pacificpilot
New Member
I have installed a Moen shower control with copper threaded fittings and now (~ 3 weeks later) I am seeing a very small leak (one drop per day or so). Fortunately, I have not yet installed the tile on the wall, however, the Wedi board has been installed. I am wondering what is the best way to fix this issue. I used only Oatey pipe dope (Great white w/PTFE) when I assembled the fittings, using a pipe wrench to insure tightness. Apparently, it is not tight enough, or the pipe dope that I used was not good enough.
So, I am thinking about cutting out the Wedi board in the area of the shower valve so that I can repair the leak. I have two thoughts...
1.) Cut the copper pipes (3) from the controller, remove the controller, unscrew the three existing threaded joints and reassemble using teflon tape. I guess that I could just cut the one pipe that is leaking and just unscrew the one connection, replacing it with telflon tape. However, I'm not sure if I trust that the other joints will not start leaking in the future.
-or-
2.) Buy a new controller that I can sweat copper pipes to.
Thanks in advance for your ideas, thoughts or other recommendations. I guess the mistake that I made was to install a threaded fitting in the first place. I'm not sure why Lowe's sells those in lieu of the ones designed for sweating copper pipes.
Here's a picture of the valve before I closed the wall... Drip is on the left fitting.
-Rich
So, I am thinking about cutting out the Wedi board in the area of the shower valve so that I can repair the leak. I have two thoughts...
1.) Cut the copper pipes (3) from the controller, remove the controller, unscrew the three existing threaded joints and reassemble using teflon tape. I guess that I could just cut the one pipe that is leaking and just unscrew the one connection, replacing it with telflon tape. However, I'm not sure if I trust that the other joints will not start leaking in the future.
-or-
2.) Buy a new controller that I can sweat copper pipes to.
Thanks in advance for your ideas, thoughts or other recommendations. I guess the mistake that I made was to install a threaded fitting in the first place. I'm not sure why Lowe's sells those in lieu of the ones designed for sweating copper pipes.
Here's a picture of the valve before I closed the wall... Drip is on the left fitting.
-Rich
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