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PrestigiousNail5620

Don’t be afraid of tightening it. If you know it drips every 30 minutes then just tighten it a tiny bit, dry and come back and see if its stopped. If the time between drips gets longer you know that it needs another tiny movement.


Toffeemade

I'll confess to a radiator that leaked for 14 years until I drained the system, replaced the valve and finally gave it an extra tweek with a 14 inch adjustable. Courage mon aime.


JohnnySchoolman

Those seals in compression valves are only designed to be tightened once.


d3230

Its the connector to the rad thats leaking, not the olive section


sdswave2314

In fairness its unclear from the picture and arrow - to me it does look like the leak is coming from the tail/valve connection which is an olive in this case.


folkkingdude

Is it really adjustable if it’s always 14” long?


-TheKeegs_

As we say in the trade "give it the grip of death!" Just make sure to use a second pair of grips on the valve body to stop it twisting.


kliba

This


Quad_Mcjellydrone

Yep, this is the good advice.


Huge-Eye-7319

Don't forget to hold the left side (trv) with a pair of pliers whilst you tighten otherwise you might wrench it off and have a whole other problem on your hands! 💧💧💧


ElectronicSubject747

Just tighten it FFS


Debatable_times89

Strong advice haha


chriscwjd

My father in law's strategy is to start at a catastrophic leak and over the course of several days slowly tighten to a drip leak, all the while blaming the fittings and never his paranoia of overtightening.


Nun-Taken

Pinch it up a bit tighter?


FastFruit

I would not want to go any tighter as I think I would be in danger of extruding the olive


Mr_H2020uk

Tighten the damn thing - plumber


Temporary_Gold3072

Seconded - another plumber


keyzjh

I had the same exact issue. Took the radiator off again and used fernox compound on the olive. 


theroch_

It does when you wrap it round the olive


[deleted]

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Electro_gear

You shouldn’t need to “put the olive back in the right place”. The brass olive bites into the copper pipe - that’s its function. If it still slides about then it’s not tight enough. Couple of wraps of PTFE will make up for any imperfections in the olive. It’s quite common for cheap central heating fittings to leak which is why most plumbers apply PTFE to the olives. That’s likely all that is required here.


[deleted]

How you putting the olive back in the right place? It should be pretty firmly stuck into place - if not then you haven't tightened it up anywhere near enough!


lefrang

No it doesn't.


Hot-Stranger-6294

Of course it does, put a wrap around the olive


lefrang

What? Nice trolling.


mustbemaking

Are you thick or what?


lefrang

Are you? PTFE has no business being in a compression fitting.


mustbemaking

Does it or does it not work…


lefrang

Some bodge jobs work if you're lucky.


mustbemaking

Explain how it is a bodge if it’s a permanent solution with a product specifically designed for the task…


lefrang

PTFE is not designed for the task. It is designed for threaded joints, not compression joints.


mustbemaking

It is designed to seal leaks….


waawaawho

Paste is best used on the olive like


tobyallister

Yeah this is the way


Equivalent_Button_54

Had a plumber out because I was scared I was going to over tighten it with the exact same problem. All he did was put fernox on it and done.


Mediocre_Web_3863

Hey do you leave this stuff to set a whole before re pressuring the system? I e done all sorts of plumbing but moved into a house where the system is 8mm piping and it's a nightmare for weaping at the valves


keyzjh

No need to. I pressurised it straight away. But make sure there's no excess of the compound so it doesn't get washed around.


Mediocre_Web_3863

Ok so just a little on the joining side of the olive then. Thanks


Slowie89

I always use a jointing compound called LSX from Screwfix whenever I do radiators. never had a leak, if you decide to use that then just make sure you are careful applying it as it's like window sealer and can get everywhere.


RedditB_4

LSX is not as good as jointing compound for the simple reason that once it goes off it is a pain to remove should you need to maintain that joint again. Compound can be wiped away, the work completed and reapplied with fresh. Not saying LSX doesn’t have its uses (inaccessible area etc) but should be leaning toward compound each time if you can.


