ABS union leaks

It came with an O ring or washer right ?

>>1040210
Yea, it has a flat reddish washer. I was thinking maybe I didn't tighten it enough so I put a bit of tef tape and got it... very hand tight..

It might just be defective. Get another one and try again.

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There should be a compression ring that sandwiches between the two parts. If it's the kind of union I'm thinking of anyway.

>>1040236
Thats kind of hard to do, as I'm not able to remove this one fitting and put a new one in to replace it. I'd have to rebuild the overflow entirely since its all cemented together. Since its a tight space, I don't have a lot of room and its actually built in place to an extent- with the union needing to be exactly where it is to be accessible and still function

>>1040242
I haven't worked with ABS before but I work with PVC and copper a lot. What's preventing you from cutting out the union and adding two repair couplings?

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>>1040241
What my union came with was relatively flat, maybe a height of 1 or 2mm. Looking around in the bin it seemed they all had the same type of washer/gasket.

I only saw those kinds of rings on these fittings

>>1040247
My fittings are essentially butt joined together, with a length of pipe only long enough to connect the two pieces. So theres no excess pipe to add a coupling to, and if I were to split the fittings at the seams, the female end would have a flush cut piece of abs pipe cemented in, meaning I couldn't add more pipe or a coupler..

In retrospect it wasn't a good idea but it needed to be done to fit, and for the union to be accessible

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Heres some pics of my situation

>>1040252
Ah I see. That sucks, you can't tighten it any more?

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Theres hardly 1/4" between the pipe and wall and stand, so I tried to keep the union as low as possible without sacrificing filter height. Hand tightening is still a pain as I can't a finger around the union but its doable...

>>1040255
I can tighten more if I use a wrench but I'm worried about cracking the fitting or threads... might be my last resort if nothing else

bump! any other recommendations before I snug it up using wrench or something..?

>>1040341
I don't think there's much else you can do here desu rather than just trying a new peice or tightening.

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>>1040341
>bump! any other recommendations before I snug it up using wrench or something..?

If wrench tight doesn't solve the problem, look for pic related style union.
It has two flat faces with an O ring between them.
I use them in PVC (white) but they are available in ABS

>>1040348
Yeah thats what I was looking for ideally, but didn't see any.. guess i'm wrenching

>>1040234
>so I put a bit of tef tape
It doesn't seal on the threads so the tape is useless.
It seals on the reddish washer so it needs to be tight enough to compress each side of the washer a bit.
It's very important the two pipes be in straight alignment. Any tilting of one pipe relative to the other will cause a leak.

>>1040365
Understood about the tef tape. Many said it was more of a lubricant - meaning I could get a tighter 'hand tight' given the cramped space.

As for the alignment, I came across the same advice online... not sure what more I can do since I can only really view it at one angle - less I use my phone to get another. But, hands, and space.

Sorry if it sounds like I'm making excuses but removing, reinstalling and priming the filter only to see if it leaks is quite an inefficient and cumbersome process.

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>>1040368
Sounds like you're doing everything you can and doing it right.
If you end up taking it apart again, put a thin film of lube on one side of the washer.
This will allow it to tighten as much as possible without the friction of the rubber holding back the spin.
I have a pair of pic related just for threaded PVC fittings.

Good luck.

>>1040414
Its always nice to have some reassurance - even if from strangers on the internet.

So today I gave it a good tightening with pliers. Unfortuantely, still leaking... I'm thinking a beefier gasket/washer/oring might be my next step. Looking at the thin red washer, it looked like the male end didn't make full contact all around evenly - so I can see where the alignment thing really is important. Hopefully a thicker rubber washer will reduce the chances of... error.

>>1040614
It's a little difficult to describe but I make the alignment as close as possible before starting the threaded ring.
Then when it starts tightening I hold the pipe with my left hand while turning the nut with the pliers with my right.
While turning the nut, I gently rock the pipe around a little with my left hand.
This seems to help the seating of the fitting.

Due to your installation it looks like that would be difficult. But if you can, loosen it a bit and try that. It's free!

