Just had the worktop in the kitchen installed:

Unfortunately the chap doing that managed to get a very bad twisted kink
in one of the tap tails - easily done, when it's hard to see...

I've redone the joint to it is unkinked, but it feels a tad weakened in
the area that was kinked.

Anyway, I'm inclined to replace it for my peace of mind as it carries
hot water at full mains pressure and it is nether a difficult nor
expensive part.



But just out of interest, is it really likely to have weakened it?
Garden hoses once kinked seem to favour kinking again at the same spot -
and I'm not even sure what the tube is made of in these tails - rubber
or something exotic?


2nd Q: with monoblock tails the tap end has a rubber O ring - is it
usual to grease these with plumber's grease before inserting or just use
them as they come from the packet?



Ta

Tim

In article ,
Tim Watts writes:

2nd Q: with monoblock tails the tap end has a rubber O ring - is it
usual to grease these with plumber's grease before inserting or just use
them as they come from the packet?

Grease them with clear silicone grease - helps the O-ring to go in
without getting distorted into the wrong position. (Ideally you use
food grade silicone grease, which is available from BES for this purpose.)

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 07/01/15 20:11, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Tim Watts writes:

2nd Q: with monoblock tails the tap end has a rubber O ring - is it
usual to grease these with plumber's grease before inserting or just use
them as they come from the packet?

Grease them with clear silicone grease - helps the O-ring to go in
without getting distorted into the wrong position. (Ideally you use
food grade silicone grease, which is available from BES for this purpose.)


Thank you Andrew - I will see what my grease looks like. Pretty sure
it's silicone (it is plumbers grease). Might not be potable (or food)
rated though - I bought it originally for waste pipe joints (anything
that had rubber in) - I'll check.

On 07/01/15 20:25, Tim Watts wrote:


Two more things:

I see there are M10 and M12 tails (8mm and 10mm bore). How do I tell
which one I have?

The other weird thing is:

Mine are 1/2"BSP female with end seal washer to mate with my pipework
(copper that ends with 1/2" BSP male brass).

These seem to be non existant in Screwfix, Toolstation and even BES[1]

And yet, ebay is full of them:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/151381803682

(Mine are 300mm long ish).

[1] Though I notice:

http://www.bes.co.uk/products/095.asp
Item 21627

Stainless corrugated. Wonder if those are rated as more durable than
flexi tails?


But it's weird that even BES don't have BSP female - mostly 15mm
compression.

On 07/01/15 21:23, Tim Watts wrote:

[1] Though I notice:

http://www.bes.co.uk/products/095.asp
Item 21627

Stainless corrugated. Wonder if those are rated as more durable than
flexi tails?


Is corrugated stainless less susceptible to the problem of work
hardening that might affect corrugated copper?

On 07/01/2015 23:23, Tim Watts wrote:
On 07/01/15 21:23, Tim Watts wrote:

[1] Though I notice:

http://www.bes.co.uk/products/095.asp
Item 21627

Stainless corrugated. Wonder if those are rated as more durable than
flexi tails?


Is corrugated stainless less susceptible to the problem of work
hardening that might affect corrugated copper?

A bit difficult to answer. What's going to kill both of them is multiple
reverse (plastic) bends in the same area, for one or two cycles which
are not too severe either would probably be OK.

Going back to your braided stainless over rubber tube, the combination
of internal pressure and external braiding will straighten out the
original kink when you correct the geometry. Provided it has not been
kinked for any length of time I would expect it to show no long term
problem. If it is kinked for a long time, rubber degrades in the highly
stressed region in the presence of ozone, UV, or slightly incompatible
chemicals. In your case of course none of these *should* be present
apart perhaps from organic contamination on the outside of the braid
(non silicone grease, flux?).

In article ,
Tim Watts writes:
On 07/01/15 20:25, Tim Watts wrote:


Two more things:

I see there are M10 and M12 tails (8mm and 10mm bore). How do I tell
which one I have?

I suspect the M10 thread is 10mm diameter, and M12 is 12mm diameter.

The other weird thing is:

Mine are 1/2"BSP female with end seal washer to mate with my pipework
(copper that ends with 1/2" BSP male brass).

These seem to be non existant in Screwfix, Toolstation and even BES[1]

Yes, it's basically a 1/2" tap connector the wrong way around.
I've recently fitted a wash basin monoblock using tails with
1/2" male to connect to the pipework (I discarded the copper
pipt tails with came with the monoblock).

And yet, ebay is full of them:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/151381803682

(Mine are 300mm long ish).

[1] Though I notice:

http://www.bes.co.uk/products/095.asp
Item 21627

Stainless corrugated. Wonder if those are rated as more durable than
flexi tails?


But it's weird that even BES don't have BSP female - mostly 15mm
compression.

The thread on 15mm compression is usually near enough to mate with
1/2" BSP. That doesn't mean your female connector will seal against
a 15mm compression fitting, but it might be worth a try - would be
handy if it sealed against one side of a 15mm-15mm isolating valve.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 08/01/2015 00:51, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Tim Watts writes:
On 07/01/15 20:25, Tim Watts wrote:


Two more things:

I see there are M10 and M12 tails (8mm and 10mm bore). How do I tell
which one I have?

I suspect the M10 thread is 10mm diameter, and M12 is 12mm diameter.

The other weird thing is:

Mine are 1/2"BSP female with end seal washer to mate with my pipework
(copper that ends with 1/2" BSP male brass).

These seem to be non existant in Screwfix, Toolstation and even BES[1]

Yes, it's basically a 1/2" tap connector the wrong way around.
I've recently fitted a wash basin monoblock using tails with
1/2" male to connect to the pipework (I discarded the copper
pipt tails with came with the monoblock).

And yet, ebay is full of them:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/151381803682

(Mine are 300mm long ish).

[1] Though I notice:

http://www.bes.co.uk/products/095.asp
Item 21627

Stainless corrugated. Wonder if those are rated as more durable than
flexi tails?


But it's weird that even BES don't have BSP female - mostly 15mm
compression.

The thread on 15mm compression is usually near enough to mate with
1/2" BSP. That doesn't mean your female connector will seal against
a 15mm compression fitting, but it might be worth a try - would be
handy if it sealed against one side of a 15mm-15mm isolating valve.

They do IME.


--
Cheers,

John.

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