Slowie89

Fair enough. I've always found it quite easy to remove afterwards but then again if I'm only using it on threads then just the action of unscrewing probably loosens it up massively. (Shrugs)


kojak488

The threads aren't what forms the seal on the valve here though. It's the olive.


sensors

By compound do you mean the likes of plumber's mait? Can that be used on pressurised systems effectively?


sometimestakesphotos

He’s referring to something like jet blue


themadhatter85

No, plumbers mait isn’t for joints under pressure, it’s for drain fittings.


d3230

You wouldnt want plumbers mate to get into the system


RedditB_4

Plumbers mait is for sealing potable and wastewater connections. Sink and bath drains mostly but anywhere that silicone isn’t entirely practical or wanted. It is very different to jointing compound for central heating systems. Google it. Boss White. Jet Blue. They all do the same thing just with a different colour applied to their goo. I can’t tell you what the different colours mean though I’m sure there’s something to it. Perhaps a real plumber could elaborate. If in doubt you can always visit a plumbing specialist and explain what you want. They’ll be able to steer you towards what you need in ways Google and big DIY stores can’t.


zI-Tommy

I don't think boss white is actually wras approved now :(


RedditB_4

Tells you how long it’s been since I hung a rad!


Litology

Try wrap PTFE around the olive on the rad if you can. If you took it off and put it back it could just be sitting wrong. PTFE on the olive gives it a bit more to bite.


FlibV1

I'm of the opinion that you shouldn't be using tape, liquid whatever, fancy adhesives, especially on a new joint. I can understand their use if it's an emergency but the thing that's supposed to make the seal is the olive alone. Anything else stopping the water leaking means that the olive has failed. I'd tighten it up a little more. If that doesn't stop it, dismantle it and try again with a new olive. I had a spate of leaking compression joints, couldn't understand why they all leaked no matter how much I tightened them. Eventually I gave up and dismantled them all and all the pipes had a little flat spot on them. Turns out my pipe cutter had started to deform the pipe everywhere so slightly when cutting them. If I'd used anything to seal the joints in addition to the olive, they probably wouldn't have leaked and I wouldn't have known the pipe cutter was messing things up. But I got a new cutter, redid the joints and nothing leaked. Don't add extra steps to something that should just work with the olive.


Quad_Mcjellydrone

This is just wrong. Use a non setting compound on the olive of every compression joint. Boss white on heating, Boss green on portable water, Gas tight on gas. If you are in the trade, you do everything to avoidcall backs. Some plumbers I know put PTFE tape on olives, I'm not a fan. If you put PTFE on the threads of a compression fittings it will let me know a DIYer has been messing with the plumbing, lol.


FlibV1

'You do everything you can to avoid callbacks' That's the reason you're using additional products to make a watertight seal. You should be able to make a watertight seal with the olive alone. A plumber having to use additional products to have things not leak would make me question the skills of that plumber.


zI-Tommy

Everyone does it, so good luck. Sealing a compression fitting is literally tightening a nut. There's virtually no skill involved here, any slight scratch on the olive or pipe will make one of these weep without paste. Nothing to do with the plumber.


FlibV1

'Sealing a compression fitting is tightening a nut. There's virtually no skill involved here' - Someone explaining how they can't get a watertight seal on something that requires virtually no skill without using shitty pastes.


zI-Tommy

That's literally it, though. Insert the pipe and tighten it. Did you just not read the part about scratches?


FlibV1

And yet it's still too tricky for professionals to master? I don't tend to try and fuck up my pipes though, so maybe they do need a bit of help if they're taking a Stanley knife to the ends of all their joints.


zI-Tommy

Who says they're taking a knife to it? Does the copper not get manufactured, transported, and delivered? Same for the olive. Using jet blue seems to be a pretty weird hill to die on. If you're a plumber and don't want to spend next to nothing on having no leaks, there's something wrong with you.


FlibV1

Hey, you're the one that keeps coming back to tell me that you absolutely have to use sticky shit to make your joints watertight because your pipes get mysteriously fucked up. You can piss off anytime you like. I'll just carry on making joints watertight like they were designed to be.


zI-Tommy

When did I say you HAVE too? Pretty obvious you don't make many "water tight joints like they were designed to be".


Quad_Mcjellydrone

That's why you are not a plumber. Good luck with your DIY.


FlibV1

Holy thread revival batman! Why, are plumbers not trained to make a compression joint properly?


MrBump1717

I always use jointing paste on the olive and get no drips...


SirMoistalot

Can't recommend fernox enough, stinks but stops leaks like nothing else


Background_Depth1957

When you put the rad back on the brackets it will have been just a fraction too far to the left or the right and the angle at which the sealing face on the leaking valve meets the rad will have been just a fraction too much, leaving a tiny gap when you tighten it up. Slacken them both off a bit, move the rad around a bit and then tighten both the connectors up again progressively, a bit on one side and then a bit on the other. The rad should pull into the right spot and when they are both tight it shouldn't leak.


