HighqualityPlumbing
Member
My shower head is leaking at the connection to the shower arm.
Whenever I screw on the shower head and tighten, the rubber washer that was included with the shower head (and most other washers that I tried to use instead) get pushed into the shower arm pipe, rendering it useless!
Adding plenty of Teflon tape reduces the leak, but does not completely stop it.
My question is two-fold:
1. What is the proper way of installing a shower head? I am confused because elsewhere in pluming, to my knowledge, fittings that require a washer normally don't need thread sealant as the watertight seal is made by the compression against the washer (however my understanding was that the threads in compression fittings are not tapered NPT but untapered - e.g. stop valves, garden hose). In most videos, many of them by amateurs, they use Teflon tape. However I read two comments from pros on other threads in this forum who DON'T use Teflon tape for shower heads. I am confused by all of this and by the fact that shower heads have NPT threads AND come with washers - which of the two is supposed to make the seal?
2. Why does the washer "disappear" into the shower arm, rendering the washer useless? The shower arm appears to be a garden variety from a big box store. The shower head manufacturer reassured me that the shower head nut and the washer are manufacturerd to standard U.S. specs. Do I need to get a new shower arm?
Whenever I screw on the shower head and tighten, the rubber washer that was included with the shower head (and most other washers that I tried to use instead) get pushed into the shower arm pipe, rendering it useless!
Adding plenty of Teflon tape reduces the leak, but does not completely stop it.
My question is two-fold:
1. What is the proper way of installing a shower head? I am confused because elsewhere in pluming, to my knowledge, fittings that require a washer normally don't need thread sealant as the watertight seal is made by the compression against the washer (however my understanding was that the threads in compression fittings are not tapered NPT but untapered - e.g. stop valves, garden hose). In most videos, many of them by amateurs, they use Teflon tape. However I read two comments from pros on other threads in this forum who DON'T use Teflon tape for shower heads. I am confused by all of this and by the fact that shower heads have NPT threads AND come with washers - which of the two is supposed to make the seal?
2. Why does the washer "disappear" into the shower arm, rendering the washer useless? The shower arm appears to be a garden variety from a big box store. The shower head manufacturer reassured me that the shower head nut and the washer are manufacturerd to standard U.S. specs. Do I need to get a new shower arm?
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