Yellow Gas PTFE Tape on Potable Water Line

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DIYorBust

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Any concerns with using the yellow gas tape on a potable line? I've see it recommended for this application on this forum and elsewhere, but I couldn't find any specific discussion about whether it was intended/safe for potable.

Thanks,

DIYoD
 

DIYorBust

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I saw that, but technically it says water, not specifically potable water. Is it possible the standards for this tape allow unsafe materials?
 

DIYorBust

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So I emailed OATEY and got the following response: "The yellow thread tape is approved for gas line installations and should not be used in potable water line assembe[sic]. We would recommend our Mega Tape or Gripp Tape."
 

Reach4

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So I emailed OATEY and got the following response: "The yellow thread tape is approved for gas line installations and should not be used in potable water line assembe[sic]. We would recommend our Mega Tape or Gripp Tape."
Thanks for the info. However, I am not taking that as authoritative. If you find some actual documentation to that effect, that would be useful. I did find this:
https://www.oatey.com/ThreadSealants says "All Oatey thread sealant tapes are safe to use with potable (drinking) water." That sounds pretty straight forward to me.

Then I found this: https://www.oatey.com/125959/Category/Tape
Oatey® has the PTFE tape you need, from economy-grade, low-density tape to MEGATAPE, the thickest tape on the market. Our PTFE tapes can be used on all threaded pipe, valves and fittings carrying acids, solvents, alkalis, steam, hot and cold water, LP gas, natural gas, oxygen and almost any chemical. Weather-resistant, flexible, low dielectric constant, chemically inert and usable at low temperatures, all of our tapes perform over a temperature range of -450° to 500° F and up to 10,000 psi. They are non-hardening, non-toxic, non-stick and non-flammable.


GRRIPTAPE was new to me, and it seems to have a useful feature. I did not find density or thickness info on that.

In the Oatey line, their pink tape is also higher density and thickness.
https://www.oatey.com/2372791/Product/Oatey-PTFE-Pink-Water-Line-Thread-Seal-Tape
 
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DIYorBust

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I think I agree with you that this is not authoritative, I see Oatey makes the following general statement here regarding all their PTFE tapes including the Yellow Gas Tape:

https://www.oatey.com/125959/Category/Tape

"They are non-hardening, non-toxic, non-stick and non-flammable."

So I'm not sure why it would be a problem. It wouldn't surprise me if the yellow tape is the same product as the pink tape with different coloring. The yellow and pink tapes both list "water" on their product sheet, but not potable water. The Megatape and GRRiptape also do not specify potable water, although there are some pictures of them being used on a shower head.

I think the yellow tape is probably fine, but I'd be happier if I could confirm that.
 
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