Mixer Shower Inlet

Hi,
I am trying to fit a concealed shower mixer but I am having problems fitting the hot & cold inlet.

The inlets are on a horizontal plane, so I am fitting an elbow with a male thread to go into the female thread of the mixer.

As the elbows need to point down (to recieve the supply pipes) it is not possible to fully tighten these joints, but I understand this is not necassary as long as I have used PTFE on the joints.

On the first try of this I wrapped about 10 wraps of PTFE on the threads and applied a bit of LSX around the end of the joint to fill the slight gap that remained. When I connected the water and turned the joint leaked.

I only left the joint about an hour before connecting, should I have waited longer?

I have now tried joint compound and hemp and currently leaving this overnight to set.

Can anyone confirm if this is the correct way of doing it, and should I just try a little more PTFE / compound?

How long is it expected that a joint like this will last? as it seems it only relies on the sealant than any pressure as in a compression fitting.

Thanks a lot in advance to anyone who can help.

Jon

Best to use a straight compression fitting in the inlet connections and then an elbow (preferably male to female) to point the pipe in the appropriate direction.

Thanks Chrishutt,

Simple unfortunatley doesn't exist in this old house!!!

That was my first idea but due to lots of reasons there is insufficient space to do that.

I have just connected it all up and after 1 hour (touch wood) all seems good.

Jon