4 MISTAKES Everyone Makes When Using COMPRESSION FITTINGS 

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Another tip, turn off your water when you go on holis

Glad to see you mention the marking of tightened fittings. It was mentioned to me over 50 years ago as a worthwhile habit and I have always done it. I then go around a job afterwards to check for the marks (bright red is my preference). It has only saved me once but it was in the loft of a 3 story house where the consequences of a leak couldn't have been much worse. My preference is to do an initial tighten of the olive with the pipe slightly (~1mm) pulled back from being bottomed in the fitting so that all the tightening force acts on the olive and isn't (after the olive grips the pipe) shared with the pipe pressing onto the shoulder in the fitting. I then open it up to see that the olive is seated happily against the fitting (lots of people don't seem to appreciate that the interface between the olive and the nut isn't sealing anything). I then apply potable jointing compound and firm to final torque and mark it. I also prefer copper olives to brass - usually involved bunging out the olives that come with most fittings.

I'm 62 and a Carpenter this has helped me so much NOW IM GOING TO GET THE OUTSIDE LOO AND KITCHEN SORTED THANKS ❤😂

For me the best tip I ever learnt was to not place the copper tube hard up against the bottom of the fitting as when the olive grips the tube the nut will pull the tube into the fitting but wont allow a full seal around the olive so prior to tightening the nut back the tube out of the fitting by a couple of millimetre then tighten it up ..job done 👍

So ... Don't overtighten... Don't undertighten... Great help, thanks!

Amazing! I learned a lot from this video. (Been doing things wrong for over 40 years lol) Thankyou so much for educating an amateur.

EXCELLENT advice. I am a hydraulic Engineer and I have spent most of my career training fitters how to avoid leaks in high pressure systems. I watched this video to find similarities. Everything you have said is bang on and CORRECT. In respect of under-tightening, we get the nut spun down to the point where it contacts the 'cutting ring' (Our ring cuts into the pipe - slight difference) and we refer to that as the 'fixed point'. That is the point at which all tolerances from threads, tapers diameter differences are allowed for. We then mark the nut and the pipe and turn 1&1/2 turns. That is our industry, yours may differ. We then put a high visibility mark on the pipe and nut. Before start up, all visual checks can be made easily. GREAT VIDEO

Thank you for taking the time and care to make this. I'm better off for it now and can tidy up my project with confidence now! 😁

Thanks for educating me I have never used joint compound, with compression fittings. Thanks again

I have done plumbing for over 30 years and have never used any type of jointing compound on compression joints, guess whet i also have never had to go back to repair a leak either, well apart from the time some one put a nail through the pipe, which apparently i had done two weeks prior to been called out

Top tips from Mr pipe man himself! I keep telling the Mrs, it’s essential to have some pipe lubricant next to the bed, for emergency plumbing situations!😎

Well I managed 2 of the mistakes fitting a sink at the weekend. Noticed a drip on the floor today and then saw this video. I'll be taking it apart and refitting at the weekend, cheers for the tips😂

The problem is actually the crappy olives which come with the joints. I'm not a professional but I have been doing odd plumbing jobs since the 1960s. Compression joints were never a problem then. You just screwed it up finger tight then gave it a quarter turn or so and you had a joint that would never leak.The olives were a very soft gold coloured metal. Today the olives are a harder more copper coloured metal. I always now use PTFE tape as you describe or at least one joint will leak and will not seal. I went into an old shop about 15 years back and they had a big box full of gold coloured olives so I bough a handful. After that I did not need any sealer until they ran out.

Many thanks from across the pond--great information, well presented, & humorous to boot!

Me personally I found this video very helpful and useful! Have a project I'm working on right now and was preferring to use the compression fittings so I'm going to take all his tips! Thanks great vid

Nothing wrong with the direction you put that PTFE tape on, looked correct to me. Just when you said ‘same way you do the nut up’ your fingers were doing an untighten… now go stand in the corner and think about what you’ve done.

Very good advice and a well presented tutorial. Thank you.

