calling a plumber

[SeaKan]

i've done all i can on this sink/faucet. i've installed the vanity and set the top. ( I know, before I put in the faucet, but I'm a newbie so I'm allowed some learning mistakes...) I had a leak out of the pop up assembly, a leak at the gasket. I also had to use flexible PVC to move over to the P trap. Wter would back up to the locknut. then had a leak at the PVC pipe at the wall (which is new). You can do it we can help?! getting a plumber. I feel so stupid.

[hallerb]

drain fittings are absolute junk!

easy solution take it all apart and dry completely

make certain everything will fit together nice dry

replace and damaged washers or parts

buy a tube of silicone bathtub caulk, apply to all fittings as you assemble them!

Let sit a few hours your leaks will be GONE!

I always do this from the beginning my leaking days are over:)

Stoile idea from plumber who once came to fix my leaks:(

[Kathy]

you

And don't forget that teflon tape.

[hallerb]

That same plumber said he always uses teflon tape AND pipe dope together, this way it never leaks!

[RobertM]

The trick is to properly align the pipes. I've never used teflon tape nor silicone on plastic or metal drain pipes. The gaskets (nylon or rubber) do work. The problem arises when the pipes don't approach the joint inline resulting in a gap at the joint. I wouldn't want to hire a plumber who needed silicon goo and teflon tape on the waste pipe of a sink. Must be fun for the next person taking it apart.

Bob

[cornytheclown]

teflon tape and pipe dope are not to seal threads....they are merely lubricants which facilitate tightening and later loosening the joint.

You need pipe dope or teflon tape...but not for their sealing properties.

Washers, those little plastic compression rings....they are your seals. If they dont seal then something is wrong.

Even on pipe threads....the pipe dope or tape doesnt seal...it lubricates the tapered threads so they will tighten up and ground into one another making the seal.

Use new washers and compression rings.....

If you need to call a plumber dont be ashamed or feel emasculated by it...he does this for a living.

[Doug Kanter]

If you put as little effort into the faucet installation as you do into your typing, I'm not surprised you've got a leak.

[Jeff Wisnia]

You are absolutely wrong about that, but you're not alone, many others hold onto that mistaken belief.

Take a look at the design of an NPT thread standard in Machinery's Handbook (or elsewhere) and you'll see that the crest of the thread is truncated, causing it to leave a "spiral leak path" along the thread. That path MUST be filled with some kind of sealant to keep the joint from leaking.

Only a hack would try and overtighten NPT threads to force them to seal without some sealant to fill that spiral path.

NPTF pipe thread (Also called "Dryseal" threads)are used in some specific applications for fuels or solvents which might destroy pipe dopes. Those threads are usually on brass parts and are designed with sharp crests which crush when tightened to create a metal to metal seal.

Jeff

[hallerb]

the teflon tape pipe dope isnt for drains but just for threaded fittings, like gas and water pressured lines.

everyone can do as they want but silicone goo serves me very well. a good friend uses it too, he works on high pressure 2 and 3 thousand psi lines for work but cant get those junk drain fittings to not leak..so he silicones them.

I fix office machines for a living, for over 30 years.

sometimes you just do what works, if its faster better or more reliable.

[Oren]

You're not referring to Duct Tape are you?

Oren

"My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."

[SeaKan]

Thanks asshole!