I would be grateful for some advice on the following problem. I am in the process of replacing my bathroom suite and got myself a new one from B&Q. The problem concerns fitting the water supply to the new cistern - it's one of these close-coupled things - anyway the plastic water connector coming out of the bottom doesn't seem to be standard, or is faulty, because unlike everything I've come across in the past the hole in the centre isn't big enough to accept normal 15mm copper pipe. It's the usual plastic type of threaded connector which accepts a 15mm nut but no way will it accept 15mm pipe. Am I missing something, or is something wrong? Any help/advice gratefully accepted and appreciated.
You need a 'tap connector' type fitting on the end of your 15 mm pipe. I've recently fitted a new WC and used a flexible type connector with built in isolator valve - something like this
formatting link
This has a compression type fitting at one end to connect to your supply pipe.
[ about the kind of plastic WC ballcock assembly that has a threaded plastic section which sticks out through the bottom of the cistern ]
If I can just tack onto your thread here: I have a similar problem, though not with a "new" WC. The connection in question was made with a "tap connector", just as you say.
Suddenly (after quite a number of years) the connector has started leaking, and I spent a frustrating morning trying to fix it. On opening it up, there was an old and knackered red sealing washer in the tap connector. And the end of the threaded plastic seemed kind-of irregular, although I've no idea what could have happened to damage it. Does this kind of plastic die after some years?
Bad enough that while trying to fix the problem, the compression joint at the other end of this short length of pipe (which goes into a
15mm isolating valve) decided it had had enough.
Rather than waste time with old piping, I got a fresh length of pipe, and compression olive for the isolating valve, and a new tap connector for the top end, and did my very best to make a decent seal between the tap connector and the plastic ballcock assembly. Even tried magic ptfe tape, which usually solves all problems. But all without success. And now the new sealing washer is knackered, too.
I've got the feeling that the whole ballcock assembly is going to have to be tossed out and renewed...?
And as the earlier discussion says, it's the very devil to work with these connectors to make a good seal without stripping threads or otherwise causing damage. Surely there must be a better way?
Btw, on another WC in the house, the 15mm copper pipe is fitted into the plastic thingy with a normal copper olive compression nut, as if connecting to a normal copper compression union - which I'm sure isn't how it's supposed to be done, but it's worked great for as long as I can remember (15 years?). Indeed, this WC is on the floor below, and thus has an extra head of water to contend with, compared to the one I was working on and described above. Yet it's never given any trouble.
The end of the pipe that bears onto the red fibre washer needs to be fairly flat and smooth. Not that the fibre washer will expand when it gets wet to form the seal. So you only need to just nip the nut up not tighten it with a pair of stillsons and strip the threads...
The water supply to one of the cisterns here was connected like that, until I replaced the ball valve with a torbeck.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.