i am getting crazy... I have a very simple task. I need to replace a kitchen sink faucet. The faucet has two hoses one for warm the other one for cold water. I already removed the connector on cold water hose, no problem. I can’t remove the other one. It was used a thin white duct tape made of Teflon. It kind of melt in the pipe and it became strong as hell. Sometimes in such cases people use heat, a flame to eliminate the duct tape. But I can’t do that there is a gas pipe. Any ideas? Thanks
Pipe connector stuck due to Teflon duct tape
- Thread starter Sbiriguda
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with out a picture i can only go by what you type
sounds to me like you need 2 wrenches, one holding the end you do not want to move and the other
on the end you wish to unscrew.
some times you just have to bow up and get mean under that sink.
or as my helper teases the new guy, stop hitting it with your purse and hit it with a hammer.
I have, because of no room, cut the supply line in half, and taken the sink out of the hole to get the faucet off
leverage [bigger wrench] is your friend
sounds to me like you need 2 wrenches, one holding the end you do not want to move and the other
on the end you wish to unscrew.
some times you just have to bow up and get mean under that sink.
or as my helper teases the new guy, stop hitting it with your purse and hit it with a hammer.
I have, because of no room, cut the supply line in half, and taken the sink out of the hole to get the faucet off
leverage [bigger wrench] is your friend
Thanks and that’s exactly what I did. Since the connectors are not that big I had to use smaller wrenches, 2 of them used as you said. But it didn’t work. I tried with different tools, probably I need a bigger monkey wrench or even better Stillson wrench
Need pictures.
Solved...
And now there is another much worse problem hahaha
The duct tape was incredibly tight, like cement. I went to the local hardware store they suggested me to use a Stillson pipe wrench
https://www.leroymerlin.it/catalogo/giratubi-svedese-430-mm-36328201-p
Problem solved immediately in few seconds with no effort
Now, well there is another problem...
And now there is another much worse problem hahaha
The duct tape was incredibly tight, like cement. I went to the local hardware store they suggested me to use a Stillson pipe wrench
https://www.leroymerlin.it/catalogo/giratubi-svedese-430-mm-36328201-p
Problem solved immediately in few seconds with no effort
Now, well there is another problem...
Last edited:
In the pictures you can see the pipes under the sink.When I removed the old faucet and installed the new one it worked quite fine, except for the right pipe connected to the right sink (the sink is divided in two). Water was dripping from the pipe below the right sink. I as trying to fix this, and made things much worse...
I opened all the pipes and removed the old teflon white thread seal tape (I called it duct tape, I was not correct actually)
After, I have the following problems:
1) water goes down very slow from both sinks and they get almost stuck unless I wait long time for the water to go down. I checked and cleaned all the pipes, there nothing inside, they are not stuck by dirt
2) water drips from the right sink again, but not from the pipe, from the circular "funnel" right under the strainer. In the pictures you can see the left and right lower parts of the strainers, one is damaged. I want to use silicon to fix it
When applying teflon white thread seal tape I put 5 layers of it on every pipe ending which may is too much. I also tighened all the 4 screws that keep the sinks on the furniture, which before I left stored (this might also affect the pipes or the strainers in some way).
I am planning to buy the whole plastic pipes set and replace it following the instructions, so I will have new pipes and clear instructions on how to install them
This thing was supposed to be easy it's getting insane
I opened all the pipes and removed the old teflon white thread seal tape (I called it duct tape, I was not correct actually)
After, I have the following problems:
1) water goes down very slow from both sinks and they get almost stuck unless I wait long time for the water to go down. I checked and cleaned all the pipes, there nothing inside, they are not stuck by dirt
2) water drips from the right sink again, but not from the pipe, from the circular "funnel" right under the strainer. In the pictures you can see the left and right lower parts of the strainers, one is damaged. I want to use silicon to fix it
When applying teflon white thread seal tape I put 5 layers of it on every pipe ending which may is too much. I also tighened all the 4 screws that keep the sinks on the furniture, which before I left stored (this might also affect the pipes or the strainers in some way).
I am planning to buy the whole plastic pipes set and replace it following the instructions, so I will have new pipes and clear instructions on how to install them
This thing was supposed to be easy it's getting insane
Just curious, where are you located????
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Milan, Italy
You are probably wondering about how this plumbing was made because the materials might look unfamiliar for those who live in the US
This faucet anyway was installed in a quite crappy way for the standard of Italian houses
Here normally you should see metal pipes and the connections made in a totally different way. The quality of the metal sink and the furniture instead is good
I was just curious where you were at in Italy. Had some friends take a vacation in your area. And yes the plumbing
fittings are really different under a sink than around here.
fittings are really different under a sink than around here.
In the meanwhile I checked what happened there. The good news is my repair is actually working once I plug off the drain pipe from the wall. The bad news is that the problem is now either the strainers or the drain pipe in the wall itself. The last part of the pipe is fine it doesn’t contain or someting for about one meter, I checke with a kind of snake tool. The strainers are not stuck I used the plunge. Perhaps the strainers are not properly connected or there is a problem with the pipe inside the wall. I do hope this is not the case
Just for you to know. Called the plumber, there were 2 issues. The pipeline inside the wall was stuck with dirt. I partially improved the water flow with the snake, then he cleaned up the pipes with a professional snake tool connected to a compressor. Secondly, he replaced the pipes under the sink with new ones, also with a different design
Thank you for your help!
Thank you for your help!
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Thanks for letting us know
hang out some time and let us know what is going on in Italy,
Can you show us a picture of the new piping. Does he use the same kind of trap??