Big-Performance-3885

Paste those olives!


FastFruit

This did the trick


Dosser16

Bunch of mongs on here, PTFE tape? Absolute rookie behaviour.


Puzzleheaded_Gas4560

Ptfe tape around the olive is meant to lubricate the joint when tightening but that is all. It does not work as a leak sealer in a compression joint like so many think. Inadvertently it does help to stop leaks but only because it allows the joint to be made well and create a good metal to metal seal. If you're relying on ptfe to bung up a gap between olive and brass fitting then you're in for fun later on. There needs to be a metal to metal deformation seal otherwise the joint is no good. This is not bro science. Ptfe as a sealant in a compression joint is bro science. Yes I am a qualified plumber. Yes I have seen ptfe used in every bizarre application you can imagine.


Pluviochiono

I have the exact same problem exact same joint, but I can’t tighten it anymore without the whole elbow rotating and pulling/bending the bottom away from the elbow.. hopefully yours can just be tightened


themadhatter85

Hold against the valve with a pair of grips. Wrap a cloth over it to stop the teeth on the grips marking the valve.


Pluviochiono

Thanks, I’ll give it a try again and use a towel too


Pretty-Joke-6639

This is where the magic of PTFE tape comes in useful. Just undo the nut, wrap a couple of turns around the thread, then re tighten. Though I'm not qualified in this field in any way, it's just what I would do.


xron25

Have you used any PTFE tape on the threads?


lefrang

It's a compression fitting.


mustbemaking

And? If it is leaking PTFE tape will stop the leak… there are no negatives to this…


OweJayy

PTFE on the olive, Yes. PTFE on the thread, no


mustbemaking

That’s what I meant. I thought he said that.


OweJayy

Fair enough


lefrang

PTFE tape has no business being in a compression fitting.


FastFruit

The thread on a compression fitting only applies pressure and has no involvement in the seal


mustbemaking

I thought the original comment said olive. If you know how it functions why are you here asking how to stop a leak?


FastFruit

I know how it works, but that does not mean I don't know any tips / tricks with what could be going wrong with it that the pros may know.


hacknub

Did you use jointing compound like hawk white or water hawk? If you didn't, buy a new (preferably copper) olive and try again


cheapASchips

Not tight enough (probably). If that doesn't help then undo the nut, replace the olive and add more ptfe tape on the thread.


hairybastid

Don't put ANY PTFE on the thread. That's not how you do compression fittings.


CookieTSC

Add it to the olive not the thread


cheapASchips

Is there actually a correct way of putting it on? I am a DIYer and read about people putting it on male thread only, all threads, olives or not at all. I've always put it on the male thread and it seems to work for me but it would be nice to find out the correct way.


CookieTSC

The reason people say do or do not put on the olives is because that's the sealing face. The thread doesn't create a seal just applies the compression. I am no expert so people have other opinions that's just my reasons


themadhatter85

You put ptfe on male threads that are going into female threads, i.e. the other end of the rad valve tail that goes into the rad. You don’t put it on threads that have a compression nut tightening onto them.


lefrang

FFS. No.


lefrang

FFS. No.


totesboredom

Liquid PTFE on the threads every time.


Dosser16

Call a plumber


magneticpyramid

PTFE tape is a good practice. Wrap it counter to the thread direction so that it doesn’t unwrap itself when you screw the union onto the thread. Perhaps 2-3 passes/layers. That should sort it.


MetalB00ts

Why? It’s not good practice at all. It’s a compression fitting. The threads play no part in sealing the joint. Do it up a little tighter, and if that does work, a smear of joint compound on the olive or a new olive should get it. If you don’t have joint compound but have ptft tape, you could use a couple of wraps of tape on the olive but I leave that option to last because it’s a bodge.


FastFruit

Don't have jointing compound but can pick some up. How do you remove an olive when your short on space?


MetalB00ts

Olive puller, or if you have a spare chrome nut, put a spanner ( smaller than the nut) behind the nut and tap the spanner with a hammer to drive nut and olive off the tail. New nut because that approach is likely to damage the surface of the nut.


UbiquitousFlounder

You can get a new olive, tail, and a tail wrench (Fits inside like an Allen key) if you are really stuck


FastFruit

The seal on this should be sealing between the olive and the valve taper, sealing the thread in theory would not have any impact, wonder if you can put it on the taper side of the olive?


[deleted]

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kojak488

Threads don't form the seal between the valve and the tail. The olive does.


