Tales of a Monobloc tap....

[Kevin Webb]

Please excuse my ignorance of plumbing matters, I hope somebody will be able to help me with my problem. My question is actually about the flexible tails on a Monbloc kitchen mixer tap I have bought from Screwfix. Clearly one end of each tail screws into the tap and is sealed by an o-ring. I was expecting the other end to look like a 15mm compression fitting but it looks to me like it should fit onto a tap; it has a cap nut and a rubber seal inside. What kind of fitting do I need to connect this to 15mm pipe?

[PoP]

It might help if you were to give a reference number or URL to the flexible connectors you bought from Screwfix.

I've bought and fitted flexies for a monobloc from Screwfix, and they have a regular 15mm compression joint for joining to the 15mm pipework:

come in pairs because at the monobloc end the hot/cold flexies are staggered - the nut for tightening is offset to allow a spanner to tighten the connection into the monobloc tap. You did buy a pair didn't you?

PoP

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[Kevin Webb]

The pair of tails came with the tap:

10724 CERAMIC DISC SINK TAP CHROME I've seen flexible connectors for a monobloc that have a standard compression joint at the end, but these don't. Any idea how I should fit them?

[Steve Firth]

You need a 15 mm to 1/2" iron (male) fitting. You don't usually find these lying around much. An alternative is to use a 15mm straight compression coupler and remove the nut and olive from one end. Your flexible hose tails will fit this without any problem and the rubber washer will give a water-tight seal. A better alternative may be to use a 15mm conpression ball isolating valve in place of the 15mm straight comrpession fitting and again to remove the nut and olive from one end. this will allow you to isolate the monobloc at will.

[PoP]

For a couple of quid why not buy the tails I referenced earlier? It'll probably cost you that much to buy the necessary fittings to connect anyway.

I now keep a pair of tails for each tap type in my plumbing box as they make the job of fitting taps that much easier.

PoP

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[Kevin Webb]

Thanks for your advice and Steve Firth's help. I wanted to fit the tap today so went to B&Q and found 15mm to 1/2" iron male fittings but no monobloc to

15mm compression tails so I've used the 1/2" iron fittings. As Steve says, these aren't available everywhere so why would Screwfix, or the manufacturer, provide tails that require them rather than 15mm compression fittings? Is this maybe a standard used in the US?

Thanks again for your help. Kevin.