Leaking outside tap

Strummer22

I have an outside tap connected to a horizontal plastic pipe. The plastic pipe to tap connector was leaking badly so after asking advice from a local hardware store I bought a new pipe reinforcer and brass connection fitting.

I cut off the end of the pipe (this was probably unnecessary), fitted the new pipe reinforcer, pushed the connector on to the pipe and screwed the tap on to the connector.

It still leaks. The water is doing the same as before, coming backwards through the connector.

What have I done wrong? (Ignore the white plastic piece on the pipe, that's half of the old connector that I took off before putting the brass one on)

grumbler

What's inside the 'reinforcer'?

The connection to the pipe is 'compression' type and must have an olive on the pipe. After you tighten the nut the olive will be almost impossible to remove - both the brass nut and the olive will permanently remain on the pipe. Also, to use this fitting with a plastic pipe you need a pipe insert.

Many people don't do this, but I prefer 'dressing' the olive with PTFE tape

In this case you need to tighten the nut less hard.

An extra advice:

• fix the tap to the wall with a wall plate (you will need to seal the thread with PTFE tape as this isn't a compression fitting)

connect the plastic pipe to the plate with a short piece of pipe and a compression elbow

Alternative -

(this pipe is 36cm long; 60cm is available  in SF if needed).

In this case the elbow isn't needed outside; the plastic or copper pipe will be connected to this pipe inside with the elbow or a compression straight coupler

Also, this tap is far more convenient to use:

Strummer22

Thanks for that, the first image shows my set up, when I said pipe reinforcer I meant the pipe insert.

I'll try the PTFE tape on the olive. I have been able to attach and undo the whole configuration a couple of times so I definitely haven't got to a stage where the olive and nut are nearly impossible to remove, they slide easily off again.

Martin_the_Unjust

I’m with grumbler on ptfe tape, I usually do 10 turns round the olive.

Bendy_House

Strummer22 said:

Thanks for that, the first image shows my set up, when I said pipe reinforcer I meant the pipe insert.

I'll try the PTFE tape on the olive. I have been able to attach and undo the whole configuration a couple of times so I definitely haven't got to a stage where the olive and nut are nearly impossible to remove, they slide easily off again.

In which case, perhaps you simply haven't tightened it enough?

Olives will crush down slightly when the compression fitting is tightened. This will be more obvious on plastic pipes as they are softer than copper, so it'll be seen to have bedded in to the pipe's surface a tiny amount - on either side of the olive, you'll likely see the pipe's surface curve down to the fractionally lower part when the 'sunken' ring now sits. This will also make the olive hard, sometimes/often impossible, to slide off again, so might need cutting off if you ever need to remove it.

You only want it to 'bite' in to the surface a small amount, but if the olive is still easily removable by just pulling on it, then it hasn't 'bitten' nearly enough. And this obviously also runs the risk of it being blown off by water pressure, or should the pipe start to freeze.

Do you have good access to the inside? Grumb's suggestion of the copper pipe+flange setup coupled with that lever tap (tho' not necessary) looks good to me. Either way, you need to screw that tap solidly to the wall using a 'plate of some sort.

rob7475

Also, make sure you are using the correct pipe insert. You can get some "superseal" inserts which have rubber o rings on them - these won't work with compression fittings.

Strummer22

hmm, yes maybe not tight enough, I've been doing it hand tight. 

There's no rubber o ring so hopefully I have the right insert.

Maybe a daft question, why does the tap need fixing to the wall? It wasn't before, but then I've only been in this property 6 weeks and we're still uncovering bodge jobs from the previous owner (including leaving this tap leaking badly, when there is a stoptap for it further inside the outbuilding so she could have turned it off).

rob7475

Strummer22 said:

hmm, yes maybe not tight enough, I've been doing it hand tight. 

There's no rubber o ring so hopefully I have the right insert.

Maybe a daft question, why does the tap need fixing to the wall? It wasn't before, but then I've only been in this property 6 weeks and we're still uncovering bodge jobs from the previous owner (including leaving this tap leaking badly, when there is a stoptap for it further inside the outbuilding so she could have turned it off).

Usually hand tight + about half a turn for a compression fitting. I always use a smear of jet lube compound around the olive before tightening as a belt and braces approach

You want the tap fixed to the wall as you will be putting a lot of pressure on the pipe fitting which could cause a leak. Also, having that much pipe running outside the building isn't a great idea in cold weather. If the water in the pipe freezes, it can potentially burst.

I have one of the wall plates suggested above with the copper pipe attached. A good tip is to cover the copper pipe in some 20mm condensate pipe before passing it through your wall to give it some protection.

Bendy_House

Strummer22 said:

hmm, yes maybe not tight enough, I've been doing it hand tight. 

There's no rubber o ring so hopefully I have the right insert.

For the brass - 'compression' - fitting, it's basically do up the end nut to take up all the slack, and the olive is starting to bite, and THEN give it a half-turn more with a wrench.
Sometimes it's hard to judge at what point the olive is starting to be compressed, so you can check by tugging at the pipe and noting when it doesn't move. Be sure to always push it back home each time, of course.
If you want, you can even dismantle the fitting again to check that the olive IS as you hoped, but this time give it only a quarter EXTRA turn on reassembly.

Strummer22

Thanks for all the advice everyone 🙂 I put PTFE tape on the olive, and used a wrench to tighten the nut and now the tap is securely attached without leaks 🙂

Bendy_House

You are now officially a plumber, my child.
Go forth, and tighten more nuts.