tighten body jets- no grip?

Discussion in 'Plumbers' Talk' started by prosody, Jan 28, 2017.

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  1. prosody

    prosody New Member

    hi, first post on a great community, hope someone can help?

    I'm more handyman than plumber, fitting a shower for a friend.
    nearly done - supply pipes and valve/fittings are in, tested for leaks and now wall is tiled, but I'm unsure how to adequately tighten the body jets (image linked below)...there's no obvious way to grip the shaft while turning and the escutcheon/ jet-bearing front plates turn freely on the shaft so I can't feel for resistance to know it's tight, plus I can't see behind to check for leaks... any idea?

    https://images.victorianplumbing.co.uk/images/Milan-Body-Jet-1-x-Slim-Square-Jet-detail1.jpg

    also, the shower arm has an excessively long thread which has been supplied with backnut, steel washer and rubber washer as well as escutcheon. I'm assuming I can discard all but the escutcheon, cut the thread down to size and simply screw the arm into the wall-mount elbow which is set into rawl plugs in the plaster and brick behind?

    thanks for any help!
     
  2. kiaora

    kiaora Guest

    hi
    not sure of your question?
    do you have access to the nut at the back of the spray outlet?

    you say no leaks, and the spray moves freely, so whats the problem? is it loose?

    regards
    peter
     
  3. prosody

    prosody New Member

    hi peter, thanks for replying, sorry if i wasn't clear. not sure i'll be much clearer here so will throw as many words at is as possible - hopefully a few of them will stick!

    it's a brick/moistureboard/tile wall. around 400mm x 400mm of bricks have been removed and replaced with 4x2 studwork to recess the shower mixer valve, moistureboard continues from brickwork over the the studwork, tiles on the moistureboard. (small bathroom, false wall for shower would have made getting the omni-tub in as well impossible).

    the pipework and in-wall fittings I(wall-mount elbows x4 for body jets, x1 for overhead arm) are all done and checked for leaks, but after tiling there are now 4 body jets as linked above to screw through holes in tiles into the elbows which are mounted on the studs behind the tanked moisture board and tiles.

    the jets have male threads to match the wall-plate elbows behind. there is no nut or anything other than perfectly round, shiny chrome on any part of the jet, other than escutcheon and spray-jets themselves which rotate freely on the fitting - turning them does not turn the thread
    .
    i have to screw these into the elbows from in front but the chromed shaft between threaded section and actual jet-plate is only 17mm, which after 10mm of tiles leaves only 7mm of shaft - and that 7mm is in between the chrome escutcheon and tiles so i am unable to get, say, molegrips with a cloth in, or any other tool i can think of around it in order to nip it down.
     
  4. kiaora

    kiaora Guest

    ummm...
    are you saying you fitted female elbows behind the shower and now want to screw the spray jet to the female elbow?

    if so, it may be, that the spray nozzle can be dismantled, it looks like a c spanner may be able to dismantle the head, and it may have a square hole inside? like a rad valve?

    regards
    peter
     
  5. prosody

    prosody New Member

    yeah that's right.

    i just edited that post to describe in proper detail what's going on, but screwfix told me i exceeded the 10minute time limit to edit and deleted my changes... kinda wish it'd told me i only had ten minutes!!

    i did investigate the jet to see about dismantling, and am not 100% certain that is impossible but it looks to me like the actual front-plate is directly connected by a ball-in-socket type arrangement which i would say is not coming out without damage.

    where would you use c-spanner?
     
  6. prosody

    prosody New Member

    are you referring to the black line down the front of the shaft? that must be a shadow as there's no such line on the 4 jets here!
     
  7. Doall

    Doall Active Member

    I've fitted this set up before a real pita there is no way I could find to tighten them all four of them. Done my best and to date been good as gold did use some clear silicon though to stop water getting in behind plate
     
  8. Doall

    Doall Active Member

    As for the over head soaker I had to cut a access panel into ceiling as there's no loft accesss where I fitted it to tighten nut regards david
     
  9. prosody

    prosody New Member

    yeah pain in the *** for sure! stuck some tape on and tightened as best I could. advised he might want to get a pro in to dismantle and refit when he's got the cash . summary: **** Victoria plumbing and shiny modern showers built for show not functionality.
     
  10. Doall

    Doall Active Member

    Hell of a shower though with the body jets what system is he using combi or pump ?
     
  11. CJHarknessMoore

    CJHarknessMoore New Member

    If you use a 6mm Allen key to unscrew the fitting, accessible from 1/2” pipe end it will allow you to remove the jet head and tighten in from the front. Screwing tight again manually seals down the jet. Refitting the seal at some point might be interesting though once assembled...
     

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