Why oh why?

[John]

The disabled toilet started leaking at Church.

Investigation showed it to be the joint onto the plastic filler pipe.

Thought that it might be the washer in the metal stop valve.

Replaced stop valve but it seems that the thread on the plastic is shot and not sure that the bore is big enough to go over the metal core to seat it properly.

Need to get a new ball valve assembly.

Why are they still 1/2 inch when everything else has gone metric?

Why do they use plastic which means that anyone tightening it always destroys the thread?

Why isn't it ever easy?

[Nightjar]

BSP threads *are* metric threads. They have been designated as being metric to maintain compatibility with existing systems. You would be a lot less happy if you had to decide to which of two different, incompatible, systems the thread you were looking at belonged.

I don't and I use plastic BSP threads regularly.

That is one of the basic laws of DIY.

Colin Bignell

[Andrew Gabriel]

It hasn't. You'll find that same 1/2 inch used in plumbing fittings across much (if not all) Europe, even though the standard pipe sizes vary between countries.

A brass one would be much more expensive. Tightening to seal against the fibre washer should damage the thread.

[Andrew Gabriel]

s/should/shouldn't/

[Andy Bartlett]

God moves in mysterious ways ...

[Tim Streater]

The point is not to go metric but to go *standard*. If the standard is

1/2" then that's what everyone uses. You can call it 12.7mm if it makes you feel any better.

[polygonum]

Almost spells Yoyo...

(I did respond earlier but from a different machine - apologies if this becomes a duplicate.)

[Nightjar]

Although, were it to be designated in metric, it would be 21mm, the OD of the thread, not 12.7mm, the nominal bore of the wrought iron pipe the thread was designed for.

Colin Bignell

[Gazz]

And you know what they say about standards, they are great, but there are so many different standards to choose from.

[geoff]

In message , John writes

The road to heaven ...

[F Murtz]

Well you said it was disabled.

[Brian Gaff]

B/Q stock metal ones I'm sure, though as to why the size your guess is as good as mine. Having had dealings with the plastic ones relaxing in a few months and leaking I too wonder why these are still made.

Brian

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Because they're ham-fisted galoots?

[charles]

even the French refer to an equipment rack of "dix-neuf pouces"

[John Williamson]

And have "42 Pouces" TV screens, with the metric size in brackets and small print.

[geoff]

In message , charles writes

An inch is "zoll" in german half a kilo is a "pfund" and they measure power in horsepower

[Bob Martin]

And the yanks still use the British Thermal Unit, BTU

[Ramsman]

Germany uses PS (Pferdestärke), which is 0.73549875 kW. 1 HP is

0.745699872 kW. The obsolete PS unit is 75 kg-m/s, whereas the horsepower unit is 550 lb-ft/s.

According to Wikipedia, other names for the metric horsepower are the Dutch paardenkracht (pk), the French chevaux (ch), the Swedish hästkraft (hk), the Finnish hevosvoima (hv), the Norwegian and Danish hestekraft (hk), the Hungarian lóer? (LE), the Czech ko?ská síla and Slovak konská sila (k or ks), the Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian konjska snaga (KS),the Bulgarian "?????? ????", the Macedonian ?????? ???? (KC), the Polish ko? mechaniczny and Slovenian konjska mo? (KM) and the Romanian cal-putere (CP) which all equal the German Pferdestärke (PS).

The Dutch also use 'pond' for 500 grams, and 'ons' for 100 grams. Like the French, they use their word for 'thumb' for 'inch', in this case 'duim'.

[The Natural Philosopher]

No it isnt.

No it isint.

That is BRAKE horsepower (bhp)

Horse power is another thing altogether and was originally a rating system for car taxation involving a ludicrous combination of bore and stroke that favoured long stroke low revving engines for taxation purposes.

????

[geoff]

Which directly translates to horsepower While it may be technically obsolete, it's up there everywhere in common usage, on billboards, in magazines, Ueeeeeeberall.

German horses just aren't quite as strong as the ones we have in the UK

Not is a pfund a british pound (also obsolete), but people use the term in both countries

Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian konjska

which all equal the German Pferdestärke (PS).

Very well done you ...