I tried tight and tighter--what am I doing wrong?

The leak is at the joint on the underside of a wall hung toilet tank that connects the chromed flush elbow to the shank of the brass Douglas valve.

How tight past hand tight should I tighten it and if it still fails, is there a cheater fix (silicone caulk, epoxy or whatever)?

Thanks.

Silicone caulk will both lubricate and seal the joint.

And possibly make it impossible to ever remove it without using a hacksaw. You tighten it as tight as possible, regardless of how "hand tight" you can make it.

I've been siliconing SJ gaskets since 1912 and they all come apart.

is that (siliconing) a word?
in the old days (pre 1912) we used wicking and bowl wax.
i'm serious..
i have even used oakum. that is when we kept oakum, lead and the tools in the truck.

A slip joint gasket, without a friction ring, is going to contort. Are you using a brass/plastic friction ring?


Best Wishes

The only tool I have left on the truck from those days is the 'flamethrower' torch tip. You know, 200K btu per minute. It comes in handy now and then.

Agreed, wheelchair. It seems that friction rings are used on 2" gaskets, but not 1 1/2" or 1 1/4".



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"A slip joint gasket, without a friction ring, is going to contort. Are you using a brass/plastic friction ring?"

All that is there is a slip nut with a rubber washer screwed into the bottom of the Douglas valve.
Should there be more parts?
What is a friction ring?

Thanks for all the replies.



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lather it up with bowl wax..

quote; I've been siliconing SJ gaskets since 1912

BUT, have you been taking ANY apart? If you started in the business when you were 10 years okd, probably not uncommon in those years, that would make you 123 years old. How can you still use a computer? and where did you find 'silicone" in that year? A trip to the future in the De LOrean?



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If the slip joint nut was rubber and not nylon or a type of plastic, you certainly would need a friction ring which is a thin flat brass or nylon ring that is the same size as the interior of the nut. Using wax or another lubricant is not the best way to prevent a leak from a torqued gasket, but in a pinch you could do it that way.

I think you called my bluff, hj.

They do come apart; it's silicone, not epoxy.



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