weeping water joints

[stuart23]

Just reconnected my water after the winter....and there is a slight weep from a couple of the plastic pipe joints...just trying to work out whether to try tightening or to just take them apart and replace the innards...any suggestions?

[Robbo]

Just reconnected my water after the winter....and there is a slight weep from a couple of the plastic pipe joints...just trying to work out whether to try tightening or to just take them apart and replace the innards...any suggestions?

 

Plastic pipes don't really work by tightening as the water seal is a rubber ring and not compression type joint. The most likely cause is that the pipe isn't pushed all the way in, scoring on the pipe or the rubber deteriorated.

[blackrose]

Just reconnected my water after the winter....and there is a slight weep from a couple of the plastic pipe joints...just trying to work out whether to try tightening or to just take them apart and replace the innards...any suggestions?

 

Do you know what make they are? (Hep20 is usually grey and speedfit is white). I don't think you can really tighten them but you can try pushing the pipe home in case it's not in the joint properly. If it was me I'd try that and if it doesn't work I'd probably just replace the joint rather than trying to replace inards.

 

If you take them apart, check that you have inserts in the ends of the pipes. They're there to make sure the pipe stays round in cross-section and people often forget to put them in. Was the pipe cut with a pipe cutter? Rough hacksaw cuts can damage o-rings in the fittings. The other thing that can cause weeping is if their are deep linear scratches or gouges on the outer surface of the pipe. It's not common but if their was a problem with the extrusion of the pipe it can happen. In that case you might have to replace that section of pipe, but it's unlikely.

Edited April 2, 2010 by blackrose

[bag 'o' bones]

I'm not sure about Hep20 but I know that you can buy spare parts for John Guest (Speedfit) such as the tooth collars and 'O' rings.

[nb Innisfree]

Just reconnected my water after the winter....and there is a slight weep from a couple of the plastic pipe joints...just trying to work out whether to try tightening or to just take them apart and replace the innards...any suggestions?

 

We have Polyplumb which has the rubber O ring immediately next to the backnut and doesn't compress but we found that putting an extra plastic O ring seating on top of the O ring allowed the backnut to compress the O ring slightly and seal it completely, in effect turning it into a compression fitting, in fact this method is what is used on the larger 28mm fittings. Just splitting the seating with a wood chisel will allow it to be put on without dismantling the fitting. All this is assuming you have Polyplumb of course, if not just ignore me, many do

Edited April 2, 2010 by nb Innisfree

[stuart23]

Can't remember the make..similar to Hep20... I fitted them about 18 years ago..Maybe a few days of grot building up will sort the problem...I'll just keep a bowl under and see what happens

[Guest]

After problems with plastic fittings, my daughters boyfriend uses brass compression fittings on plastic pipe.

[Nickhlx]

"Can't remember the make..similar to Hep20... I fitted them about 18 years ago..Maybe a few days of grot building up will sort the problem...I'll just keep a bowl under and see what happens"

 

 

 

 

Marley Equator ?

 

Nick

[nb Innisfree]

Can't remember the make..similar to Hep20... I fitted them about 18 years ago..Maybe a few days of grot building up will sort the problem...I'll just keep a bowl under and see what happens

 

Polyplumb is grey, usually sold by B&Q.

[Nickhlx]

After problems with plastic fittings, my daughters boyfriend uses brass compression fittings on plastic pipe.

 

 

Definitely don't forget the support sleeves when you do this ! You need remarkably little tightening force too - can use silicone grease if the fitting is dry and you feel it needs something, but don't use "Boss White" on plastic pipe / fittings

 

Nick

[stuart23]

Just ben back to the boat....and as I hoped, the weeping has ceased....so it'll be OK for another 18 years!!

[Guest]

Just ben back to the boat....and as I hoped, the weeping has ceased....so it'll be OK for another 18 years!!

Are you sure you haven't just run out of water

 

Glad you got it sorted so easily.

[RobinJ]

Definitely don't forget the support sleeves when you do this ! You need remarkably little tightening force too - can use silicone grease if the fitting is dry and you feel it needs something, but don't use "Boss White" on plastic pipe / fittings

Support sleeves should be used whether fitting to brass or not. There are stronger sleeves available for metal compression fittings, but I use the same all the way through. If the pipe freezes (it may only have a small amount of residual water in it if drained) the plastic can deform and cause the joints to leak (hot water not usually a problem).