Thread Sealant

[bbqzookeeper]

I have had a world of trouble with setting up my cooling on the still.
Tried white and pink tape from the big green box and would get great seals on almost everywhere, but despite wrapping the correct way and adjusting the number of wraps (from 2, 4, 6 to 8) - I still would get small, slow leaks (talking 2 drops/min).

After a little investigating online and going to a legit plumbing supplier, I grabbed myself a roll of Loctite 55.
It's the dental floss of the pipe sealant world :P

The crap is the cat's pyjamas! It seems to be a combination of pipe dope that is waxed onto the tape floss and has worked brilliantly for me. No leaks, and super easy. I'm not advocating it completely, but I've never had huge success with tapes in the past.

The biggest issue is the price, in you pay approx. $30 for 150m of the stuff. Yuck!
If someone can find a cheaper alternative I'd love to hear about it - I don't plan on going back to tape any time soon though (got a few metres left ;-) )

Also - will post photos of my still set up tomorrow!

[Redux]

hmmm i might look into this too... leaks are my thing...

always keen to see picks of folks setups too.. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Shiftynev]

I swear by this stuff, "Oateys Great White Pipe Joint compound with PTFE. I smear a little over the taped up thread and never had a drip. Used it recently when I flushed my hydronic heaters. I bought mine from ebay, from a bloke in WA.http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CLEARANCE-plumber-PTFE-paste-tape-for-holden-ford-austin-a30-midget-sprite-a40-/131390595809?pt=AU_Tool_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1e977d62e1

[Triangle]

Similar to above but in a stick form. I do a bit of work in air/hydraulics (manufacturing) and have found this to be the best stuff around. Fine to use without any other tapes etc and doesn't need to be cranked tight. If it's a loose thread for whatever reason and I want the fitting to locate in a certain orientation I'll thread tape it and use this together - however it will still seal up when the thread 'appears' to be loose.

http://www.loctite.com.au/3320_AUE_HTML ... 2629746689

[woodduck]

Not saying these aren't great ideas cause they sound like good products but back to the original post, it doesn't sound like enough wraps of tape. I use thread tape all the time and find it's ok but find the cheaper the tape and fitting the more wraps needed. I use 10 to 15 wraps some plumbers say up to 20 so this may be why it still leaked.

I'm sure there's a plumber or 2 out there that will let us know for sure.

[bbqzookeeper]

Yeah, you might be right. Looking online I only found contradictory information regarding the number of turns of tape to apply. Guess that's why we have plumbing as a trade and there are experts in it :smile:
Next time I try tape somewhere I'll give 10+ a try!

The handy thing about the loctite floss is that they themselves suggest a number of winds based on diameter, printed on the tube. This appeals to me.

[P3T3rPan]

All those plastic shit that you are using will work well when you have little experience but us plumbers know that good old hemp is the cheapest, best, least toxic, most natural, most reliable, and most durable of all packing materials for sealing wet joins.
Each of the poly tapes have uses, the Loctite tape is good for packing glands on valves the get real hot in use. I use this in a brewery I look after.
The PTFE tape is good for hot joins and temporary cold joins where you are undoing them often but hemp is the best for permanent joins.
PTFE is also good for dry joins such as gas and air.
As to the number of times you go around the join....this depends on the join cos each manufacturer has a different idea of how deep to cut the thread :scared-eek: hence the experience comment :teasing-neener: