When I first bought my house, I used compression fittings because I was
afraid to sweat copper. Then I got so frustrated at compression
fittings that leaked and all the trouble I had to go through to make
them work that I knew it was time for a change. I bought a bunch of
copper and fittings, all the stuff needed to sweat copper and spent a
little time at the workbench learning to sweat.

Once I realized how easy it was, I never used another compression
fitting. I also tackled jobs I had avoided (like running hot water out
to the garage) since swaeting is so much easier and cheaper.

Do yourself a favor, buy a bunch of fittings and pipe and teach
youeself to sweat in a no-pressure environment - at the bench.

Good Luck!


PVR wrote:
I am installing compression stop valves to copper pipe. They seem to require
a high level of torque to prevent leakage. Is this normal? I cleaned the
copper with emery and then removed the debris.

Would it help if I used some PTFE tape on the copper? If not, are there any
other techniques I should use.

Peter.