Greg F wrote:
On Apr 15, 9:49 am, Greg F wrote:

Previously had a tub spout (with diverter "gate"? in it) to make the
shower work. It didn't divert all the water - and made a whistling
noise when showering. Bought a new one and replaced. These spouts go
straight onto just a straight piece of copper pipe (slip on type?).
Anyways - the original problem was fixed - but now I think it is
actually leaking behind the wall when showering (we are seeing water
dripping from the ceiling in the room below the tub). Anyone have
experience with the problem? Seems to make sense that if the shutoff
gate now works better- but the slip on part is not 100% waterproof -
then it would now leak behind the wall.

As an FYI - I used some plumber putter on the spout where it connects
to the plastic wall - because the old one had that too. I also didn't
caulk around the spout (was going to do tha eventually) - but the
amount of water leaking seems to be more than could just leak from the
outside of the spout into the wall.

With the striaght slip on spouts with diverter gates - what is
supposed to make the watertight? Are there "O" rings in there? Maybe
just go back and buy a different one (the one I got was from Lowes -
maybe try home depot?).

Thanks in advance for any help.


Not to answer my own question - but I think I found a big part of the
problem. #1 the copper pipe was very dirty - so I cleaned it with
steel wool. #2. The spout seems to be actually designed to "leak" -
but it was supposed to go back into the tub. The plumbers putty I had
used probably made more of it go back into the wall rather than allow
it back into the tub. #3 The hole for the copper pipe was a lot
larger than the pipe - so this also allowed water back into the wall
easier. I took a piece of plastic - cut it round - then like a
doughnut - to fit the pipe - so that the large hole is now more or
less covered by the plastic. #4 In the spout is an O-ring. I coated
it with waterproof grease. However - I think this spout is pretty
cheap - and the fit is not very tight. I will try to find a better
one. The amout of water that is coming out from the back of the spout
next to the wall seems to be too much to me - but maybe someone can
answer that - how much is too much? Since I now see they are
desigend to leak - it makes more sense (because I couldn't imaging how
too pipes slip on -even with an O ring - could really truely hold much
pressure. In any case - I think I'll be back in business soon.

Still appreciate any feedback from people having similar experience.

thanks

The pipe joint to the spout should not leak.
Spout should fit tightly to pipe and the O-ring should make
a good seal without doing anything else. Get another spout.

You must caulk the spout to the wall to prevent water
splashing during showering from running behind.
The neat way is to apply the caulk to the back of the
spout and then push it on till the caulk squeezes out.

Jim