The thicker washer sounds good

>>1040623
Sounds good. Thanks for the tips. Heading over to Rona shortly to find a different washer and maybe see if I can find the old Irish lad that works in the plumbing section

So the rubber washer is in the spinning female part right? The spinning female part is basically molded around the pipe so you can't take it off. The rubber washer is sealing the spinning female part to the male threads. The spinning female part is held to the pipe with fiction, that is where your leak is. Unfortunately, because the female part is molded in its spot you can't get an oring in there. Even if you could you then wouldn't be able to properly tighten it. You have the wrong fitting for the job. If this was a drain it would probably be fine, but since the system is under pressure it's not going to work. That' s my theory anyway.

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>>1040650
Not OP but if I understand his union correctly it should look similar to pic related.

> five hours in paint to make a cutaway

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>>1040669

Google doesn't read posts for captcha...

>>1040253
I normally like to put a coupler like that where it would be more accessible. Can you squeeze it into the horizontal run before the valve and put a plain straight up the back?

>>1040669
Hah! Thats great, I dig the effort. You're right though it does look exactly like that. I've since made a trip to the hardware store to look for some washer alternatives, and came out with a larger diameter rubber washer that'll fit better and make 100% contact with the male threads since the supplied red washer is smaller and barely makes 100% contact unless you have it /perfectly/ aligned without it shifting as you juggle and thread it. Also got a compression ring similar to the one above, which centers the threads with the bevelled edge and looks like it was made for the damn union.

>>1040680
Unfortunately not, the horizontal section is made entirely of bends and the ball valve. No room for excess pipe/fittings without overcomplicating the build. I'dve liked to have it on the horizontal but I just couldn't.

Anyways, I have faith in the new rubber washer and compression ring!

Thanks all!

>>1040688
Keep us posted.

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>>1040694
Right on. So, instead of proceeding with the build and fixing the leak, I felt the need to make a diagram...

>>1040669 I raise your 5hr paint section drawing and raise you a 30 minute illustrator drawing! The one change being that the male insert is bevelled on the inside, meaning theres a very little area to actually crush/contact the red washer, and that the red washer is just big enough to make 100% contact when perfectly aligned. So to remove any doubt, I got a bigger washer and a compression ring which should align and give more contact area to crush said washer

>will get to fixing now. just having fun here strangely

>>1040699
I thought the top part had a flat on the end - not beveled.
I don't see how it could ever work without the ring you added.
I'm not sure you didn't make your own union from parts not designed to work together.
The top part as you've drawn it looks like a typical slip joint coupling where the compression ring compresses on tubing which is sized to fit through the nut, through the coupling, and into the pipe.
Are you sure you bought a real union in one package?

>>1040699
>and a compression ring
>>1040241
>There should be a compression ring that sandwiches between the two parts

>>1040712
I had the same suspicion too - about the pieces being mismatched etc. And, as far as I can tell, thats how they came... I made sure to check out like 4 or 5 to verify that I wasn't just picking up random parts... they all looked that way. Flat red washer, no compression ring, and a bevelled edge. The parts are all just in bins, open, so yes people can easily mismatch and misplace parts but it wasn't just one or two. They were all like this.

>>1040714
I mean it makes complete sense, and it fits so well that one would think thats how it should be sold. But, to reiterate, there were no compression rings in any of the unions in the bin - only red washers. I picked up a loose compression ring off the other shelf that fit - again I only saw compression rings on these >>1040248 fittings


Anyhow... with the compression ring and washer, it seems that the leak has been remedied, but only under the circumstance that water is flowing through the system. It seems that if I close off the ball valve and water/pressure builds up in the system, it'll leak - albeit slowly - at the same spot. I think I know where it went wrong, and that would be the alignment of female ring being a bit cocked to one side despite my best efforts to keep it straight. Seems that when I tighten it, it just wants to pull a bit on one side and not stay straight. I guess its just down to how well I can fiddle with it and keep it straight from now on... Might play around with removing the rubber washer and only using the compression ring, and seeing if thatll remove any slop. Since its a hardish plastic ring maybe it'll be rigid enough to prevent the cocking during tightening.

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Welp, heres a few pics of the receipent of these efforts and her diy'd home - including the stand, basking dock (which she broke and I've since repaired), basking enclosure, and filtration system that I built.

I'm calling it done - for now. Thanks for all the help /diy/