Thank You...I am a 66-year-old lifelong general-purpose Repairman (plumbing, Electrician, Electronics, mechanic ect.) and I have always had annoying problems with compression fittings.....I'm probably too close to dying to help me a whole lot now but your tips were great...However, It still looked to me like you were winding your Teflon sealing tape the opposite direction than you would turn your compression nut when tightening (I apologize if I'm wrong...I am a bit dyslexic) I'm a Hillbilly in the southern Coal Fields of West Virginia (Almost Heaven with friendly people and at least 10 military-style guns per household).....Love your accent and your teaching style

Hi, many thanks for all your advice. We’ve just refurbished our shower and want to say how helpful your plumbing tips are.

In all my years of DIY including working along side other trades including plumbers on refurb jobs I have never heard of this. Although I've never had a problem yet, it makes perfect sense and I'm all for good practice. Great video.

Awesome stuff - would have been useful to me a few years back - did a bathroom refit at home - and had to convert a main pipe in the floor with a compression fitting I used a 22mm olive in an old water pile to convert it to 15mm - old 7/8 water It had the smallest leak but take ages to seal it.

❤cool advice,ive used furnox joint compound in the past, the o 10:4 10:49 only trouble is it sets like concrete after a while,making it difficult if you have to remove a fitting. My favorite fitting is a yorkshire or end feed ,love solder

Thank you for this - bad habits are passed down the generations, my Dad (not a plumber) taught me (not a plumber) to wrap PTFE tape around the threads on a compression fitting. Your videos are the first time I've seen PTFE tape used on the actual pipe and olive!

Thank you for the video James, even tho i started watching your videos 6 years ago when i started doing my LVL 2 Diploma in Plumbing and heating. I'd advise anyone getting into Plumbing to get Monument olive cutter, it can fit in tight spaces, saves you time and effort.

very nice presentation, I'm fan. The tips are also worth watching & it's very well explained You had me with the tft tape. a Mistake that I would have made.

Well done! Straight forward and easy to understand.

Cheers ... Jointing compound.. need to find that. But I always put a wrap or two of PTFE tape on the olive of new fittings, just in case there is a small discontinuity (Roger, Skill Builder tip). Another tip I find useful is clean the pipe before fitting, with fine grit sand paper or one of those cleaner wire brush tools. can make a difference. Lastly another over tightening danger: stress can build up in the nut then one day it might crack and all hell will break loose when least expected, has happened to me.

Thanks for this. I've made all these mistakes!

Great video! I had to replace a mains stopcock attached to the blue 25mm mdpe pipe under the kitchen sink. Could not unscrew the nut to remove it. Had to use an angle grinder with a thin cutting disc to very carefully cut through the brass nut and olive underneath. A rotary tool would be safer, I think.

I frequently remove olives by driving them off using the compression fitting's nut. Just open your adjustable a bit wider than the 15/22 mm pipe and tap the back of the nut with them. That's assuming the fitting hasn't been overtightened. The olive should pop right off, and if you're in trouble, you might even be able to re-use it 😱😅

I spent most of my career doing stainless tubing. If you need compound or tape you should find another trade. Lubricating the joint allows you to over tighten the joint.

Caravan reference. Spot on. Exactly why I watched your video. Pipe leading to toilet is leaking from the top of the compression / isolation valve.

Another tip I think you should have mentioned, make sure when you place the nut and olive on to the pipe, you make sure the pipe has entered the the full depth of the body of the fitting, I have seen some that have only just nipped at the end of the pipe, and could pull apart!

Good point about low quality olives. Some might not have been annealed and therefor wont compress into the tapers properly. Just get them red hot and drop into cold water - so long as they are copper.

Hi I'm a sparks and if you remember MICC cables which have a similar olive and gland system I had the same thing educating apprentices on not over tightening the olives because if they were over tightened and the cable was moved you lost a good earth as the outer sheath was the earth. Brilliant vid and good tips. I looked for the olive splitter that you sowed and could not fine that particular one. I would like to add that to my plumbing kit. In the past I have used a junior hacksaw very carefully to remove an olive not quite cutting through.

As an offshore worker, PTFE tape on compression fittings (Swagelok or Parker A Loc) is a No No. I did a bit of DIY plumbing a while back and the fittings (from a large DIY store) squealed on make up and the depth the pipe went in was shallow, so I went and got some Yorkshire Imperial fittings. They just felt so much better on make up. One other minor point, turn your shifter over 180 so that the nuts contact point on the moving jaw is down at the bottom of the jaw, not at the top of the jaw.

