chromed lavatory supply lines

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ej

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I'm looking for some advice. I'm putting in a Kohler sink and toilet as part of a remodel. So I also bought the matching supply valves. Turns out they come with chromed, flexible copper(?) supply tubes. I'm used to the old ugly black reinforced rubber hoses, and have never used one of these type.

One end has a nipple of sorts, and the other end gets connected through what looks like a brass sleeve, and a nut that gets tightened down over it to form a compression type fitting into the valve.

So my question is: How difficult is this to install? Am I going to be forever fighting problems/leaks with it if it's not "just right", or is it fairly forgiving? Also, is this a one chance only thing - i.e. after it's tightened down, if it leaks, do I have to go buy another sleeve or tube if I have to remove it and reinstall?

Or should I dispose of the tubes and go get the hoses....

Thanks for any comments -
ed
 

Bob's HandyGuy

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I'm not a fan of chromed, rigid supply lines. I've had them leak even after the first tightening. I also think that it is difficult to bend them to the required shape. If you don't match it perfectly to the bottom of the fill valve, it may put stress on the plastic at that point. They now make reinforced, white rubber ones or braided stainless.
 

RioHyde

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While I would rather use the chromed rigid supply tubes, they can be a bit difficult to work with even with a tubing bender at times. The easiest and best solution in your situation would be stainless steel braided hoses.
 

ej

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Thanks for the feedback! Sounds like I'm asking for a headache w/ the tubing, even though it might be 'prettier'. I might give the tubes a shot since I already bought them (i'll pay special attention to the bending based on both your comments), but won't spend too much time before changing over to hoses instead.

Maybe I'll even get the toilet installed this weekend!

thanks again-
ed
 
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