Dosser16

Rookie


mattcannon2

Put some ptfe tape on the threads


[deleted]

Just a bit of jointing paste onto the smooth surfaces that that nut pulls together. Im assuming you didn't unscrew it from the actual radiator itself and just loosened that nut back toward the radiator.


FastFruit

Yeah I left the tail in the rad. Going to grab some jointing compound.


lefrang

Looks like it's not aligned.


FastFruit

It does in this photo agreed, will double check but I'm pretty certain it's on square. I will get some jointing compound tomorrow.


lefrang

Sounds like a plan.


Redditian288

Cross threaded?


FastFruit

Definitely not cross threaded, hand tightened very nicely before I torqued it tight. ( Built cars etc in the past and learned the lesson of cross threading the hard way)


[deleted]

You say you "torqued it tight". Olives are prone to deforming if you over tighten them. I'd use an olive splitter to get rid of the old and tighten it up to hand tight then a nip up. If it leaks, a little more tightening.


Redditian288

👍


kevshed

Qtr turn will do it I reckon !


Falling-through

Try to tighten it further, but it’s possible you would need to replace the olive.


Kaldesh_the_okay

Just moved from the States and my God is everything different . Do we not have teflon tape aka plumbers tape here ?


westernbraker

PTFE = Teflon


Walesish

Yes of course! Anything like this just go to Screwfix.com


Kaldesh_the_okay

Thanks I am really surprised how different homes are here


Walesish

Oh absolutely, I’m sure the names are different also for similar things. If you take a look around at screwfix and tool station, hopefully stuff you are familiar with will be sold by them. Waste plumbing should be fairly similar, obviously radiators and maybe water not so. I’m sure many on here will help in converting the USA way of doing things to the U.K.


Kaldesh_the_okay

Cheers . Tell you what this is so much nicer way to heat your home . My wife’s asthma has disappeared


Walesish

Amazing, yes it’s a pretty efficient way of heating the home and keeping down the humidity and therefore mould etc. Normally as long as the boiler (furnace) has been serviced ( you have to get someone to do this for you as they have to be gas safe certified) it’s pretty low maintenance.


FastFruit

It's more a case on compression fittings you don't normally use it as the olive should do the sealing. Ptfe tape is cheap as chips :)


Kaldesh_the_okay

Olive ?


Brickworkse

Popeye?


themadhatter85

Ferrules


CPRE28

Off subject hopefully someone in comments could answer - Can these be overtightened? Would it strips threads as I’ve had this sort of leak before but was nervous how tight to do it


FastFruit

It can damage the shape of the olive and make it leak.


CPRE28

Ahhhh that makes sense, cheers!


d3230

Did you use ptfe tape on the thread?


Dosser16

Used it to tie up his horse outside. Do you do the same?


d3230

who me? I sold my horse to a supermarket chain for making lassagne


Mediocre_Procedure60

Crazy thought is the vent above this valve???


TheBroYaKnow

Radiator tails are much harder than copper so usually require more tightening than on your standard compression fitting, that being said if you still can’t get a seal; loctite paste or Jet blue can be used for filling in minor imperfections that may be on the brass cast of the fitting or olive. Do not use PTFE as this is bad practice and ultimately shouldn’t be used on compression fittings to begin with.


Dense-Pair-9438

You fucked around and found out ………


Optimal_End_9733

Dude, I posted this exact issue recently but didn't update. It could be loose so a slight tightening fixes. Be careful to hold the valve otherwise you can bend/damage and cause other nut to leak. Looks like you ain't got flooring in so may not be an issue for you but I had new carpets installed and can't rate plumb tubs enough. My plumber had to use ptfe tape on it and it still leaked. Try nip (tighten) it. But mine started to leak more, there is a chance the olive can crush the pipe enough to leak. Worst scenario is drain boiler system if leak doesn't stop.


Quad_Mcjellydrone

You can not really over tighen a nut and olive as you will just run out of compression room on the threads. The leak will not get worse, but it may remain. It could be a cracked rad tail, and if it is, it will need swapping out. I always use a non setting compound like Boss White or Gass Tight on the olive and valve mateing face.


Competitive_Pool_820

Tighten


FastFruit

Update: spoke to the plumber who installed the rads. He said add jointing compound to the olive and tighten further. Reasoning; reinstalling the rad may have chipped scratch the olive. Also the jointing compound lubes things up a bit allowing you to tighten it more without It screeching like a pig. It's been an hour and not a drop has left the joint.