I recently had to use PTFE tape under and over the olive on some compression stop ends and hopefully this will hold up until I get my bathroom replaced and get a pro to get rid of the whole thing.

I've used an olive puller several times and it's always worked really well. However that olive cutter looks even better.

Old schools tip use Hammer on olives by tapping olive while rotating pipe till loose and slides off easy mate

Another tip, don't run your finger along/around the end of a freshly cut copper pipe. It will slice you open like a razor blade

Make sure pipe fits and correct length, make sure both sides of the olive are on the pipe by giving it a nip and visually checking it. In tight spaces, I have used a fitting away from the joint to give the olive a squeeze so it cannot move. A few wraps of PTFE tape around Olive or potable water sealing paste where applicable and no problem. You are posh poetable water I have always said potable water (Drinking Water). Not to tight not to loose and never ever think your brilliant and do not need to double check everything, it will still get you every now and then. The amount of experts I have met in life at all things who cock up all the time because they know they are perfect and do not need to check! Everyone can get caught every now and then so check check check. I stripped and assembled a hot water tank bottom fitting three times resealing each time and it still leaked to find at two o’clock in the morning a cracked reducer fitting, I had used the old ones! I had purchased new ones but the old fittings were ok (Not). It was a home job as well.

Great tips, I'm not a plumber but i didnt know that there was a special past available now! What I've used to prevent the squeeking when tightening up the compression joints is appyling a very small amount of Vaseline (petroleum jelly) just a smear like you put on your lips around the olive and pipework and also a little on the threads this will make the olive slide and seat very smoothly, you just know that its not going to leak. Also if in future you have to undo it, it would come undone very easily, great for when replacing isolating valves and radiators valves, etc. I understand that vaseline is non toxic But better to use new approved stuff if used for drinking water. I wouldn't use it on these plastic push fit though as it might cause the rubber O-ring to deteriorate quicky.

If I put compound on a compression it was an instant fail or a rap across the knuckles with a pair of sixes. North Thames Gas apprenticeship. 4 year apprenticeship, 18 years working. How times have changed. Surprised you did not say LS-X, a must on them fooking doughnuts :) Also under tightening is always better than over, as you can always nip it up, over, no chance.

With particular reference to gas - compression fitting where used must be ‘accessible’ ie not hidden within boxing or under floorboards etc. Where they are used say pipe work serving a hob, the compression joint must be done dry from what I was taught in my gas course. Reason being a joint done with paste may well pass the tightness test at the time or work but may cause a leak later on where the paste was actually filling in a leak and the paste has dried out etc over time

I am so glad you mentioned at 7:05 about PTF tape round the thread . I come from a family of plumbers and it makes me angry when I see that bodge up under sinks and basins usually fitted by Kitchen fitters (Grrr!) I used to see it a lot when as a sparks I cross bonded pipes.

Excellent video - so glad I watched before attempting to use compression fittings. Quick question - can you still nip up a compression fitting that has jointing compound after it’s been in place for a week, or does the compound go off and crumble if you try this? I thought I’d tightened it enough, but after a few days it started to seep (not condensation). Thanks 👍

Just found your channel and started watching, you give good advise and are quite entertaining but I was a bit confused at first cos I thought Bradley Walsh had his own plumbing channel.

Great now I have to go back in time 20 years and find the Idjet who didn't put jointing compound on the fitting for the sediment filter in the "new" home we purchased. You need to do a video on time travel! PTFE tape round the olive is my solution for now! Thanks mate!

I recently (a few days ago) found some "older" USA made 1/2" compression fittings and used one for a hose-bib / sillcock installation...no joining compound , no squeaks, no leaks...

Always great tips thanks

Olive cutter. Very nice. I'm not a plumber, but have been doing a bit of water work DIY. Definitely had issues removing or not olives. I fancy a cutter, or maybe the hacksaw and screwdriver tip. Thanks good video, I'm going to slap on more jointing compound than I have been after seeing you use it.

They sqeek because the machined threads in brass need lubrication. A little oil will do that. Only one face of the olive is a sealing face. The face the nut runs on is not a sealing face.

