connection to the toilet

[micky]

What do you all use to connect your water supply to your toilet?

I have copper tubing, but they sell a lot of flexibile tubing.

I've avoided that for reasons of my own, but what do you folks do and why?

[micky]

That is, do you use flexible tubing or copper tubing? And why?

Also, I forgot, they sell sharkbite valves with flexible hose already connected. Is this a good idea? Doesn't it mean if there is a problem with the hose you have to but another valve too?

[trader_4]

Flexible. It's easy to work with.

[Ed Pawlowski]

In 55 years of owning 3 different houses, I never replaced one. The builder used flex and I have no reason to change it. Last house had flex too.

[gfretwell]

Same here. I have a bunch of different types with different ends. Whenever I see one on the clearance rack I grab it.

[Retirednoguilt]

Same here. I've never had a flexible wire-reinforced supply hose fail, either under the sink, to the toilet tank, or to the washing machine. Neither hot nor cold water supply hoses. Never even had a leak at the junction of the hose and the fitting.

[micky]

Okay, you guys have convinced me.

One reviewer on Amazon insists the big plastic nut that attaches the tube to the toilet will crack and one should get metal, like this

HD doee not stock this, takes almost a week.

Is it really true that the plastic nut will crack?

[micky]

To start from the beginning, one day I went out for 3 hours and when I got back the metal tube to the powder room toilet has sprung a leak. Water was raining into the basement and the tile in the powder room and front hall was loose. (I left it alone and it all stuck back to the floor when things dried out!)

I had no trouble replacing the metal tube.

But then another toilet needed work. I put in a sharkbite valve and tried over and over to bend and connect a metal tube and I don't know why but I could never get it to fit.

And I've been reluctant to use flex because it reminds me of a public bathroom, but since all of you guys use it, i guess that's not true anymore, so I give in. It's a lot more practical and you can barely see it anyhow.

Now the question is whether to get a sharkbite/flex tube combination, or buy them separately. ???

???

I have a toilet with a Fluidmaster 200A that's giving me trouble. I bought another one on ebay and installed it (without turning off the water. Very easy.) and it doesn't work any better. The whole thing tips back, and the float won't go down. I just have to push the pillar, the stick in the middle, towards the front, and then the float falls, it fills and is fine, but the next time it's the same problem, just like with the old valve.

I guess it's the bottom part, that I didn't replace, but that has no moving parts and I don't see how it could be bad. It's firmly attached to the toilet! It doesn't wobble, and the old top part when connected to the unused new bottom part doesn't wobble. So why does the old bottom part wobblwe with either new or old top part?

So if I'm going to replace it, I should do the valve too, which I can't turn without pliers.

That all three valves on each toilet are frozen or almost frozen, does that mean that they used cheap valves? Or do all the valves do that????

[Bob Velah]

Put some Fiber Fix on it and wrap it in duct tape.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Yes, the valve is frozen from non-use. Very common unless you close and ope them at least a few times a year. Nobody does though.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Not if properly installed. Don't us the 24" pipe wrench on it.

[micky]

They should have told me about that at the closing. I would have put it on my list. ;-)

[Marilyn Manson]

Some of us do.

I also never leave my gate style shut-offs fully open. I always "close" them about an 1/8 - 1/4 turn. That gives me wiggle room (literally) should it decide to stick - which they won't because I exercise them. Belt and suspenders.

I also exercise my circuit breakers at least once a year.

[Marilyn Manson]

SharkBite fitt "Are SharkBite fittings reusable? Yes. SharkBite fittings can be reused for testing purposes but any fitting used repeatedly for testing should not be used in a permanent installation."

They don't define "repeatedly" but I assume that at least one reuse is OK. I done it a few times (single reuse) and never had a problem.

The sell a couple of different types of removal tools or you can use the proper size open end wrench. You just need to press the plastic ring into the fitting and slide the fitting off.

The basic tool:

This one comes in various colors to match whatever you are wearing while plumbing. Well, match or contrast. Whichever is your fashion preference.

[Marilyn Manson]

Sure, ball valves are usually better, but sometimes you can't replace the gate valve. No ball valve will fit my main water line without some serious work, like replacing the pipe where it comes through the wall.

I could *add* one after the meter and leave the gate valve open all the time, but mine was leaking when open so I replaced it with another one.

The last one lasted 60 years. Hopefully I'll be dead before the new one goes bad.

[micky]

Wow. I've never flipped more than two of my breakers. OTOH, since the first year when I had to make 2 corrections, there has been no reason to turn off any of them. Does that mean they're less likely to trip when they should?

(The GFI has tripped on its own 5 or 10 times over the last 30 years.)

Mine would require that too, not surprisingly.

Hopefully.

[micky]

I came across this: "Avoid reusing push fittings. The O-ring inside the fitting has a food grade lubricant applied to it, which is gradually wiped off when pipe is removed and re-inserted or fitting is re-used. While some companies allow reusing the fitting up to 4-6 times, we advise against this practice whenever possible or to limit it to 2-3 times."

It has other suggestions too.

I have one of these, buried by other things. I figured even the first day, I might put it on wrong.

[Marilyn Manson]

I keep a couple of SharkBite caps with my plumbing stuff. I can pop them on in an emergency or when I need to turn the water on in the middle of a job. I have reused the caps multiple times without problems. By multiple I mean a few, not dozens, so I'm OK with the "2-3 times" limit if it's going to remain as a permanent fitting.

It's hard to put it on "wrong". They just slip on. They are designed to rotate so you don't have to worry about lining them up like you do with a sweat fitting.

Some people think they are broken or that they will leak because they are so loose That ain't so.

[Ralph Mowery]

I doubt it. I worked in a large plant and we had thousands of circuit breakers. They were never turned off unless someone was working on the equipment. It would be impractiacl to cut them off and on as there were so many of them and it would all so interrupt the production lines as they ran 24 hours a day all year.

[micky]

Good. I iddn[t have an example, but I thought breakers would be different from gate valves

Which really shouldn't freeze up either. That's how you and I can get rich. You invent a gate valve that doesn't freeze up and I'll market it for you.