Connecting up a concealed shower

[Ninemill]

Afternoon everyone,

I've got a concealed shower valve that I'm fitting in my bathroom. The hot and cold feeds are in the vicinity of the valve in 15mm copper now and the stud work is almost finished for the false wall, which will then be pb'd and tiled. The valve has two inlets and 1 outlet with plastic caps on marked '3/4"', my question is what's the best way to connect up the inlets and outlets? My Dad's suggested using tapered fittings so they tighten up well, are they going to be best? Goes without saying I think that the less prone to leaks the better!

Thanks.

 

[Ninemill]

cheeky bump.

Just been to the plumbers merchants, they sold me a coupler like this http://s7g3.scene7.com/is/image/ae235/82086_P

It's got a parallel thread but the guy said to just wrap loads of PTFE round it until a grommit builds up at the back end of the thread.

Is he right?

 

[picbits]

I had all kinds of fun and games with my shower until I used Loctite 55 on the threads (parallel threads) - sealed perfectly although on the second attempt as I didn't use enough on the first.

I tried tapered male thread with plenty of PTFE after my first attempt but that leaked more than with the parallel thread and Loctite.

Its been watertight for over a month at full pressure now - I'm running out of excuses not to finish the shower off ........

 

[Ninemill]

Thanks for the reply. Called the shower manufacturer, they said a parallel thread was fine. Plumbers merchants sold me some 'Plumb Blue' and said to out that over the PTFE as well, but the Loctite 55 stuff you talk about looks good as well.

Do I need to grab some of that or does Plumb Blue work well?

 

[picbits]

Never used plumb blue so I can't comment but that Loctite 55 appears to be the saviour of many DIY (and Pro) plumbers !

Make sure you read the instructions about roughing up the threads a little and don't scrimp with it and you can't really go wrong. There is even a video on Youtube on how to use it.

The first time I used it, my left hand joint on the shower was fine but the right hand one had around a drop of leakage an hour at full pressure. As above, I tried tapered with loads of PTFE but couldn't get a decent seal. Went back to parallel thread with a lot more Loctite and its perfect.

 

[Ninemill]

Did you have any kind of washer at the end of your parallel thread or did you just rely on the loctite? The coupler I've got don't have anything like that on them.

 

[picbits]

Nope - no washer at all although I did consider putting one on.

I've attached a couple of photos of how mine turned out after using the Loctite - also bear in mind these are quite shallow male elbows with around 3-4 threads actually inside the shower unit so it was a bit touch and go ....

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• picbits
• 20 Oct 2011
• 1

Untitled

• picbits
• 20 Oct 2011
• 1

 

[Ninemill]

Looks a very similar situation to mine, I'm gonna try and pick some up before I start connecting up - gotta be the extra cash if it works!

How much did you put on in the end? I'm guessing run it in the grooves for the entire length of the thread, then give it one more layer along the length of the male, and then build it up a bit to form a washer at the back?

 

[picbits]

Bear in mind I'm not a plumber - just a fairly competent DIY'er

I didn't build it up like you would do with normal PTFE. This Loctite is pretty strange stuff - generally you get better results by cross winding it (watch the video). I put around double the turns that were recommended on the packet.

It certainly seems to do the job and I've not actually come across any negative comments about it other than you don't know how much is left in the tub !