Outside tap - thread type/size?

[Tim Watts]

Hi,

Anyone know what type and size of thread a typical bib tap has on it?

Reason: for various reasons, I'm taking a hot and cold feed to the outside (warm water is useful for washing the car, hosing the kids down, that sort of thing - can't think why more people don't do it...)

Hot and cold are mains pressure, so I would like to stick lever valves on each feed outside, combine the outputs with a 15mm tee then stick something on the end with a suitable thread (ie DIY mixer tap). Hence the thread question.

Naturally there'll be double check valves - but back inside the house with a single pair of conveniently placed isolators for winter (tap pipes are on their own branch).

[ARWadsworth]

3/4BSP if my memory is correct.

Cheers

Adam

>

[fred]

In article , ARWadsworth writes

Just bought 2 different sizes from toolstation:

1/2" bsp size (1/2" bsp male rear thread) had a 3/4" bsp male hose connection and a mating hose connection stub.

3/4" bsp size (3/4" bsp male rear thread) has a roughly inch[1] dia male thread hose connection but much finer than 3/4" bsp and a mating hose connection stub.

I think others have reported frustration with finding a strange fine thread on the hose connection end of 3/4" bsp bib taps (might have been TimW at that) so maybe it is safer to stick to 1/2" bsp taps.

At mains pressure, that tap size should provide minimal restriction.

[1] 3/4" bsp is roughly 1" o/d

[Andy Dingley]

...and secondly to that, what size of fibre washer fits this and where can I get some?

I recently bought an outdoor tap and wallplate elbow from Toolstation. To have the tap pointing downwards when tightened up, I need to shim the thread. It measures at 20.5mm ID for the washer, but I can't find such a thing anywhere.

[Spamlet]

How do you get hot water on the mains?

S

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Andy Dingley saying something like:

Hemp and Boss White.

[Andy Dingley]

That's very likely what I'll end up doing. But why can't I just buy some washers that fit this commonly sold part, from the same tap & washer shop that sold me the tap?

[Tim Watts]

Spamlet wibbled on Thursday 15 July 2010 21:11

Lots of ways:

Combi boiler,

System with a instant plate heat exchanger, eg heat bank - though combi's have plates in too.

Instantaneous electric heater (what I have now, until the CH arrives).

It's great - drinkable hot water and no worries about having large tanks with a poor head (which I would have 'cos I don't have much of an attic and the old tank took up usable space).

Cheers

Tim

[<me9]

Last week I fitted one from Toolstation. I just used the thicker "gas type" PTFE tape. Less than 2 minutes to set to vertical.

[Tim Watts]

[e-mail] wibbled on Thursday 15 July 2010 23:06

Another option is Rocol Threadseal XS. Yellow "loctite" for plumbing. Only downside is it does make undoing harder - and impossible on plastic threads

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Andy Dingley saying something like:

What you need is an assortment of fibre washers to pick and mix from, but unless you strike it lucky I don't see it ending up vertically, unless it's slightly too slack or overtight. The hemp and Boss White solution is a good standby for this kind of thing, and has the benefit of setting a bit. It's quite annoying when a tap swivels when it shouldn't. Modern setting sealants will do, sure, but try finding some when you need it at short notice.