Dripping Drain Connection

Mike Finley

So I am putting in a new tub in an investment property for myself, bought a Watts all brass drain for the tub, put it all together and pour a 5 gal bucket of water in the tub to test everything and notice I have a drip here in the picture attached.

Instructions just show to put on the rubber washer and then the compression fitting, I thought it strange that even after I tightened down the compression nut I could still push and pull that shoe elbow back and forth in the fitting.

Now of course it has a drip there. Instructions don't say to use anything but the rubber washer.

What's up, what would you do?

Ron The Plumber

Apply pipe dope on the washer, or even wrap some teflon rape aroung the washer, tighten up, should solve the leakage, or try a belveled plastic washer instead of the rubber one.

Mike Finley

Simple fix for stupid people.

Thanks Ron.

By the way, short of soldering the joint, what would be the longest lasting or most bullet proof fix? Any of those better than the others? Doesn't something like plumber's putty have a life span of effectiveness for example? I went with all brass instead of plastic figuring it would be the most resilient down the road for anything that came up.

Let me get this straight - you are saying to apply tape or pipe dope to the washer and not the threads of the compression fitting?

Ron The Plumber

Perm fix is an all glue W/O, apply to the washer, since the washer is where the seal is made.

Double-A

Mike, you might be getting a 'false tight' when putting this thing together. The threads on these are not the most high quality and sometimes they are slightly boogered up.

Lubricating the threads with a Teflon pipe dope or faucet stem grease will allow you to tighten these joints properly.

I've seen these things put together with greased candle wicking in place of the rubber washer from the 1920's still holding water perfectly, so there is no telling how long they can last, but the key is to get them tight, but not over tight so that you deform something.

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

Mike Finley

Double A, I think that is exactly what happened, when I took it all apart and wrapped the washer in teflon tape and put it back together again, it was very obvious that the compression fitting turned a lot more times than it did originally. This was most likely my own doing by not tightening it enough the first time.