Compression Adapter Question?

[daddylogan]

Hi folks! My first post here.

I need professional plumbers opinion on this. I know these questions can harbor more then one simple answer, but that is what I am looking for and the reasons behind the answer(s).

Question 1 is:

In your opinion, what would you think is number one cause of a brand new 3/8" - 1/2" compression adapter failing in under a years time?


Question 2 is:

In your opinion, what would you think the average life expectancy of a brand new 3/8" - 1/2" compression adapter would be under normal conditions?


I hope these are legit questions to ask here and if not I apologize. I am doing some research and need professionals opinions. Thank you ;-)


peace out,
daddylogan

[Terry]

They can be bad out of the box.
Normally they are good for twenty years though.

If you have the one-piece stop with supply line, those are one-use-only shutoffs.
If the supply line needs to be move again, you just chuck them and replace.

This is the best I can do without a picture of the fitting in question.

[hj]

1. It depends on what you mean by "fail", but normally, if they do not "leak" when installed they will not leak until oneone "messes with it.
2. Good ones will last for decades without leaking, although a valve may become inoperative during that time frame.
3. This assumes a standard brass comprssion by compression valve or fitting.

[daddylogan]

Wow...you guys are quick, and it is much appreciated!!! Ok, I will provide more detail and a photo.

The adapter is used to connect the line (cold water) coming from the kitchen faucet to a piece of flex hose that makes the connection to the angle stop valve. I assume this is done so it can reach?

It has never been disturbed.

The failure in the adapter came less then a year after all the new parts were installed and the failure was it cracked in two places on the 3/8" side. It caused major damage by the time I discovered it. Happened in the middle of the night.

The picture you see is with another brand new one that was installed and it is working fine so far.



Hope this helps in narrowing down answers ;-)

Thanks again and look forward to more input.

peace out,
daddylogan

[hj]

There is absolutely NO reason why it should fail in that application. Any excess pressure would have burst the hose before anything happened to the brass fitting. The only reasonable answer is that it was made of very poor metal, and even that is not a satisfactory answer for what happened.

[daddylogan]

Hi Hj and thanks for answering. That is what one would think, but I myself can think of another possible reason but I don't want to say it so it does not influence any answers here. That is why i came looking for opinions ;-) I am not a plumber so I want to ask the pro's. Thanks again for your quick reply!!!

peace out,
daddylogan

[kreemoweet]

On the flex hose that comes from the faucet: does it have a captive metal ferrule that makes the seal, or does it have a rubber
gasket like just about all flex hoses do these days? With the rubber seal, it rarely takes much beyond hand-tight to make a seal,
but it could be a different story with metal. Maybe somebody tightened it down enough to split the adapter end. If that's the case,
I think it would be a toss-up between "faucet design flaw" and "installer error". Other than that, I'd have to vote with the others
for "defective materials". There's a lot of defective brass items in circulation, coming in from certain foreign lands.

[daddylogan]

Hi kreemosweet and thanks for your input. The flex hose that comes from the faucet had a captive metal ferrule I believe. Me not knowing plumber terminology would assume it looks like a little metal nipple, correct?

Thanks again ;-)

peace out,
daddylogan

[hj]

No, it would look like a little metal "ring", and if it had been tightened enough to cause the adapter to crack, it should have been so distorted that it would not seal to the new adapter.