Great ! Wish I had seen this when I was a lot younger. Yes I learnt by bitter experiance overtightening the fittings. Ptfe tape actually on the olive makes a lot of sense. You learn something every day. I like the mark you make on the fitting once tightened. Next episode how to fix a leak in your blow up doll😅

Olive tip I was taught by an old school. If the olive is just so put something hard being it and tap firmly the other side and it just slides off. This really works.

Good video 🎉mate you shared valuable information experienced explains everything, keep up your sharing mind 🎉

Brilliant! I love your wit!

Very good advice for non plumbers like myself. I usually cut the olive off with a hacksaw blade as you suggest, and carefully. Presumably leaving the previous olive on is not a good idea?

This is golden sir!! Thank you for the information and the laughs, my caravan should be sealed water tight now 😂

As an addition , best practice for making gas compression fittings (which tends to be the gold standard) was to go through the process just described ,then disassemble and re apply a smear of paste around the squished olive on the pipe. I always tended to do this for LPG because it just wants to leak. ( I'm not advocating that DIYers do gas pipework , just highlighting best practice which also applies to wet pipework )

Ive done my own plumbing for 30 years, and have never used compound. Neither have I had compressions fail. Have I just got lucky?

Thankyou mate great tips

Never knew this... but as an insurance policy I always smeared some plumber's putty on the copper pipe before sliding the olive onto it, then I would also smear the olive with some more plumber's putty before bringing the nut over it and tightening the nut (holding the other part of the fitting with another spanner) to fully compress the olive and form a strong watertight seal - I've never had a leak ! lol

Great guy, very amusing and informative. Thank you lol 👍

Another great video mate! Simple but effective for people! I have learned a lot from your videos ,not particularly from this one 😁 but love your videos and your talent in making them interesting! Looking forward for the next one!!! And yes I am one of those guys that have a drink after work and watch your videos until the end. 👍All the best, take care

Great videos. I just bought a 3/4" compression ball valve to replace my home main shutoff just in case my shutoff at the street doesn't close enough to solder. However, I just noticed it doesn't have a packing nut under the lever! Never seen this before. Is it something new or just cheaply made therefore I should buy one with? Thanks so much!

thank you. great advice👍

I've always used jointing compound but just a thin trace, not like icing on a sponge cake. And put some on the pipe before sliding the olive on because you're then sealing another potential leak point.

We saw over-tightening. under-tightening, ways to mark joints not yet tightening but I certainly missed any discussion of how to tell the joint is tightened just right. Is there a type of torque wrench for this?

Great tips there! Plumber who did central heating install used no jointing compound, said it wasn’t necessary. Ok, but I specified chrome plated 15mm where visible in the lounge. Again, no jointing compound. Now I know that chrome is harder than brass so it would never bed into the pipe. They said tighten it up firmly and it’ll be ok. That’s what they did, and guess what??? Furry deposits around all the joints! Slow seepage between olive and pipe. I called them back and they said they’d return and fix it. That was two months ago. Still waiting…..

Apsolute quality teaching👊 I've seen so many ptfe tape joins around treads.exactly the same though what on earth is this😄👍👍👍cheers bud

"Nah, I've got feelings!" Hahaha, love it! Roofer for 27yrs, don't bring your "feelings" to work. That is a rule. Also don't let your co-workers know that you don't like a nickname they give you 'cause that nickname will become your birthright and show up on your new uniforms permanently! No place for thin skin in the trades!

Many moons ago when a new version of the Electrical Witing Regs came out with major changes to Earth bonding we had to use conductive PTFE tape on plumbing fittings, but I believe the requirement was removed.

Moved into a house and the central heating leaked. Lots of the olives were so lose I could turn them with my fingers. No way to drain the system. I added over 10 drain cocks and shut of valves so I could isolate the system and replaced whole joints or just olives. Great tips about paste and over tightening.

Good tips, you say not to put PTFE on he thread, I've always put 2 turns of tape on the thread as a lubricant. The squeeking sound you mention earlier is the 'brass' threads galling against each other creating friction. PTFE prevents this, makes tightening easier.

