Franke kitchen sink + monobloc tails

[borzio]

Hi Guys, I've fitted a new monobloc tap with rigid tails (as supplied) to a Franke stainless steel kitchen sink + added a Franke tap support to the underside of the worktop and around the tails. I've also installed the Franke sink drains into position. A couple of things are bugging me before I install and connect up the worktop permanently:

1) The tails are installed ok but there is not much of a gap (despite a slight bend in the pipes) for connecting the Hep grey connectors, as the pipes finish at the same length and are quite close together. I'm scared of forcing them apart to put on the connectors and losing the seal at the tap end. Are there thinner pushfits I can use, or another solution?

2) I installed the sink drains according to the diagrams in the box with the metal drain straight onto the metal sink and the screwed black seal compressing tight from below. As I've never had a sink where a plumber didn't use plumbers Mait or similar between the sink and drain, are the instructions I used ok?
Thanks in advance for your help

 

[gasmanstu72]

you can get flexible tap connectors that would replace the ones that are sent,

https://www.google.co.uk/search?new....4.0....0...1c.1.64.serp..0.4.455.H91JvHt-J_M


i wouldnt worry about plumbers mait, if you fix the washers right and tighten the plug straight it will be fine, there's no pressure for them to hold.

 

[borzio]

gasmanstu72, thanks. I've got a pair of flexibles from screwfix that I was going to use until I read somewhere that the Franke support is better with straight tails...that's why I used the tails from the Franke box and put the flexibles aside. I can easily unscrew one of the tails and install a flexy instead and that should do the job to separate them.

Thanks also for the sink drain advice, I just needed the reassurance that that is the modern way of doing things as I'm a bit long in the tooth (if I had any left at my age) for today's products, also paranoid that I had viewed the install sheet properly as Franke was certainly a bit short on the specifics.

 

[AlanE]

Are the copper tails 15mm copper with smaller section around 2 to 3 inches?

If so once tap is fitted pull the bottom section apart so the form a sort of inverted Y. Now holding top as near tap as possible and effectively pushing outwards bend the bottom section towards centre of tap. This will form an offset in the thinner section. Easier to do than describe!

You should easily be able to get the 15mm sections vertical and easily couple of inches apart. Plenty wide enough to use standard compression fittings which are OK to use with plastic pipe. Just make sure you use the correct pipe inserts, even if using HEP fittings. Leave them out at your peril!!!

Think twice about using flexies, particularly if you have a low pressure hot water system, cold tank in loft, as their small bore will seriously reduce the flow rate.

Bed the metal waste fitting with silicon.

 

[borzio]

AlanE, sorry for the delay in replying (I spent a day on the toilet cr**ping myself at the thought of bending the pipes LOL).
The pipes were as you described, and yes it was pretty easy to bend them as not much bend was required to give the gap needed.

I tested the pipes for drips before installing the whole worktop in one go as I had rigged the whole thing in the garage, so I knew that they held the presure without leaks and all went easily together as I bought new Hep connectors and inserts as a precaution.

The sink drain was also tested and working before dropping the worktop in, so I left it as was. I'll use your silicon suggestion if I get a leak in future as it is easy to remove and replace..
Thanks for the advice given.