Tape to prevent leak at metal joints

[Andy_P]

Can anyone please tell me the name of the 'material' that you get on a tape type roll that is soft and pliable and you would use it to wrap round the thread of an old metal joint before screwing the nut back in place to give a good water tight fit ????
Also could you advise me where I can get any from (do B&Q etc stock it ???).

Thanks in anticipation,

Andy.

 

[JohnD]

You are probably thinking of

Plumbers
Tape
For
Everything

often known as PTFE.

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=79726&ts=38311

 

[Andy_P]

Thanks Jon, that's the kiddy !!
I heard it referred to as PTFE (before I forgot the name) but didn't know that it stood for that (makes sense really !!!)

Thanks !

Andy.

 

[kevplumb]

I heard it referred to as PTFE (before I forgot the name) but didn't know that it stood for that (makes sense really !!!)

PolyTetraFluroEthylene

 

[JohnD]

PolyTetraFluroEthylene

He's pulling your leg, that's obviously a made-up word

 

[solo]

If you're screwing a nut onto a thread I don't think PTFE is going to do the job. What are you trying to make water tight?

 

[Andy_P]

I heard it referred to as PTFE (before I forgot the name) but didn't know that it stood for that (makes sense really !!!)

PolyTetraFluroEthylene

Can't believe I fell for that !

 

[JohnD]

You can't trust anyone in the Plumbing forum.

Least of all me.

 

[Andy_P]

If you're screwing a nut onto a thread I don't think PTFE is going to do the job. What are you trying to make water tight?

My bath waste pipe meets my bathroom sink wastepipe and then in turn are fed in to my soil pipe (all on the outside of the house). The bath waste and sink waste pipes are old (probably original house pipes - 1965) and are as such metal pipes.
Recently had to call in a plumber as my bath and sink were backing up and would take hours to drain away.
He looked at the outside pipe (just after where the bath and sink pipes met). Whilst we managed to unscrew the thread/nut we could not pull the pipes apart and as such he basically banged the pipes along the length whilst I ran the bath to put to water pressure on the pipes.
After some time it seemed to mainly clear the blockage. (He did say that he thought it would come back). When he resealed/rescrewed the thread/nut he found a slight drip and as such he unscrewed again and applied PTFE to the thread and then rescrewed.

The blockage has reoccurred and rather than calling out the plumber to bang the pipe I did the same myself with a rubber hammer and seem to have cleared it, however there is quite a bad leak from one of the joints (I haven't split it, but it is a joint that he did not apply PTFE to).

My intention now is to buy some tape, unscrew and apply the tape and rescrew - hopefully that should do it !


Cheers,

Andy.

 

[WelshMan]

Perhaps another option would be plumbers mate, its a not setting compound, water resistant so could also do the job for you.

 

[JohnD]

young people today don't appreciate sticky jointing compound. Hardly any of them even carry a hank of hemp.

 

[giblets]

Hardly any of them even carry a hank of hemp.

Oh, they do - but not the plumbing sort of hemp!!

 

[doyle]

Thanks Jon, that's the kiddy !!
I heard it referred to as PTFE (before I forgot the name) but didn't know that it stood for that (makes sense really !!!)

Thanks !

Andy.

i woul dhave thought it stood for plumbing talkin forum ejits or plumber are tight fisted ******* ejits or another alternative would be priced @ top for everyone

 

[kevplumb]

kevplumb wrote:
PolyTetraFluroEthylene icon_lol.gif icon_lol.gif icon_wink.gif


He's pulling your leg, that's obviously a made-up word icon_lol.gif

PTFE