I have an angled washing machine valve to replace the straight one currently fitted.
Can I isolate the supply, remove old tap and replace with new, re- using the olive and nut from the existing one?
I have PTFE tape, maybe a couple of turns will help?
Thoughts please?
Thanks.
If it really is not convenient to go and get a pack of olives you could give it a go. Might be easier than risking marking the pipe while getting the old olive off. Do however make sure that the old nut and new tap have the same thread.
Olives do however seem to get harder with age and having adjusted to one connector may not be happy adjusting to another. By all means use ptfe tape on the threads to aid tightening.
I've done that, and it was fine. No guarantee though.
Yes, it will normally be OK.
The existing olive will likely be crimped onto the pipe in a non-removeable way.
With any luck, the new fitting will have a similar depth so the pipe will go in to a depth where the existing olive will seal. Also, with some luck the thread will be the same, so the captive nut will fit the new fitting.
If not, tough. You'll need to cut the pipe and splice it.
Tape ought not be necessary, but can help in marginal cases.
Should be okay, but to be safer, I would use PTFE on the theads AND Boss White around the olive ...... in the end, there is no guarantee of it sealing without new tube and olive etc ..... then again, you could use an olive puller to get the olive off ..... but the tube will have crimped where the olive was ! Boss White the best answer in this case I think. Dave B
The olive work hardens, so is less likely to seal than when new. Use a new one, a few pence. If you have to re-use one, a smear of jointing compound or a few turns of PTFE tape should help it seal if it leaks. Tape on the threads of compression joints doesn't do anything, the seal if formed by the olive.
Boss White is antiquated. Best not use. Most pros use Jet Blue. Best to use the PTFE tape and liquid PTFE on the threads. Leave for at least 30 mins for the liquid to cure, or overnight if possible. Then no leak.
I use ptfe tape on the threads because it is a lubricant and allows more pressure to be applied to the olive with no more torque on the nut and tap.
I've never managed to remove an olive, luckily the threads have always been the same.
You can do that, as long as the pipe doesn't need trimming back, but dont expect the olive to seal. I like linseed putty to create a seal, it behaves well in plumbing (and isnt hard to remove later), and has other uses as a sealant and filler, and is cheap. PTFE might make the seal, but it wouldnt be high on my list of choices for what may be a rough or scarred surface.
NT
PFTE on the threads does sweet nothing. It is also a parallel thread.
You can do that, as long as the pipe doesn't need trimming back, but dont expect the olive to seal. I like linseed putty to create a seal, it behaves well in plumbing (and isnt hard to remove later), and has other uses as a sealant and filler, and is cheap. PTFE might make the seal, but it wouldnt be high on my list of choices for what may be a rough or scarred surface.
The problem is that the old olive does dig into the copper pipe a bit, so even if you do get the olive off you'll have to get the new one in the same place to avoid a leak. The way I (occasionally) remove the old one is to (using a junior hacksaw) cut it at some 45 degrees being very careful not to touch the pipe with the saw, then twist a smallish screwdriver in the saw slot to crack/split it. TBH if it's been there a long time the olive will be more or less cold welded to the pipe...
Most of my messing about with compression fittings is making pseudo gasoliers (electrically powered), so I'm more concerned with earth continuity (and physical rigidity) than hydraulic leaks :-)
With luck on your side. You may need to trim the pipe tail if the new fitting is a shorter depth than the old. Give the olive a clean up with wire wool.
Better to get the olive smooth and then grease it with soap. Don't overdo the spanner when tightening, remember there is nothing to crimp this time around.
Maxie, I sure you know about big leaks. All that Guinness when playing in the Paddy band! My oh my! Fantastic. Maxie is right Niagra when he wants to be.
It's usually worth trying to keep the existing olive first. Compression fittings should not have any additional sealant applied.
If the compression fitting has been buggered up, then you can try adding PTFE tape to pack out the seal, but that's not really a compression joint anymore - it's a hacked repair job, but often acceptable. However, never do this with gas - a hacked repair job is be illegal. Gas must be a proper compression fitting with no additional sealant at all, and if it's not sealing, it must be completely remade correctly.
A few weeks ago, I had to repair some compression fittings which started leaking about a year after being fitted. Same failure with them all - the plumber used some sort of sealant. The water had gradually forced the sealant out, and after a year (i.e. after he's been paid and long gone), the joints all started leaking. All I needed to do was clean off all the sealant, and reassemble. Now the joints are properly sealed. However, use of sealant can distort sealing surfaces in compression fittings and prevent them ever working again properly.
often the olive compresses the pipe, making its removal, by sliding, impossible. I have recently bought an "olive cutter" which is used to break the olive so that it really will come off.
IME, this is a suck and see situation. Try it first just using the original fittings, as they are. There is a fairly good chance that it will work without any problems. If not, you can try bodging it with PTFE tape or sealant, or you can cut back the pipe behind the old olive, to remove the section the olive will have damaged, clean up the pipe and make the joint with all new parts.
Colin Bignell
That sounds very amateurish - reading the makers blurb. One company will sack some plumbers if they do not put a smear of Jet Blue on compression fittings. Why? Because they tend to weep after a time. I know no pipe fitter who does not smear the olive and seating with sealant.
There he goes again.
Probably cheap and nasty Boss White. Buy proper sealants. Do not buy Fernox LSX which is little more than silicon.
If you have enough spare pipe then cut it off and start fresh. No harm in trying first to see if it seals. I wouldn't use PTFE on the threads of compression joints but if clamping onto an already used olive/tail (like when replacing radiator valves etc) I have alwaysstretched a few wraps of PTFE (thin not gas thick stuff) around the olive. Once an olive has been fitted to a pipe In My Experience it's a waste of time and effort trying to remove the old and fit a new to the same pipe you gotta cut it all back and add a new short stub of copper and go from scratch. Finally a tube of Fernox LS-X will make most bum jobs seal, well worth having a tube in your DIY plumming kit.
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