Parallel/taper BSP threads

[Andrew Gabriel]

I have a fancy mixer tap to fit for a friend. Its 3 connections are all 1/2" BSP parallel female. Should I use parallel or taper males?

[Andy Wade]

Three? Hot, cold and ...?

The obvious answer of using ordinary tap connectors is presumably not valid? AFAIK you should never mix parallel and taper threads, so I'd suggest parallel.

[Andrew Gabriel]

The output -- the mixer doesn't include a spout - that's a separately fitted item.

No - ordinary taps are male, not female.

OK, thanks.

[Andy Wade]

OIC, it's a valve, rather than a tap :-)

Ah, sorry, I misread you to mean female connector required on pipe end (with image of a normal tap spigot in mind).

[Bob Mannix]

I presume you mean these connections are in the body of the mixer? I have just bought such a tap but it was provided with extension pipes, with, presumably, 1/2" BSP parallel threads on the end. As the thread shoulders up to the (15mm) pipe, there's an O ring. Are you certain there is nothing missing?

[dennis]

I hate threaded connections.. just done eight in a bathroom. PTFE tape and matching parallel joints is the correct way, but I never seem to get the correct amount of tape resulting in a leak or near impossible to screw up, gas PTFE tape is easier IMO as its thicker.

[TheScullster]

"dennis@home" wrote

If the seal is supposed to be made by the threads themselves then they should be tapered and PTFE or Boss White should be used to seal. As another poster comments, parallel threads should be accompanied by either a fibre facing washer or (as in the case of the modern mixer taps) a rubber "O" ring.

Phil

[The Medway Handyman]

Liquid PTFE is great for this

've had 100% success.

[dennis]

> I've had 100% success.

Looks like loctite thread seal to me.. Not PTFE in any shape or form.

[Andrew Gabriel]

There may be something missing. Apparently it was cheap because it was the display model with no box (or instructions).

I've bought 3 compression to 1/2" parallel adaptors.

It's probably going to be a while before I fit it though; friend currently has a tiler tiling the room and he's positioning every tile individually with a spirit level. Apart from being rather slow, he's doing an excellent job though.

[Bob Mannix]

Ah. In that case almost certainly. Most taps provide either a female tap connector or a 15 or 10mm pipe. For a display these would have been chucked with the box in a corner and lost. With the tap I have the box was halved diagonally by the packing, one half open with the tap in and the other covered and the pipes were in the covered bit!

[The Medway Handyman]

>>> I've had 100% success.

No idea, but it works a treat.

[Andrew Gabriel]

>>>>> I've had 100% success.

I bought a tub of Boss Supergreen with PTFE. Not tried it yet.

[Ed Sirett]

Whilst I agree that liquid PTFE resin is an excellent aid for making screwed and compression joints (and IMHO much better than tape), the non non-sense version comes in a standard small squeeze bottle, which is hard to use. As the bottle get half empty then extracting a few drops becomes harder and harder. The loctite product in the red "bellows" tube is a joy to use and works out cheaper because you can put a controlled amount on each joint, and because you can use 80%+ of the bottle.

[John Stumbles]

It's OK for sealing compression joints for potable supplies where you shouldn't use Boss white, and also for sealing annoying waste pipe unions that persist in leaking despite their washer etc. It's not a lot of use for thread sealing though.