Plumbing fittings that weep

These notes are house fittings that let go at a washer, a slot, or a thread. I write them when a drip starts and I have already blamed the whole tap. This is not a boiler job. I do not write gas. I do not write a re-pipe.

This is not a second homepage. The home page already says what I keep and what I skip. This page is only a way into the notes by the way they fail.

A basin does not need a new tap because a washer is split. It needs the head off, after you have shut the supply and proved it. If I cannot isolate, I stop. That is already in the notes.

Most of the failures repeat. A night drip is a washer in the head. A valve you thought you shut is a slot you cammed. A cupboard floor that is wet is a trap washer on the thread. PTFE wound against the tightening way comes off as a wet rope. People replace the fitting. The body was fine.

I isolate first. I test the tap after I turn the valve. I do not start on a live pipe. If the seat is scored, the plastic is cracked, or the slot has become a hole, I stop.

Washers, slots, and threads

• A tap that drips is usually the washer in the head
• An isolation valve that will not close is usually the slot
• A bottle trap that weeps is usually the washer
• PTFE that leaks is usually the wrong way round
• A flexi hose that weeps is usually the olive you reused
• A cistern that runs is usually the washer on the valve
• A shower hose that weeps is usually the nut
• A tap that weeps at the handle is usually the gland

I am pmac. There are no buy links on these notes. If I later add one, it will be labelled Advertisement.