Great video james very informative

Ive found a cut nail lodged in a copper pipe that sealed itself when the guy / girl missed the joist , it had held up for 20 years on gravity hot ! 🎉

Wow...never knew these great tips!

I have made thousands of compression fittings in multiple sizes and rarely ever used jointing compounnd because I didn't have any to hand. I had precious few leaks in all of those fittings. I have had to resort to PTFE tape on a limited number of occasions. Good informative video though.

Thanks for the knowledge and entertainment.

Radiator valves still need PTFE though. Maybe this is where the confusion comes from as it's a common diy job. Love this video. Genuinely funny and love the messy work bench and crap osb shelves. That's how most of us role 😂 well done mate.

Great video James. By the way, you had in fact wrapped the ptfe around the thread the correct direction, but did it the wrong way around the olive.

No PTFE at all. One thing which not mentioned is what I always do. When first sliding on the olive and entering it and the pipe into the fitting is just before tightening, is pull the pipe out about 1/16". Reason for this is, if you need to remove the pipe later for whatever reason and refit it the pipe will not bottom out before the already compressed olive

Have used compression fittings for about 40 years, never used jointing compound and never had a problem. Don't overtighten and you can go back and pinch them up a bit if it oozes slightly. Never needed PTFE tape either. By the way, PTFE isn't nylon, it's Poly Tetra Fluoro Erhylene, the clue is in the name!

i recently had some brass compression fittings replaced with white push fit what would you say is more reliable? (Central heating).

Thanks from australia mate.good info👨‍🔧

I did that using the fernox jointing gear but i didn't use that much, just on the chamfer and smidge on the olive as i didn't want it in the rad system

Brilliant, cheers! Can I use FERNOX LS-X as jointing compound?

I had recently changed the bathroom sink and tap but found that the copper pipes were angled and i didnt like how the braided tubes for the taps were bent around to suit the new tap location. So i changed it to nice straight lengths of copper pipe, brand new olives and fittings etc. I sent a pic to the plumber just to show if ive done the right thing (he is a friend as well just to see if ive done it all right) and I said i also used the fernox potable water jointing compound around the thread and also on the olive and he said I didn't need to use it at all because it was new fittings and to not really use it for new fittings. Just wondering if this is the case for any plumbers here? Like is it only for use on an existing fitting thats been fitted and is causing a leak, is it bad to use it on new fittings? I personally found it good to use because of the way everything was awkward to get to, it was easier to apply this than to wrap around tape and when tightening the fitting it seemed to then unscrew the connections to the tap that could only be screwed in by hand! So the compound helped me not have to tighten everything super tight, also as a diyer it takes a while to know when enough tightening is enough so its a slightly few less turns with the stuff applied to give it a watertight seal, making it ok to give it a bit more welly if needed instead of overtightening. I wanted to do it right as I had caused a massive leak before with the connections to the bath taps, I overtightened the speedfit to metal thread connection and it eventually cracked after a few months, water pouring downstairs XD So since then ive avoided eBay taps and overtightening lol

I've done a bit of plumbing around the house. Never even heard of jointing compound, I've always used PTFE tape (in the wrong place). I've always used a pipe cleaing brush though which seems to have given me a decnet seal. Next time I'll do as you've suggested though even if its only as far as putting the tape in the right place, so thanks for this :)

Fantastic thanks for sharing this really enjoyed watching and very funny and fun 😂👍🏻

Using the olive as a cheap engagement ring tip was a good one. Will let you know how I go...

Another great video. Thank you.

Good tips there , thanks

I've never had a problem without jointing compound (ok, not never, but always get it to tighten!). Tend to use ptfe on bigger nuts.

Learned something new about the PTFE tape - thanks!!! #enlightened

Keen diyer on tip 1 do you compress [tighten olive ] on pipe 1st before applying sealant

I use a Dremel for cutting olives😄

some great tips there thanks !

I occasionally use a bit of boss white (like soft putty), or just a light smear of Leakseal (silicone mastic) on the pipe before fitting the olive (in case the pipe is scratched) and a tiny smear on the outside of the olive. And a drop of silicone oil on the threads & chamfer, following previous mechanical experience. If re-using an olive I'll always put a couple of turns of PTFE tape on the olive. No fails here.