snrusnak's shower remodel

[snrusnak]

Hi all. First of all, thanks in advance!

I'm NOT a plumber, but have a fair grasp on the job.

I am redoing our master shower. I bought and installed a glacier bay shower valve. My house is plumbed with 1/2" cpvc. I bought all the fittings and plumbed it tonight and when I turned the water on I had a fast drip from the cold side and slow drip from the hot side. I was told or read somewhere that the all plastic threaded fittings are not as good as the composite(plastic/metal) threaded fittings due to different rates of expansion with hot pipe, so I bought the composite metal/plastic threaded couplers. I thought I was doing the "right" thing, now I'm not sure if I used the correct fittings.

I used thread tape and finger tightened the fittings then gave about another half turn with a wrench. Both leak. Here's some pics:





You can see the drips in the last pic. I'm wondering if I'm using the wrong type fittings? I think they say "FTP" or something like that on them, which I have no idea what that means. I just thought nothing of it, but now am wondering if it's to adapt to a different type of pipe or something.

I cut and capped the pipes for now, but need to finish the job. I bought these fittings as recommended by the guy at home depot, but don't know that they are the right fittings for the job(I don't think most of those guys no any more than I do). Here's a pic of the fittings:





It has a rubber washer. I don't know if that's good or not, I'd think it's bad to use anything rubber in an inaccessible area due to the fact it will eventually fail.

Any help on what fittings I should use, or what I'm doing wrong? Thanks all.

Also, I read some really bad reviews on glacier bay products. Something about the internals of the valve not being up to par, or being old technology. I have this:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Glacier-...-F1AA4535BNV/100644762?N=n7Z12l2#.UaaxdUDVD5A

Any insight? I've already installed it and basically plumbed it. I don't want to have major issues in 1 year though. I read some reviews and it seemed like an ok product.

 

[johnjh2o]

Don't use those all plastic females. You used the correct fittings the first time. I would say you failed to tighten them enough. Redo it again using the brass females but use two wrenches when tightening them. You're working with brass on brass and they need to be tight. Use two wrenches when tightening them, one to tighten the other to hold back. The problem with the plastic females is overtime they have been known to split.

 

[phishfood]

I try to steer customers away from Glacier Bay products. Some of their stuff that I have worked on is pretty cheesy.

The fittings that you originally used are the correct ones, that is FIP, an acronym for Female Iron Pipe. 1/2 turn with a wrench is not nearly enough, they need to be fairly tight to compress the tape into the threads enough to seal. I personally use some pipe dope on top of the tape, but that preference causes long debates with some other plumbers.

Do not use the plastic female adaptors, you are asking for problems there.

 

[snrusnak]

Ok thanks for the response. Do you think I should use teflon alone, or teflon plus pipe dope? I have both here at the house.

 

[snrusnak]

Thanks to you both. I typically over do and over tighten things, so I held back. Well maybe that bit me this time haha. I guess I'l be making yet another trip to the store but that's ok.

As far as the glacier bay thing, I read that they use "ball type" internals which are out dated. Or something like that. The box says "drip free ceramic cartridge maintenance free". I'm hoping this is good and it's not a horrible product(even if they might have a bad name).

 

[snrusnak]

Another question... Does the PVC/cpvc glue go bad after time? The glue I'm using is an all purpose PVC/cpvc glue. It is at least a couple years old. It's not leaking. But it just occurred to me it might be an issue. I recall when I used to use it the excess glue on the outside of the pipe/fittings would harden. The excess on the pipes I did several hours ago is mushy. Thanks. Sorry I'm typing on a phone.

 

[johnjh2o]

Why take the chance get a new can.

 

[snrusnak]

Will do. I already glued the other pipes below together, that's why I ask. I'm wondering if I should redo everything I've glued with that can. It's only a few dollars in fittings.

Is there a difference between the "all purpose" clear glue that I'm using vs. the yellow glue that I see was used when the house was originally plumbed? If one is better than the other I'll be sure to buy the better stuff when I buy a new can.

I recall when I did some plumbing with my dad(had a pool plumbing business for a few years) we used a cleaner, then primer, then glue on the pvc. I can't even find cleaner on the shelves anymore. So do they just use primer then glue now? What I used when I did this is cleaner/primer in one(says ok for cpvc) then the all purpose glue(says ok for cpvc). These are old cans though, at least 3 or 4 years old.

 

[johnjh2o]

Primer is used on PVC the glue that is most used for CPVC is Flowgard Gold. No primer needed.

 

[snrusnak]

Great thanks. I'll pick up a can of that along with the new fittings and redo it all. I won't use the primer then. Weird, the primer says for use on pvc/cpvc. I wonder why it says that if it's not needed for the cpvc.

I appreciate all the help.

Where in melbourne are you? I grew up in melbourne(went to satellite beach high school).

 

[snrusnak]

Any difference in using a fitting like this:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_145032-322-...rentURL=?Ntt=1%2F2%22+cpvc+adapter&facetInfo=

vs what I used:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/NIBCO-1-...ition-Adapter-C4703-CT/100202402#.UadlzqJOPEY

I know they are essentially the same, just curious.

 

[johnjh2o]

They are basically the same but Nibco has been around for a long time.

 

[snrusnak]

Thanks. I stopped at the store on the way home. I just finished redoing all the plumbing to the valve with new glue and new fittings. I put plenty of teflon tape on the threads and cranked them down as much as I possibly could. The bottle says wait 1 hr for cold and 6 hours for hot!!!! Yeah I'm not waiting 6 hours lol. I'll wait an hour then turn the water on and see if it leaks. Here's what it looks like now all don(HOPEFULLY)







If all goes well with this I'll be building the curb this weekend, putting in blocking for the pan, and hopefully putting in the preslope floor.

 

[phishfood]

I would put a piece of lumber ~ half way between the floor and the valve with a couple of straps to the pipe. That long of a length is going to vibrate and shake quite a bit if it isn't supported. Also, I always put a pipe nipple and cap in the shower stubout until I install the trim on the valve. That way, you can turn the valve on and leave it on, so any leaks will show themselves before you hang the tile backer.

 

[snrusnak]

Thanks for the Tips. Will do. The hot side still leaks. So I just redid it again. Will turn on water in a few. This is kicking my butt lol

 

[snrusnak]

I just turned the water back on and no leaks as of now. knock on wood. Are these threaded fittings always this difficult or is it purely operator error? Makes me nervous that it'll develop a leak at some point. Even though it's dry currently

 

[phishfood]

Every once in a great while, I have a leak on a thread joint. But it is rather rare.

 

[snrusnak]

Maybe that's why you're a plumber and I'm not lol.

So is it safe to say that if it doesn't leak after a day or so, that it should be good for the long run? Since I've had so much trouble with these two fittings I'm fearing it'll develop a leak down the road...

 

[snrusnak]

Wow, so I just checked it again and I believe it still has a very slow leak on the hot side. It has been about 1-2 hours since I turned the water on and when I just rechecked it again there was some water there, but not even enough to form a drip. I'll see what's there in the morning. It seems like it still has a slow leak there, though. I'm kind of at a loss...

I have not been using pipe dope, maybe I'll have to give that a shot? I only didn't use it because I never have before. But I've never had this level of difficulty fighting a fitting leaking.

I will say the hot side that is leaking pretty much bottoms the threads out before it gets really tight. The cold side got about 1/2-3/4 the way to bottoming out and I couldn't turn it anymore. Maybe this means an issue with the fitting or something like that? The threads appear fine.

 

[havasu]

Maybe this is why I use Rectorseal #5 in lieu of teflon tape. It also will stop those annoying drips after installation.