Shower Valve Body Installation (NPT)

[hans_idle]

This seems like such a simple problem, but I'm at a loss as to how to deal with it.

My wife just purchased a Jado shower head and valve body (pressure balanced). The inlets and outlet are 1/2" NPT. How the heck do I thread the copper supply pipes onto this? The supply line is always going to be immovable.

The supply lines are fixes in place, so they can't turn. If I thread-on an adapter and then solder to the copper pipes, how do I know if I've gotten the adapter tight enough? I'd have to turn the water on to find out, and by then it's too late.

What am I missing? This seems like such a simple issue, given that a lot of valve bodies come with this type of hookup.

-Hans

[cwhyu2]

Solder pipe to adapter
mount faucet
install adapters w/pipe to faucet
then pipe to faucet.

[hans_idle]

Thanks. I had done a search here, but my search terms were too vague and I got too much info. A search on the internet yielded a few clues that agree with what you listed.

I suppose the key is knowing how tight to make the connections to the valve body, and making sure to use pipe compound.

[Terry]

For thread sealant, I like something like rectorseal with Teflon paste.
The trouble with tape is that heating the pipe a ways a way can affect it.
When threading a MA into a valve, I crank it in pretty darn good.

[remodelbob]

can't you also slip 1/2" copper into the shower valve and just solder it on there?

i know the kohler ones work like that. you can either use the npt or solder.

[hans_idle]

For some reason, Jado builds their faucets to NOT allow the soldering on the inlets and outlets. You can't fit the 1/2" inside and it specifically says not to try it.

[jadnashua]

The quality of the threaded fittings these days is often pretty crappy. It might be worth paying the extra for a brass one if you can find one with nice clean threads.

[hans_idle]

I'll look for brass. Any issues with soldering copper to brass? I've done it before, just not sure if i've done it right :D

[jadnashua]

Copper solders just fine to brass...