Seems that I don't have any plumber's tape after all, but would it be sufficient/recommended to sort out my ever so slightly leaky valve joint (as mentioned above) if I get some, undo the nut and apply it?
Probably it would sort it out, yes, but remember to apply it to the olive not the thread. The face of the olive nearest the valve is the one responsible for sealing the joint.
Failing that you could use jointing compound such as Water Hawk.
It's definitely not condensation is it? Is it dripping? The incomming main is cold this time of year, and if the kitchen is warm, you can get a good amount of condensation, especially on the copper pipe.
If a leak, try tightening a little bit more. If no luck, PTFE or a smear of compound/Fernox LSX on olive should sort it.
Seriously though, this is my first time fitting two valves like this. All kinds of problems on the way, such as cutting some new pipe to the exact length, the very awkward position of the undersink pipes, my ignorance leading to a bad seal on one of the existing plastic seals (not resolved), an apparent 'leak' underneath the sink unit (which needed some work to get to and was found to be caused by water dripping down a crack in the shelf due to me working in that area), assorted frequent power cuts due to the very wild weather in my area of the UK, and so on, and so on ......... in short, everything that could have gone wrong for a total newbie did indeed go wrong.
It's definitely not condensation is it? Is it dripping? The incomming main is cold this time of year, and if the kitchen is warm, you can get a good amount of condensation, especially on the copper pipe.
It's not dripping (yet?), but it's extremly slowly accumulating on the top edge of the topmost nut of the new metal valve on the cold water pipe. The surface tension is holding the water in place as there is so little. There is condensation on the cold water pipe.
There's no condensation on the hot water pipe, but no doubt that's because it's not cold.
If a leak, try tightening a little bit more. If no luck, PTFE or a smear of compound/Fernox LSX on olive should sort it.
Thanks, will try tightening then PTFE tape if no joy.
How many wraps of PTFE tape should I apply?
In fact, as an experiment now I may put something (a few wraps of insulation tape perhaps and some plastic) a little way above the nut just to see if anything is indeed dripping down. That will stop it and prove if it's a leak or not.
Unless of course the water is only forming on the joint when water has been flowing through the pipe? Perhaps the normal water pressure when the tap is off isn't enough to 'force' the joint, but when the water has been flowing it is?
Still observing it and there is now a bead of water sometimes forming on the tops of BOTH pipe connections even though there is currently no condensation on either pipe. This mainly seems to happen when the tap has been briefly on then switched off.
So tomorrow I'll try some more nut tightening and if that fails will remove the nut from each connection and apply a couple of wraps of PTFE tape.
If even that fails I'll either call a plumber or re-fit the old non-valve plastic connectors (although removing the olives will be tough, so I may have to shorten the copper pipes (ie cut off just above the olives) then use longer lengths of new plastic pipe (I have plenty)).
Don't tighten the nuts too much or the leak may get worse. You'd be better off adding some ptfe or jointing compound.
It's very difficult of course to describe how much to tighten a compression nut. I think they have to be done up quite tight but I am not as strong as many people. If you're heavy handed you could tighten them too much, if you've got a lighter touch you might tighten them too little. There's a bit of an art to compression joints as you are learning.
But learn away - don't let it stop you. We all had to begin somewhere.
Also check that water isn't running down from above.
Thanks for the tips - pretty sure I'm not tightening the joint too much, it's hard to get enough leverage due to the location of the pipes. Then again, maybe i don't know my own strength.
Think I'll try the PTFE approach - how many wraps should I apply just over the olive? A couple?
I don't know how many wraps, I don't count, but do it by intuition.
But certainly enough to make a good seal but not so many you have to force the pipe into the fitting.
It won't matter which way you wrap it round the olive, but it does matter if you are ever making a threaded joint in the future (clockwise looking at the thread end-on).
So the PTFE tape only needs to go around the olive and there's no need for it to additionally wrap around the exposed/cut end part of the copper pipe that enters the valve?
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