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Apr 2, 2018
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london
Member Type
DIY or Homeowner
I had a small sink in the corner of a room I’m using and it was in the way so I removed it. I cut the hot and cold pipes and went and bought something to cap them with. At the DIY shop I bought two of these little plastic end caps shown in the picture that seal using the pressure in the pipe.

Sink_pipe_leak.jpg


When I turned the water back on the hot pipe sealed up perfectly but the cold did not. The end did not pop up and water started to dribble out the side of the cap. It was as if there was not enough pressure in the cold to make the little cap work properly.

so I wrapped it up with a load of the rubber sealing tape and it did the job for a few months but today there’s a drip, more than a drip, a little spray. I got down there and wrapped more round it till it looked like a rubber ball on the end of the pipe and it’s stopped for now but I’ll need to deal with it in the near future so I’m wondering what’s the correct way to seal a pipe like this?


Why did the little cap not work and if it’s because there is not enough pressure in the pip then what is the best way to seal a pipe end in this situation? Maybe I installed it wrong?

Any advise appreciated.
 
How did u cut the pipes?
If you left a rough edge it would damage the O ring seal inside the fitting.
You shouldn’t use a hacksaw, as better with pipe cutters or pipe slice.
But if you did use hacksaw, then carefully file the entire rough edge of pipe.
Use brass compression stopends to make a more permanent, safer joint.
Solder fittings best
 
Sorry guys my notification must of been messed up and I posted this in 2 DIY forums and waited days without a response so was a little shocked at the speed and quantity of answers here.

I did it with a hack saw and I filed it down so I’m thinking that the cap should not of been damaged but I’ll keep it in mind.

I did’nt think about the paint being a problem. From what I understand then the news is not too bad. If I redo it with a new cap checking the pipe end has no sharp burs and scrapping off the paint I should be able to get a better result.

My worries about water pressure sound unfounded then?
 
There metal pipes. I scraper some paint off, there’s layers of the stuff, and it’s copper. I had a look at the compression fittings linked and I think your right I’ll go with these instead, looks a bit more permanent. I don’t trust these plastic things so much now.

I’ll be sure to clean that paint off before or is that not such an issue with the compression joint?
 
I watch a video on how to install the compression fitting and it seems pretty strait forward but that compression stop end that was linked earlier in the thread, or the same from another supplier, do they come as a unit with the little olive and the two parts or do I need to get those but separately?
 
OK I worked it out. I think that’s it unless anyone has something else to add. Thanks for the help guys that pipe was really beginning to worry me.
 
Did you mean you replaced the cap with a compression?If so, fair enough..

Otherwise, the normal mistake would be not pushing the pipe in far enough.
 
  • Agree
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