fittings for minidue leaking

[John D v2.0]

Agree with Terry. Although to be fair the range of joints in plumbing is bloody confusing, not only are there solder ring, end feed and compression, but there are two types of threads that are the same size but some the male is conical and the female is long enough to seal on the threads with PTFE. Then there is unions which are flat faced and use a fibre washer. Unless the maker decide an o ring would be better on some proprietary fitting.
And that's not even getting in to push fit, crimped, and I'm sure there's more!
2 tubes, how many ways to connect them end on?

Anyway back to the OP,I know how you feel, but follow Terry's post above, PTFE only on the cylindrical thread, plenty of turns so it seals on the PTFE doesn't screw all the way down, and you should be ok.

 

[Jupiter01]

Thanks guys. I think I get the approach that @terryplumb is suggesting but I don't think it will work...
This is the face of the fitting supplied with the minidue and I don't think its designed to take a pipe with a nut and olive. Please shoot me down if I have got this wrong!

I've included all other pictures of the fittings too.

On the above assumption, I re-applied the female coupler to the fixing that came with the minidue and I have left the PTFE visible so you can see where this has been wrapped.

Result: one of the female coupler is still dripping! Its a tiny leak but a leak nonetheless. Do I need to remove and wrap more PTFE tape even though I added the same to this as the top coupler and that has no issues?

 

[John D v2.0]

Looks spot on what you've done, sorry to hear you're still having issues!
You can always replace the flat faced inner union with a new fitting that may be better quality.

 

[Jupiter01]

Are you suggesting that replace this?

I did consider this as I wanted to lose the female coupler and just have a fitting which takes me from 1" to 22mm. I found this fitting but the problem was that the thread section was too deep which meant that it was touching the body of the mindue before it was tight enough. I tried a few plumbing merchants and they had the same fitting (deep thread). You can see in this picture that the minidue thread is not very deep.

 

[John D v2.0]

You can always stack fibre washers up, I've had to stack 3 before to get enough depth for the full thread

 

[terryplumb]

Are you winding the PTFE in the correct direction of rotation .are you winding it tightly into the threads. Are you putting too many wraps ,causing tape to unwind off the threads ? If too much is applied you should notice it coming off/out of the open end.

 

[Jupiter01]

I will re-apply the PTFE and report back.
In the meantime, how do I remove the female coupler from the fitting its screwed on to please? Currently, it just turns the fitting above it without having any effect on it. I'm hoping this makes sense if you have been here before!

If its easier to understand, if I have this in my hand with the female coupler tightened on to it, how do I pull them apart?

 

[terryplumb]

The reverse of how you put it together.

 

[John D v2.0]

If it's a union you don't need to take the loose part with the threads off the main body. It's one piece

 

[Jupiter01]

If it's a union you don't need to take the loose part with the threads off the main body. It's one piece

Its the female coupler that I've screwed onto this that I want to remove. You can see it in this picture:

When I turn the coupler, the bit in between the big nut and the coupler spins around.

 

[John D v2.0]

Ah right get some mole grips on the middle bit

 

[Jupiter01]

tried that but it keeps slipping...
ive seen a plumber put a socket set on one end and then unscrew it with ease

 

[John D v2.0]

Good idea, try that, didn't realise there was a hex end

 

[Jupiter01]

lol apart from knowing that a plumber used the socket set, I don't know which bit to use. any advice on this as I could borrow a mates socket set

 

[John D v2.0]

Take a photo in the end.
I assumed you meant there was a hex end there!