How should I use PTFE tape??

What you really mean is polytetrafluoroethylene tape. It's
not just boring PTFE tape. This stuff put man in space and stopped his scrambled eggs from sticking when he was up there,whlist he was wrapping the PTFE tape on the threads on leaking hydrogen cylinder,on take off just before it blew up.

 

Wow have always used ptfe tape or jet blue on olives. have in some instances used compression joints without it, and had them leak, put ptfe on the olive and no leak !!. cant see me changing my ways.

 

And neither should you coop.

A little jet blue jointing compound on the olive will secure a leak free joint every time.

Had this argument with the college and Prestex (never use)who will admit to the benefits if cornered.

Ptfe is a pipe thread sealing tape, mostly used on male threads for potable water and air lines and the food industry

You can also buy a liquid ptfe which is ideal for sanitary fittings, eg. showers etc.

 

also used on oil lines and fittings.

 

You learn something new every time you come onto this forum. I thought PTFE tape was used to seal a joint, however if it is only used to lubricate the threads on a joint, why do you have to use gas PTFE which is much thicker than normal when making a gas joint?

 

PTFE, Molybdenum Disulphide, Graphite all act as dry lubricants. Did you know burning PTFE creates a form of nerve gas. Smoking plumbers beware!

 

Just had this debate and found this thread to my favour ☺

PTFE "thread" tape is used on the thread, not olive.

Also see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_seal_tape

 

I'm not a plumber, but I've installed loads of pipework, for hydraulics & industrial gases,etc. The only time that I would use PTFE tape (or liquid) is on a male tapered thread, otherwise there should be a mechanical seal such as a bonded (Dowty) seal, olive, or something similar.

 

I use ptfe tape on rad tails......Lots of it!

Or is there a better way?

Surely there must be a better design for rad tails where they actually seat onto something?

 

Loctite 55.

 

Plumbers and those in the trade say never ptfe the threads on a compression fitting or use any sealing compound on the threads.
But if the inner edge of the compression ring that seats on the machined bevel is breached then the next easiest path is usually the threads. Which is where you will often get a weep.

 

Rad tails, is that where a tapered threaded male fitting screws into the radiator? If so, I stand by my original post.

 

I always use a single turn of PTFE on the threads of a compression fitting, not as a seal but to make the backnut turn smoothly (after all it is a lubricant as well as a sealing material). Conex fitting threads can be graunchy when dry - PTFE makes for smooth tightening and a good seal on the olive without too much tightening.

diymostthings

 

Boss white and hemp, thats the future that is,none of this namby pampy plastic stuff

 

Back in the late 90s , I was working in Germany & had to make a 1" iron pipe joint for a coolant system. For some reason, PTFE tape or liquid was not available there. I had to make the joint with hemp & some sort of non-hardening,nickel based paste. To my surprise, it actually worked !

 

I worked for a company many years ago that used cotton and paste, the story behind it,

the gaffer of that firm was a pipefitter himself and while he was fitting fire sprinklers in a cotton mill in the 60's ( there was hundreds of them in the North then) he ran out of hemp, industrial reels of cotton where everywhere around him so he used the cotton to save him a journey to the plumbers merchants, It worked that well he aquired a large number of reels in the back of his van, he never bought hemp again ,

 

Hemp and paste breaks down when exposed to high temperature.
Which is why ptfe is used for steam installations.

 

A pipe fitter once told me that if you grind some slate into a powder and then mix it with water to form a stiff paste then apply it to the thread it makes the best sealant ever (for steam pipes)...anybody else ever heard this?
Tappy,