plumbing help: leak behind wall supply elbow

[rh71]

Just had a bathroom done new including the shower hardware. The shower head is a bar where you can simply slide the head up and down so the line connection is a chrome elbow piece to the lower left of it. I noticed water continuously slide down the tile from the elbow as soon as the water is turned on. Leak Stops when off.

I used some thread seal tape and while it helped, it is still leaking despite screwing in as hand-tight as possible against the wall. It is not 100% flush but it's still screwed on about 3.5 revolutions.

Any other ideas? Is there supposed to be a rubber gasket inside the elbow? The only gasket I see is in the shower line itself where it connects to the elbow, but that's not where the leak is. Water is basically going backwards and leaking out against the wall.

They say it is designed to be flush against the wall - is that the only reason why water is getting out?

 

[BoomerD]

Call the contractor who did the work. Tell them to come fix it.

 

[Humpy]

The nipple should typically protrude past the tile surface 1/4" to 3/8". Try pipe dope rather than the tape, there is no gasket at this connection.

If everything looks good it most likely just needs to be tightened more. Probably best to let the original installer come fuck it up by over-tightening it though.

 

[iGas]

Get a hold of the instruction and check to see what the length of the protruding nipple supposedly be, you will need a pair of water pump pliers if the 1/2" nipple protrude 3/8" or greater, otherwise you will need a nipple extractor. Then buy a 1/2" brass nipple with correct length to install.

Water pump pliers

Nipple extractor

Nipple wrench (extract, or use as internal nipple pipe wrench)

 

[mizzou]

i guess your "contractor" was likely yourself or a family friend?

i would say that on plumbing leaks...take apart....clean..try again. Having to overtighten is not normal. I have had a home that had such intense water pressure...it would deform most all plastic faucets/shower heads and cause leaks explode them. Full steel was all that would work.

 

[Greenman]

Have your contractor address the issue first, it's his problem and he shouldn't have any problem fixing it.
If you have to repair it yourself, put six wraps of Teflon tape on the nipple, slide a screwdriver into the water outlet so you've got some leverage, and snug it down.

Nice looking shower, though I like to put the feature strip up near eye level.

 

[Greenman]

i guess your "contractor" was likely yourself or a family friend?

i would say that on plumbing leaks...take apart....clean..try again. Having to overtighten is not normal. I have had a home that had such intense water pressure...it would deform most all plastic faucets/shower heads and cause leaks explode them. Full steel was all that would work.

The pressure rating for 1/2" copper is around 750 psi. There is no way on earth you have that much water pressure.

 

[iGas]

Have your contractor address the issue first, it's his problem and he shouldn't have any problem fixing it.
If you have to repair it yourself, put six wraps of Teflon tape on the nipple, slide a screwdriver into the water outlet so you've got some leverage, and snug it down.

Nice looking shower, though I like to put the feature strip up near eye level.

Why six wraps, and not 4 or 70 wraps?

Teflon tape is a lubricant and only need to be 1.5 wrap so that it stick on the thread to ease the pipe or screw in (it prevent galling). That said, you can wrap as many wraps as you want on the thread but it would help if you put a bit pipe dope with teflon tape that well as lubricant and can act as sealer.

Below is a master plumber technique.

An old trick that you can apply on leaky liquid pipe threads is wrap cotton wicking on the male nipple and add pipe dope over it, then tighten. Any moisture that make it through will be absorb by the wicking which swell it up and seal the leak.

 

[iGas]

The pressure rating for 1/2" copper is around 750 psi. There is no way on earth you have that much water pressure.

Perhaps he have an older home and the city was working on the water main by his house and jack the pressure up to 150 PSI to service the system due to smaller bypass pipe/hose.

Most if not all homes since the 80s to now have PRV (Pressure Reducing Valve) with setting between 22-80 PSI, and most PRV come from the manufacture with default setting at 3 bar or 43.5 PSI to prevent premature valve seats failure and from water hammer. Because, most fixtures are design to function below 75-80 PSI with some better fixtures are design to function up to 90 PSI.

But as you said, no way in hell that he get burst pressure of at least 450 PSI on 1/2 PEX let alone copper.

 

[Greenman]

Why six wraps, and not 4 or 70 wraps?

