leaking joint All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[thickasyoulike]

Hi folks, I had a small leak on the tap connector to my heating header tank. As the connector looked iffy and the ball valve was old I decided to change the lot. As I dont have a solder kit and I didnt want to burn the house down i thought I would just do a simple compression fitting set up. I replaced everything but have not been able to stop a slight weep in the compression fitting to the old pipe (house is 25 yrs old). I have changed the olive a number of times, cut the pipe back a bit more so the olives are with a fresh bit of pipe, changed the connector twice, used pft tape and now have a push fit connector on that still weeps on the old pipe end. I cant say I noticed any difference in the pipe sizes when putting the olives on and from googling it seems that if the old pipe is 1/2" it would be a tight fit with the olive and its not. The weep is only on this side of the connector and I have gone from just nipping the connector tight through to winding it up and nothing seems to make any difference.

Any thoughts on what to do next. Im thinking the easy option is to solder the joint with a 15mm sleave.

Thanks

[Dave From Leeds]

Where did you put the PTFE tape on the compression joint? I'm led to believe that it's no good putting it on the threads of the fitting but that it should be wrapped around the olive.

[alavapint]

You may well be trying to fit a 15mm olive to an old imperial pipe (which is slightly smaller than 15mm). This will not seal completely.
Either get a 1/2" imperial olive to try on your old pipe, which can be compressed with your existing compression fitting .... or here's another other alternative.
Google "jtmplumbing.co.uk/john-guest-speedfit-fittings-167/speedfit-conversion-connector-3462.htm"

[thickasyoulike]

Thanks guys - I managed to get a seal by taking off and resetting the quick fit coupling. I have a plumber friend coming tomorrow to solder the joint so hopefully all will be resolved.