Water leak driving me mad

Otter

Otter

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We have a Surecal calorifier (excellent). The trouble is, the join between the flexible plastic filler pipe and the copper pipe constantly drips. I've tightened the jubilee clip as much as I can, changed the jubilee clip, cut the pipe off and stuck it back on - it still leaks. Any ideas for a water tight seal?

Thanks.
 
Has the plastic pipe split?

If you are fitting the flexible pipe to a barbed fitting you can try a few wraps of PTFE tape round the barbed fitting to bulk it out a bit.

Fernox LS-X from a plumber's merchant will do the job too. It's a sort of silicone that cures when it gets damp. Very useful stuff to have onboard.
 
Are you certain the drip is not travelling along the pipe from the next seal up? Check that the pipe is dry underneath... Clearly this is not relevant if the pipe runs up towards the fitting. Otherwise, the hose ID may be too great for the barb, in which case bulking out with tape might work, but will be no substitute for a proper fix with correctly-sized parts.
 
Simon you sometimes need two jubilee clips when clamping hose on pipe.

Another thing we always did when fixing flex pipe to copper pipe was to put an olive on the copper pipe. Made it a bit difficult to get the pipe on but - always cured the problem.

Ptfe tape a waste of time in those circumstances.

Iain

Iain
 
Checked it hadn't split and it is the right size because it was a job to get on. I checked the fitting 'up the line' but that was OK, it's plastic on plastic and that always seems to be OK. I wondered if it was anything to do with the copper pipe heating up and cooling down all the time?

Will get some Fernox and apply liberally with 2 jubilee clips and see if it works, I can't get an olive on as it's tight as it is. It's driving us mad because the drip is enough to have the pump do a brief cycle every 15 minutes and I have to keep drying out the bilge.

Thanks for all the suggestions.
 
Another possibility is a failure in the tank or pipe around the barb, again, causing water to follow a path down to the joint... A very careful and close inspection seems in order. If the pump is cycling so often, it doesn't sound to me like a poor hose/barb union...
 
Worm drive clips like Jubilee clips are often poor on small diameters. Use the smallest size of clip that will fit, not a big one wound right in. Overtightening makes matters worse. Better still would be to find a different sort of clip. The type with a clampscrew and a nut are better but I am sorry I dont know what they are called.

Really you should have proper hose tails and not be fitting plasic tubing onto plain pipe.
 
A smear of plumbers mate on the fitting before putting on the hose will surely do the job.
When I am fitting wash hand basin waste outlets I always dump the rubber/foam seal supplied and use a good suasage of plumbers mate, never get a leak.
 
Surecal units often have tails suitable for plastic plumbing fittings rather than a true serrated tails, i always fit a 15mm Hep to 1/2 BSP female threaded fitting with a 1/2 BSP serrated tail of the correct size to inlet and outlet; these two fittings can be subjected to circa 40psi. Aquafax stockist can get the right Hep fittings for you.
 
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