Compression fitting tight enough?

[diymonkey]

i have just put back a toilet upstairs

Before starting i had a pipe run for the toilet and an isolator valve attached to it

from the other end of the valve i put a small piece of pipe.
from the other end of that pipe i put a braided hose that leads to the inlet of the toilet.

the compression fitting 4 the bit of pipe from the isolator i hand tightened (pretty firmly) then marked and have tightened it a half turn. it seemed pretty firm

the one to the braided hose i got almost a full turn (maybe just over three quarters)

started the water up (nervously) and everything is hunky chunky. i feel that maybe i should have got another bit of a turn on the half turn one

should i be worried. nothing leaks-everythings cool. why i am worried about leaving the house

 

[mgheating]

if it's fine now there's no real reason to think it won't be when you leave the house.

you don't really need to aggressively tighten compression fittings.

In future, try putting a spot of 3 in 1 or something similar on the thread so that you know the nut has done up tightly.

 

[diymonkey]

well thats putting my mind at rest mgheating. you live and learn. next time i will be a bit more confident and i will try your tip


thanks

 

[Bambergaspipe]

i have just put back a toilet upstairs

Before starting i had a pipe run for the toilet and an isolator valve attached to it

from the other end of the valve i put a small piece of pipe.
from the other end of that pipe i put a braided hose that leads to the inlet of the toilet.

the compression fitting 4 the bit of pipe from the isolator i hand tightened (pretty firmly) then marked and have tightened it a half turn. it seemed pretty firm

the one to the braided hose i got almost a full turn (maybe just over three quarters)

started the water up (nervously) and everything is hunky chunky. i feel that maybe i should have got another bit of a turn on the half turn one

should i be worried. nothing leaks-everythings cool. why i am worried about leaving the house

I normally grab the offending beeatch with a pair of grips & turn the other nut till it screams the dirty b*astard..( is it Dinner time, Daddy)?

 

[JohnD]

Tighten it up till the thread strips, then back it off half a turn.

 

[nickso]

Tighten it up till the thread strips, then back it off half a turn.

then apply setting silicon to be sure

 

[ChrisR]

I think the Conex manual says finger tight plus 1 - 1.25 turns for 15mm. That's v tight and their fittings will take it. But most of the chrome plated cheapo isolators and flexies etc won't - they just start leaking!

 

[diymonkey]

thanks for all your replies

the fittings are v difficult to get to and they have held up fine for 24 hours now and look well fine

i may stick a bit of silicone on for good luck

next time i may spank those compression fittings that little bit more and show them who's boss. (if they think they can get the better of me!)

 

[Trazor]

i may stick a bit of silicone on for good luck

For good luck stick on a 4 leaf clover, for leaks the silicon will be a waste of time.

 

[JohnD]

I did come across someone who, when training apprentices, made them find a scrap alloy casing, drill and tap it several times, and screw studs and bolts of different sizes into it with various spanners and sockets until they stripped. Said it gave then the feel of how tight to do things up. Also doing things up by hand then checking with a torque wrench.

Once you have the feel, using the correct size spanner you will usually get then to about the right tightness.

it is more difficult to judge using an adjustable spanner in a tight corner.

 

[Bambergaspipe]

i may stick a bit of silicone on for good luck

For good luck stick on a 4 leaf clover, for leaks the silicon will be a waste of time.

Now that is really funny