probably aswell getting yourself a stopcock for a couple of quid aswell. in case you have to change again !!!

[Deleted User]

Cheers! Olives? Roses? Oops!

WR

alictait

Let me know how you get on - would be interested to know if you fix it yourself or wait for plumber ?

Incidentally, I gained most of my plumbing knowledge when I moved into my house about 18 mths ago, had to wait a week for a plumber (wasnt an emergency), Decided to tackle the fitting of my sink, moving of my washing machine and fixing of the outside tap and main stopcock myself.

May have took me a lot longer than a plumber, but prob saved myself about £150 and gained invaluable knowledge, now upgraded to moving radiators and ripping out bathroom suites etc. lol (not without the occasional burst pipe !!!!, twice from when the olive burst whilst taking off radiators. Its a must to hold the valve in place with another spanner whilst loosening.

Anyway, back to my own bathroom - lol

jake_bullet_2

Why don't you fit the new valve using the existing olive and nut? Normally there is no need to remove them, just take the corresponding items off the new valve and fit.

Tom_Jones

jake_bullet wrote:

Why don't you fit the new valve using the existing olive and nut? Normally there is no need to remove them, just take the corresponding items off the new valve and fit.

If you use the above suggestion I would recommend you use PTFE tape on the threads of the compression fitting, to stop any leak that you may have.

You can also cut the olive off, to do this use a junior hacksaw to cut about 3/4 of the way through the olive, then put a small flat head screwdriver in the cut and twist the screwdriver, the olive should break and you can remove it, and then fit your new compression joint.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the suggestions folks.

Last night I sat on the wet floor, hacksaw in hand, surrounded by spanners, pliers and screwdrivers (as I had to remove 2 kitchen unit panels to get at the thing) and thought about all the ways I could screw this up.

Plumber due this morning!!!!

On the bright side, last night I realised that I had one of these "why don't I cancel this policy as I never use it" things that I didn't cancel - an add-on to my service agrrement with my gas supplier was for internal pipework and external drainage. I didn't think about it first because I have never used it before. If I've been paying for it for years I might as well use it now!

Just hope the work is covered by the policy - at least I know that there will be no call out charge, so I'll hopefully retain either an arm or a leg, rather than losing both in payment.

I can feel an evening class coming on - well done alictait - you are an inspiration - we are going to try and get another room built above our garage this year so the opportunities for DIY will probably be endless.

I'll post an update tonight.

WR

mssjab

Having read this thread with interest, I thought that I should offer a word of advice.
PTFE tape is quite good for the limited applications that it has.
It would not be suitable for the use being suggested here.
Compression joints work on the basis of compressing the olive onto the pipe whilst making a taper joint between the olive and the faces of the fitting and the nut. Under normal circumstances this makes a perfectly sound and watertight joint.
By way of ensuring that the connection is watertight, a smear of jointing compound can be applied to both faces of the olive prior to assembling the joint. A tin of this can be obtained from the likes of Homebase but you should note that there are two types - one for use on fittings that come in contact with drinking water, the second for all other applications, so please read the labels carefully.
Where a connection is to be made from a Male thread to a Female socket then the use of Hemp (in conjunction with a jointing compound) should be used. This is the old method of making this type of joint and, I would suggest, still the best.
Both the jointing compound and the hemp should cost in the region of £1.50 each.

bpyoung

While replacing my hot water cylinder (was just going to be the immersion heater, but...) I discovered Fernox LS-X. It's great stuff.

http://www.fernox.com/?cccpage=ls_x&sub=5

However, I'm still not sure how to get a couple of globs of it off the carpet! Any ideas?

robowen

If it's the stuff I'm thinking about....can't see just yet as web page won't load.

I used this stuff a while back and when I came to use it again about a month later, the tube had set solid throughout.
I think it goes like hard rubber when air gets to it.

It's good stuff, but can only use the once.

robv_3

robowen wrote:

It's good stuff, but can only use the once.

i've been using the same tube for a month