Do I need to use plumber's tape on bath tap threads?
 

I've got the bath panel off and after some WD-40 action the inline
stopcocks under the bath taps work. Is replacing the bath taps as
easy as it looks? Should I use plumber's tape for the threads?

Thnx in advance.

Deville wrote:
Is replacing the bath taps as easy as it looks?

Perhaps.


Should I use plumber's tape for the threads?

Dunno what that is, but the taps are sealed using a fibre
washer, which should be all you need.

Deville wrote:
I've got the bath panel off and after some WD-40 action the inline
stopcocks under the bath taps work. Is replacing the bath taps as
easy as it looks? Should I use plumber's tape for the threads?

Thnx in advance.

Not really, the seal is made between the tap and the tap connector by
the fibre washer - it might be worth replacing the washers though:

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...93451&id=33600

Other than that, the hardest part is actually getting to the taps to do
up the back nuts and the nuts tap connectors - a basin wrench such as:

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...14631&ts=93801

Can be helpful if space is tight.

It isn't a hard job - just fiddly - certainly requires no skill.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Deville wrote:

I've got the bath panel off and after some WD-40 action the inline
stopcocks under the bath taps work. Is replacing the bath taps as
easy as it looks? Should I use plumber's tape for the threads?

Thnx in advance.

No, the tap unions should have fibre or copper washers which seal against
the end of the threaded portion of the taps - so the threads themselves
don't have to be sealed.
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Cheers,
Set Square
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Other than that, the hardest part is actually getting to the taps to do
up the back nuts and the nuts tap connectors - a basin wrench such as:

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...14631&ts=93801

Can be helpful if space is tight.

It isn't a hard job - just fiddly - certainly requires no skill.

Sod that.

Get the tool, then do as I did - cut the tommy-bar off and bash a 12mm
socket over the end (don't do what I then tried - and failed - drilling
a hole through the pair to fit a cotter pin)

Then get an extension bar and a decent ratchet, and then, finally, you
might have a half decent tool.

(Sorry, just spent last weekend doing the same bloody pain-in-the-arse
(and elbows) job)

On Thu, 08 Sep 2005 16:23:18 +0100, Deville wrote:

Should I use plumber's tape for the threads?

You certainly can, but it's probably not needed or especially useful.

There are two sorts of thread: parallel and tapered. Both work in the
same way - they use the lengthways wedging action of a screwthread to
squash some sort of compressible gasket. The difference is that a
tapered thread can seal against the thread itself, but the parallel
thread must seal against some separate flat radial face instead - either
the end of the threaded tube (inside the thread) or some sort of
flat-faced nut (outside the thread). Usually a tap will seal with a
small washer on the end of the threaded tube, a bulkhead connector in a
cistern (toilet or loft) will use the nut and external washer.

On a tapered thread there's obviously no washer (and in fact an added
washer will be no benefit at all). However threads alone aren't a
perfect match, so thin PTFE tape is a useful sealing method.

On the parallel thread, you need the washer to seal. Stick what you like
on the threads, they'll just never get the compressive force to make a
good seal there. The same principle applies to compression fittings -
it's the olive that matters, not the nut.

You _might_ use PTFE tape on a parallel thread as an anti-seize
mechanism, but it's likely to be scrubbed off as much as it stays
behind.