Shower Arm Tightness?

[KP Texan]

So the wife bought a new shower head at Costco and I was going through the process of installing, but realized the short 6" shower arm wasn't allowing much clearance for this large shower head. Made a trip to HD and purchased an 8" as a replacement.

Now this wasn't my first rodeo with a shower arm - I've always found them to be a bit of a pain because you have to have adequate tightness to prevent leaking, but also have it clocked perfectly.

When I first installed the arm, I used Rectorseal T Plus 2 thread compound only and tightened hand tight. Thought it would be good, so installed a 1/2" cap on the end to pressure test - was good at the beginning, but then I noticed a drop start to form after a minute or so.

So then I removed it, and gave it a go with teflon tape + Rectorseal. Got it fairly tight and decided to go another turn. I ended up feeling uncomfortable with how tight it was, so I decided to back it out and start over.

Third try - used a bit less teflon tape + Rectorseal and then cranked it down by hand. Felt like I could get another full turn out of it, but it was getting really hard by hand. I made the executive decision to use the handle of my channelocks in the end of the arm to use for slightly more leverage for about half a turn. Pressure checked, and all was good after that.

My question is, is it unheard of to use any other leverage besides the short drop on the arm to turn it? I didn't really use much force with the channellock handle, but I start to second guess myself afterwards and hope I didn't overtighten it - it certainly didn't give way like the threads stripped and the arm didn't seem distorted in any way. I also know hand tight is a subjective torque, so this one is hard to answer.

It also didn't help that the job was taking longer than I initially conveyed to my wife, and it was interfering with shower time, haha. Kind of turned up the stress level a bit!

A screwdriver in the end gives you more leverage.
Terry Love

 

[Water Guy]

So the wife bought a new shower head at Costco and I was going through the process of installing, but realized the short 6" shower arm wasn't allowing much clearance for this large shower head. Made a trip to HD and purchased an 8" as a replacement.

Now this wasn't my first rodeo with a shower arm - I've always found them to be a bit of a pain because you have to have adequate tightness to prevent leaking, but also have it clocked perfectly.

When I first installed the arm, I used Rectorseal T Plus 2 thread compound only and tightened hand tight. Thought it would be good, so installed a 1/2" cap on the end to pressure test - was good at the beginning, but then I noticed a drop start to form after a minute or so.

So then I removed it, and gave it a go with teflon tape + Rectorseal. Got it fairly tight and decided to go another turn. I ended up feeling uncomfortable with how tight it was, so I decided to back it out and start over.

Third try - used a bit less teflon tape + Rectorseal and then cranked it down by hand. Felt like I could get another full turn out of it, but it was getting really hard by hand. I made the executive decision to use the handle of my channelocks in the end of the arm to use for slightly more leverage for about half a turn. Pressure checked, and all was good after that.

My question is, is it unheard of to use any other leverage besides the short drop on the arm to turn it? I didn't really use much force with the channellock handle, but I start to second guess myself afterwards and hope I didn't overtighten it - it certainly didn't give way like the threads stripped and the arm didn't seem distorted in any way. I also know hand tight is a subjective torque, so this one is hard to answer.

It also didn't help that the job was taking longer than I initially conveyed to my wife, and it was interfering with shower time, haha. Kind of turned up the stress level a bit!

next time ditch the rector seal and just do with tape. they make a tape called blue monster, then wrap it 4 times + more or less times depending on if you need to clock it less or more.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[KP Texan]

I'll try that next time. Only reason I used the pipe dope is because I recall using before on a shower arm. The PTFE tape I used was actually some gray tape that's thicker than the white tape. I'll look out for some blue monster - as inexpensive as this stuff is vs. the amount of time involved to do things over, it's not worth trying to save a few pennies on a lesser product.

 

[Reach4]

My question is, is it unheard of to use any other leverage besides the short drop on the arm to turn it? I didn't really use much force with the channellock handle, but I start to second guess myself afterwards and hope I didn't overtighten it - it certainly didn't give way like the threads stripped and the arm didn't seem distorted in any way. I also know hand tight is a subjective torque, so this one is hard to answer.

I don't know of anything that limits you to hand tight, unless it is a maker not wanting to be held responsible for tool marks.

 

[Terry]

When installing shower arms I have always threaded the shower head on first, not all the way tight, but to have it on for more leverage. After the arm is spun in, I finish snugging the shower head to the arm.

It's a lot easier to palm a shower head then the end where the threads are.

You can also use a screwdriver in the end of the arm for leverage.

 

[Grandbllc]

When installing shower arms I have always threaded the shower head on first, not all the way tight, but to have it on for more leverage. After the arm is spun in, I finish snugging the shower head to the arm.

It's a lot easier to palm a shower head then the end where the threads are.

You can also use a screwdriver in the end of the arm for leverage.

I always do the screwdriver method, works great and I always have it in my pocket when trimming showers anyway

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

My channel locks handles grips were always cut from using them to tighten shower arms til I starting just using a nut driver.

 

[KP Texan]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Makes me feel better that some of you pros use a tad bit of additional leverage than just your hand on the bare end of the shower arm. The threads are kind of sharp too, and the palm of my hand has a few abrasions from that. Good tip on the screwdriver too - I made sure to use my older set of chanellocks in the end because I didn't want to tear up the grip on my nicer ones.

 

[Helper Dave]

We use the thick side of a stop wrench. Fits in there real nice.