Teflon tape is a lubricant and only need to be 1.5 wrap so that it stick on the thread to ease the pipe or screw in (it prevent galling). That said, you can wrap as many wraps as you want on the thread but it would help if you put a bit pipe dope with teflon tape that well as lubricant and can act as sealer.

Below is a master plumber technique.

An old trick that you can apply on leaky liquid pipe threads is wrap cotton wicking on the male nipple and add pipe dope over it, then tighten. Any moisture that make it through will be absorb by the wicking which swell it up and seal the leak.

Tef tape isn't a lubricant, it's a sealant.
I said to use six wraps because one day I met a manufacturers rep at the plumbing supply and that's what he said to do. I took his word for it.

 

[Humpy]

Tef tape isn't a lubricant, it's a sealant.

Uh oh.

That's a great way to start a shit storm at the plumber party.

 

[feralkid]

i guess your "contractor" was likely yourself or a family friend?

i would say that on plumbing leaks...take apart....clean..try again. Having to overtighten is not normal. I have had a home that had such intense water pressure...it would deform most all plastic faucets/shower heads and cause leaks explode them. Full steel was all that would work.

Don't you mean brass?

A steel faucet doesn't sound like a good idea.

 

[who?]

The teflon tape is to prevent the two metal pieces from corroding together so that you can unscrew it later if you need to.

 

[momeNt]

This thread is now about the uses of teflon tape. Sorry OP.

 

[Humpy]

This thread is now about the uses of teflon tape. Sorry OP.

Yet another incorrect post.

There is no such thing as Teflon tape anymore.

 

[Greenman]

Yet another incorrect post.

There is no such thing as Teflon tape anymore.

Fair enough, though I could argue that the name has become generic for thread sealing tape.
I wasn't aware that it had been marketed as a thread lubricant as well. Learn something new every day.

 

[momeNt]

Yet another incorrect post.

There is no such thing as Teflon tape anymore.

If kleenex went out of business would you go around spouting that bullcrap? What about band-aid.

If we are going to turn this into a discussion about teflon tape and completely ignore the OPs cries for help, at least be classy about it.

 

[Greenman]

If kleenex went out of business would you go around spouting that bullcrap? What about band-aid.

If we are going to turn this into a discussion about teflon tape and completely ignore the OPs cries for help, at least be classy about it.

The OP's problem should be solved, and I learned something new about teflon tape, it's a win win deal.

 

[rh71]

UPDATE:

The specs of the elbow indicate the pipe sticking out should be 3/8". The pipe is only 1/4" extended from the tile, so that's issue #1, but I was having a hard time getting it on the entire 1/4" anyway. With Moen's promise that they'd replace the part should I crack it, I used the screwdriver-as-leverage method and screwed it on as tight as possible - 1 revolution more than earlier. Still not perfectly flush (probably because of the tiling job), but good enough. I also have fresh thread seal tape (just 3 wraps) on there since that minimized the leak earlier. No more leak, at least for now. Gratzi.

Oh and it was a handyman who is 45 mins away and it's hard to get him to come back so I wanted to see if this was an easy-enough fix first. He did a great job on our baths (complete gut) for a handyman.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Definitely sounds like you're a few threads short. I'm guessing the backerboard + tile+thinset was a little thicker than what was assumed by the manufacturer of the shower head. If it leaks again, you might want to try going to a liquid sealant. The PTFE tape shreds when the pipes are threaded (that's how it works)... This stuff actually never really dries completely, but sets up pretty good. Similar to gas fittings, liquid thread sealants have a slight advantage over tape:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rectorse...ealant-with-PTFE-31630/203490732?N=5yc1vZbuf1

 

[Humpy]

If kleenex went out of business would you go around spouting that bullcrap? What about band-aid.

If we are going to turn this into a discussion about teflon tape and completely ignore the OPs cries for help, at least be classy about it.

I informed the OP of the likely cause of the issue in post#3. I actually know about shit like this in real life.

Then I got bored and decided to mess around a little. Don't let it bother you.

 

[rh71]

^ yeah good call with post #3

 

[boomerang]

You should run a bead of caulk along the top and wrapping around the sides on that to keep water from getting in behind it into the wall cavity. It's low on the wall and it's going to get a lot of spray on it.