Outside tap leaking! Winter hits back!

[portuguesejohn]

Hi,

This summer we had our garden tap leaking, so I followed good old Youtube to had it replaced, end result:

Job seemed good, all summer = no leaks. Fast forward to today and I noticed a considerable leak exactly where the tap connects to the pipe (in red arrow):

Now, it has been abormally cold in the last few days, with temperatures dropping to -5c at night. I suspect this has something to do with it, but I also wonder if my install wasn't the best...

- Carefully removed the old tap, using a lock grip on the pipe to avoid damage.
- Put in a considerable amount of PTFE tape. Might have been around 15-20 turns... too much?
- Turned tap in, took quite a bit of strength to get it to face down.

I admit it took me far longer than expected (I know nothing!) to do the job. I tried various amount of tape, but could not never get the tap in the right direction. In the end I realised I just had to put my back into it and force it to rotate, but at this point I think I had used quite a lot of tape.

I also had one of those sleeve protector things off of amazon on, which was still attached while the leak was going!

I have turned off the valve for the outside tap (luckily there was one!) and drained the water out of the pipes, so hopefully no more damage until I fix it in the next following days.

Just looking for some insight on what I might have done wrong in the original install! How much tape should I be using? How much force should I have to apply to get the tap to point in the right direction?

Oh, also important to note: The original leak in Summer was not in this location. Water was leaking from the tap itself as the turn handle had gotten loose.

 

[terryplumb]

Amount of wraps of PTFE varies ,but 15/ 20 wraps would seem to be about right. Once you start to get resistance screwing the tap into the wall plate ,stop turning when the tap is vertical. You never tighten it fully till it bottoms out on the wall plate ,as it never sits vertically.

 

[blup]

Use an adjustable spanner to get the leverage to bring the tap to vertical and tighten fully. 15/20 turns of ptfe is fine, make sure it is applied counter clockwise. Turn on tap

Blup

 

[portuguesejohn]

<double post>

 

[portuguesejohn]

Edit

Amount of wraps of PTFE varies ,but 15/ 20 wraps would seem to be about right. Once you start to get resistance screwing the tap into the wall plate ,stop turning when the tap is vertical. You never tighten it fully till it bottoms out on the wall plate ,as it never sits vertically.

Use an adjustable spanner to get the leverage to bring the tap to vertical and tighten fully. 15/20 turns of ptfe is fine, make sure it is applied counter clockwise. Turn on tap

Blup

Seems like what I was doing then!

I can only assume the weather is the reason for it have started leaking? Tap frozen which must have made the water expand slightly?

I'm slightly worried becasue the dingy old tap never seemed to leak, and it looked like it was put in place manyyyy years ago.

 

[conny]

Use an adjustable spanner to get the leverage to bring the tap to vertical and tighten fully. 15/20 turns of ptfe is fine, make sure it is applied counter clockwise. Turn on tap

Blup

No!
You do NOT use spanners to fully tighten. As Terryplumb says, you risk bottoming it out.
If you have bottomed it out by overtightening, you can rectify this by fitting a rubber/silicone washer, then re-applying 15-20 turns of PTFE
Tighten by hand as much as possible and, with luck, it may be almost vertical. Then you can use moderate leverage to tighten to the vertical position.
You can get an insulated 'Boot' to fit over the tap to insulate it during cold weather. It is also a good idea to remove, and drain, any hoses you have fitted during the spring/summer to prevent them freezing and splitting. This especially applies to those expanding ones which are highly susceptible to ice poskets forming and splitting the inner hose.

 

[portuguesejohn]

No!
You do NOT use spanners to fully tighten. As Terryplumb says, you risk bottoming it out.
If you have bottomed it out by overtightening, you can rectify this by fitting a rubber/silicone washer, then re-applying 15-20 turns of PTFE
Tighten by hand as much as possible and, with luck, it may be almost vertical. Then you can use moderate leverage to tighten to the vertical position.
You can get an insulated 'Boot' to fit over the tap to insulate it during cold weather. It is also a good idea to remove, and drain, any hoses you have fitted during the spring/summer to prevent them freezing and splitting. This especially applies to those expanding ones which are highly susceptible to ice poskets forming and splitting the inner hose.

I think you worded it in a way my simple mind could wrap around

I think I definitely "bottomed" it, as in, it took quite the effort to get it position.

Are these the type washers I should be using? https://www.screwfix.com/c/heating-...=managedredirect-_-plumbing-_-plumbingwashers

Also, I ordered one of these to replace my "sleeve" protector:

 

[blup]

No!

You do NOT use spanners to fully tighten. As Terryplumb says, you risk bottoming it out.
If you have bottomed it out by overtightening, you can rectify this by fitting a rubber/silicone washer, then re-applying 15-20 turns of PTFE
Tighten by hand as much as possible and, with luck, it may be almost vertical. Then you can use moderate leverage to tighten to the vertical position.
You can get an insulated 'Boot' to fit over the tap to insulate it during cold weather. It is also a good idea to remove, and drain, any hoses you have fitted during the spring/summer to prevent them freezing and splitting. This especially applies to those expanding ones which are highly susceptible to ice poskets forming and splitting the inner hose

If you are a quarter turn off

No!
You do NOT use spanners to fully tighten. As Terryplumb says, you risk bottoming it out.
If you have bottomed it out by overtightening, you can rectify this by fitting a rubber/silicone washer, then re-applying 15-20 turns of PTFE
Tighten by hand as much as possible and, with luck, it may be almost vertical. Then you can use moderate leverage to tighten to the vertical position.
You can get an insulated 'Boot' to fit over the tap to insulate it during cold weather. It is also a good idea to remove, and drain, any hoses you have fitted during the spring/summer to prevent them freezing and splitting. This especially applies to those expanding ones which are highly susceptible to ice poskets forming and splitting the inner hose.

Does it though, a spanner is useful for that extra quarter turn that tightens the tap and gets it vertical. It's not a compression fitting but is useful for leverage.

Blup

Blup

 

[Diver Fred]

Thanks, a timely reminder to turn my outside tap off at the stopcock.