I am having a devil of a time attempting to seal threaded PVC fittings on my sprinkler system valves and manifolds. My valves have threaded female fittings as do the T’s in my manifold. The two are connected together using 1†and ¾†nipples (depending on the size of the valve). I am using ½†PTFE tape around both ends of the nipples. I am wrapping three to four full turns around each end, stretching the tape fairly tight. Now that everything is attached, the several of my valves are (very) slowly dripping at one end of the coupler when I open the water line. I used a pair of Channellock pliers to tighten them to the point where I was worried they might crack/snap. This worked for a couple of them, but I still have slow dripping at a few joints.
Any ideas why the fittings are dripping? Should I add more layers of PTFE or not stretch it? I did try adding 5 or so layers, but I wasn’t able to fully tighten the nipple.
Any ideas why the fittings are dripping? Should I add more layers of PTFE or not stretch it? I did try adding 5 or so layers, but I wasn’t able to fully tighten the nipple.