Leak at threaded copper/brass interface

[Danno]

Hi!

My water line looked like this:

1" brass main valve with threaded fitting on the outlet, then pvc pipe, ~12", that screws into a brass pressure regulator fitting. All of the original pipe was copper. I put the plastic in years ago with a T fitting to go to the lawn sprinklers.

So the threaded pvc fitting just split today and I've replaced all the plastic with copper. I was a bit shakey on the soldering, but those joints seem fine. But there's a 2 ounce/hour leak in the threaded male copper fitting that goes into the brass pressure regulator. I had put 3 or 4 wraps of teflon tape around it and torqed it really hard before soldering the rest, so I'm surprised (as well as pissed).

Fixes:

1. Torque it tighter and hope it stops before the fitting on the opposite end unscrews. 1/8th turn is all I have room for.

2. Patch the leak somehow (solder or epoxy or...?)

3. Start over.

4. Pretend I'm in Bagdad.


Whatcha think?

[ODDJOB]

start over, and since you are soldering so close to your threads you may want to consider a paste thread selant instead of the teflon tape. :)

[Danno]

Thanks. Too bad there's no magic bullet :-(

[Sparks]

Yeah, I found out a few times that you're better off with a good pipe dope compound rather than teflon tape with water line, although, with PVC, you are not supposed to use pipe dope, just tape. Some guys will use teflon tape first and then coat it all with thread sealant compound. I've done this with steam lines with good success. Also, you may want to think about putting in a union in places like this where parts replacement maybe a concern in the future, such as a regulator. That way you just undo the union and pipe sweating isn't required.

[Danno]

k. I'll try it.