Leaking speedfit connections to copper pipes All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[barrym]

Hi,
After fitting a new toilet and handbasin downstairs I decided to replace our old sage green bathroom suite and am using plastic speedfit pipes and fittings.
The original pipe work was copper, the sink and toilet have gone in fine using the plastic pipes etc,.
My problem is with the hotwater pipe for the bath. I have fitted a valve onto the original copper hot water pipe which has a screw that can allow the water to be turned off or on. Into the other end of this valve I have used 20mm plastic piping. I can't stop it from leaking. I have tightened up the pipe into the end of the valve with an adjustabe spanner and pipe wrench and thought that I had solved the leaking. I turned the water back on and it seemed fine but then the pipe shot out of the end of the valve and there was water every where.
Where am I going wrong? The water pressure is high but the cold water feed to the bath is fine.
Any tips please?
:oops:

[tsb]

Hi,when using plastic pipe instead of copper you have to use an insert to support the pipe when using a compression fitting.Also I think you got wrong size pipe if it's 20mm.Would think it shoud be 22mm

[barrym]

Hi tsb,
Yes your are right I was using 22mm pipes and where I was using only plastic fittings and pipes I had no problem.
The hot water pipe which supplied the hot water was fitted with a service valve so that the water could be shut off if needed.
The plastic pipe with an insert was fitted to the other end of the service valve and this is were the problem is. I have had a lot of trouble trying to stop it leaking. I thought that I had stopped the leak and turned on the water. Ten minutes later the plastic pipe shot out of the end of the valve and flooded the floor.
Could it be a problem with the insert? Or am I just not tightening everything up enough?

[jondeau]

Assuming that the valve is compression.......it would seem that the olive is not being compressed onto the pipe enough.

If the valve is in a difficult position to work on, then use a spare compession fitting to tighten and compress the olive onto the pipe before transfering the pipe to the the valve.

[AndyB]

also wrap abit of ptfe round the olive after its been tightened up helps sometimes.