Re-using compression joints.

The olive should not be compressed to exactly where it needs to be. Provided it was done properly to start with there will be no problems undoing it and re-tightening it. I bit of Water Hawk (or similar) will seal the joint.

Andrew

Should be OK unless, first time around, it was overtightened. Keep grit etc. away.

Steve

"should not be " ??

I know the OP did not ask this but remember that although the same fitting can be put back on you cannot use a different type of fitting . They don't all leave the same length of tube sticking out beyond the olive. if you replace the hose with one where the olvive should be closer to the end of the pipe it will not seal.

Robert

s/not be/be

:-)

You shouldn't be able to remove the olive - unless you have a specific olive removal tool.

Great - thanks guys!

If the need arises you sometimes can. Put an open ended spanner round the pipe behind the olive and drive it off with a hammer.

Hmmmm! Think I prefer the olive puller :-)

I'd been thinking of getting one for a while, but a bit put off by the £20 ish price tag. Needed one for a job the other day, so I decided to bite the bullet.

Local plumbers merchant had the Silverline one (copy of the Monument) & sold it to me for £4:99 - what a result!

They work a treat.

In the ideal world, yes. But not having one and being 10 miles away from the nearest plumbers merchant the spanner and hammer did the job fine and was quicker and cheaper. Fortunately I was able to detach the section of pipe and grip it in a vice, it would have been near impossible if I'd had to do it in situ with the pipe wobbling about as I bashed it.

The 20 quid ones do seem a bit overpriced for what they are, that sounds much better value for occasional use.

You only need to cut a grove in the olive with a hacksaw or Dremel clone, insert screwdriver and twist job done.

Was this a 'local' merchant or a local branch of a nationwide group as I would like a puller but I am not prepared to pay £20 for (in my life) an occasionl use tool, but I could run to a fiver!!.

Cheers

John

P.S. Will you buy me one in return for beer tokens ;-)

Local independant shop. My thoughts exactly, useful but not worth £20. Basicaly its only a few bits of threaded brass.

I'll have a look next time I'm in there & see if they have any left. To be honest I think they have made a c*ck up on the price.

Problem might be getting it to you, v heavy so postage wont be cheap - where are you?

Yes, done that too, but there is the risk of scoring the pipe surface. I found the spanner and hammer quicker and cleaner.

There's a good possibility of scoring the pipe with your method too. Unless access is difficult - and then you'd likely have problems with the spanner/hammer anyway - cutting a groove with a hacksaw then splitting it is easy to do without marking the pipe. It just needs a little care. Of course dribble and hacksaws are legendary for causing havoc so perhaps more than a little care. ;-)

Leeds, let me know.

Cheers

John

Leeds? Thats export surely? :-)

Great armoury mind.

It really does not take much skill to cut a groove on an olive without damaging the pipe underneath. Any olive that has been even slightly over tightened particularly a brass one will almost certainly destroy the end of the pipe if you try and remove it with a puller, or a hammer. Waste of time and money IMHO, YMMV.