Water leak in threaded connectors

[KenK]

I am trying to replace the leaky water line to my evaporative cooler. I made an adapter to go from the male end of a water hose to the 1/4" copper line cooler connection. This worked with no problems for the old water line for a decade or more. The adaptor is a brass round piece that screws on the hose male connection with a center threaded hole. Into the hole is a little brass adaptor from that thread/diameter to a 1/4" copper-line compression fitting. I am having water leaks at the threaded connections - hose, adapter and copper-line connector - it's hard to tell exactly where the water is coming from. I tried teflon tape - it helped a little but I still get drip, drip, drip.

Any suggestions? Some sort of anti-leak fluid that will harden and seal things? Something to put on threads in addition to or along with the teflon tape?

TIA

[Nate Nagel]

When you say "water hose" do you mean a garden hose? You didn't lose the little washer that goes in the FGH connection did you?

If that's not the problem, Permatex No. 2 will pretty much stop any leak, but it is alcohol soluble so don't use it for your still. (it's also messy as hell, so keep some shop rags and a bottle of alcohol handy...)

nate

[KenK]

Nate Nagel wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Yes.

No Also, I turned down the water pressure to hose as low as I could.

Won't hurt the cooler water pump? Never tried this, or even heard of it.

[Jon Danniken]

Perhaps so, but unless you want to replace the entire adaptor train, you will need to do so. One trick that helps is to use a strip of an absorbent fabric, and wrap it in a targeted manner around each specific interface (hose-adaptor, adaptor-adaptor, adaptor-compression), then see if liquid water is still coming from somewhere.

By this process, you can determine specifically which fitting is leaking.

Bear in mind that the more you twiddle with pipe threads, the less chance they have to do their job, as the threads are cut on an angle so that there is interference, and the threads deform to create the seal. Repeated disassembly/reassembly starts to weaken this interface, leading to leaks and/or the requirement for an amount of force which will break the fittings (hence the suggestion to just start off fresh with new fittings).

That having been said, sometimes teflon paste (not tape) can help stop a very small leak, but if you are getting a constant dripping it is probably a bit too much of a leak.

Jon

[Stormin Mormon]

I am trying to replace the leaky water line to my evaporative cooler. I made an adapter to go from the male end of a water hose to the 1/4" copper line cooler connection. This worked with no problems for the old water line for a decade or more. The adaptor is a brass round piece that screws on the hose male connection with a center threaded hole. Into the hole is a little brass adaptor from that thread/diameter to a 1/4" copper-line compression fitting. I am having water leaks at the threaded connections - hose, adapter and copper-line connector - it's hard to tell exactly where the water is coming from. I tried teflon tape - it helped a little but I still get drip, drip, drip.

Any suggestions? Some sort of anti-leak fluid that will harden and seal things? Something to put on threads in addition to or along with the teflon tape?

TIA

[Don Phillipson]

Teflon tape seems to stop major leaks if you use enough of it. For pool connections (all plastic) expert Sam at the pool store recommends six turns of teflon tape over the threads and three more over the butt, where the threads end. This cured major leaks here.

[Erik]

If I understand correctly, you have a garden hose connection involved?

If so, I've had issues in the past where those flimsy stamped sheet brass male couplings develop cracks in their threads. I think most were caused by dropping the hose end with nozzle attached... but could see them cracking over time as well.

If it is such a connection, all the sealing is done with the washer... and I doubt any sealer would seal big sloppy threads like that.

Just my .02 worth, good luck, let us know what you find!

Erik

[Stormin Mormon]

Won't hurt the cooler water pump? Never tried this, or even heard of it.

[dadiOH]

New washer.

[hrhofmann]

ade an adapter to go from the male end of a water hose to the 1/4" copper l ine cooler connection. This worked with no problems for the old water line for a decade or more. The adaptor is a brass round piece that screws on the hose male connection with a center threaded hole. Into the hole is a littl e brass adaptor from that thread/diameter to a 1/4" copper-line compression fitting. I am having water leaks at the threaded connections - hose, adapt er and copper-line connector - it's hard to tell exactly where the water is coming from. I tried teflon tape - it helped a little but I still get drip , drip, drip. Any suggestions? Some sort of anti-leak fluid that will harde n and seal things? Something to put on threads in addition to or along with the teflon tape? TIA -- "Where there's smoke there's toast!" Anon

You say the original system worked for a decade or longer. What is new, th e garden hose????

[KenK]

"Don Phillipson" wrote in news:krsjj4$ui0$ [e-mail]:

I redid the teflon tape. First time I used only one or two layers. This time I wound around five or six layers on all connections. That may have done it! Thanks much.

[KenK]

" [e-mail]" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Everything but the short copper line between the adapter and the cooler.

[dpb]

On 7/14/2013 10:11 AM, KenK wrote: ...

Prime candidate for a leak then would be the old compression fitting...did you replace it on the tubing or try to reuse the existing one?

There's no mating thread that is a sealing thread in the whole thing excepting for the threaded compression fitting end into the adaptor so there's the only place where any use for teflon tape or pipe dope or whatever.

The garden hose seal is the washer in the FGH fitting to the hose end; if it's new to be pliable and not dirty and the hose end isn't boogered up then hand tight or a little extra w/ a pair of pliers certainly ought to be enough.

The compression fittings seal around the ferule and mating surfaces; the threads are only for the application of closing pressure between the two. Again, if one end was used, the highest probability is that it is dirty from sediments and/or scratched or otherwise not mating well w/ the new end. One thing that can help is just a little grease (or vaseline, even) -- it'll seal really small imperfections and not harm anything else in a non-potable supply like this (and really not in potable either unless you just gob it all over everywhere...)