Plumbing problem, screw joints leaking.

[David in Normandy]

I fitted some new bath taps yesterday but had hell of a job with a small leak. They look similar to this:

pipes come out of the wall, one hot, one cold, approx 6 inches apart and present a male brass screw thread. The tap is a mixer with female matching threads and is supplied with the little black rubber washers. There is a chrome nut on each to simply tighten the taps on. Simple in theory, just hand tighten and an extra small turn with a spanner.

Turned on the water and the cold join leaked a little. Tightened a little more with the spanner, still leaked. Undid both joints and put some PTFE tape around the threads and connected up again. This time the cold joint was fine but the hot one leaked a little. Dismantled and reconnected again with fresh PTFE tape and both leaked a little. Dismantled again and replaced the black rubber washers, one of which looked a bit dented from a bit of over-tightening trying to stop the leak. This time there is a very small leak on the hot side.

Any tips on how to resolve this? Am I doing something wrong? Would some silicone grease on the threads help? Would using two rubber washers instead of one help? I'm wondering if the two pipes coming out of the wall are very slightly misaligned forcing at least one joint slightly out of sealing properly.

It didn't help that the woman I was doing the job for wore only a skimpy semi-transparent nighty and thong all the time I was in her apartment and kept distracting me. What is it with young women nowadays? Are plumbers that popular or was she just too idle to get dressed that day?

[Ericp]

The pipes were not exactly the correct distance apart so the sealing faces were not parallel to each other. Always a trouble with this fitting.

[Gazz]

but what about his problem with the taps?

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

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

Ah, you didn't spot the hidden cameras, then?

[Tim Watts]

Pics or it didn't happen

:->>>>

[David in Normandy]

Thanks, I did wonder if this might be the problem. The tricky bit is finding a solution, because one still has a slight leak. It isn't readily feasible to realign the pipes in the wall. If they are out just a fraction will using two rubber washers instead of one help? Maybe with a smear of silicone grease between the two washers?

Anyone?

[Peter Percival]

His attention was directed elsewhere. To the taps, I mean.

[Brian Gaff]

the ones with You've been framed; carefully painted over on the box. Brian