Faucet to copper t fitting

.I need help with figuring out the threading for a short run of copper piping. The po of our 1981 CHB 34 did a half a** fix on copper piping to a faucet in the aft head. The thing was blowing water everywhere. I found that the connection to the faucet was threaded and wrapped with caulking. Ugg. So I removed it and took it to Lowes for a fix. The faucet side is 1/2 inch but the T fitting is a threading I cant figure out. It's not 1/2 inch like the other end, but close. I will eventually switch the whole system to pex but for now I just need this one small piece. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

It may be British or Euro sourced which is close to our pipe sizes but is no match.

Perhaps a new faucet , good grade with ceramic seals, might be easiest to install now.

The faucet isn't the problem. It's the t fitting with the odd threading. I can find straight 1/2 all day long, but not the t fitting end

If truly temporary...say a few years or so.... you can cut off the fittong, find suitable tubing/hose that will slide over the copper, use 4 clamps or so and end in a barbed fitting that will fit the faucet.

Many will say its not right or wont work, but theres a boatload of old trawlers out there with that fix.

Mine was till I went pex.

The next alternative would be to see if you could get a flare fitting in standard sizes to work on the faucet....if it fits on the copper tubing you should be able to get it to work...if it doesn't you could fall back to the flexible tubing/hose route.

Mgtgrafix said:

The faucet isn't the problem. It's the t fitting with the odd threading. I can find straight 1/2 all day long, but not the t fitting end

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It might very well be BSP / metric thread which looks like NPT. BSP thread will not seal (although it will tighten) if coupled to NPT. There are adapters available on line if you want to go to the trouble. BSP / metric thread is very common throughout the rest of world

http://www.titanfittings.com/Produc...4s0X_KnQN4wdwO8EC6v71yy4nSrqeUERoCl3gQAvD_BwE

Sorry my previous post had incorrect link. I corrected. Here is correct link again

Male BSPP to Female NPT Adapter-SS-9035| Titan Fittings | Fittings online

I have fixed one leak that froze and split the copper pipe by cutting out the section and joining with rubber hose and hose clamps. Has held fine for years and that lets the area potentially freeze again without future damage.
People might say its a bad idea to use hose and clamps, but it has been fine.
After a while, rubber hose seems to stick itself hard on to metal pipe, perhaps micro corrosion sets up between hose and pipe. So plenty of friction to prevent it from slipping off.

I had a fleeting thought to someday repair with copper, but why bother, likely would freeze and crack again. The black hose section is about a foot long, way aft under the rear deck. I did put some foam insulation on those pipes. The break was a lowish spost that water could sit in after being drained for the winter.

psneeld said:

If truly temporary...say a few years or so.... you can cut off the fittong, find suitable tubing/hose that will slide over the copper, use 4 clamps or so and end in a barbed fitting that will fit the faucet.

Many will say its not right or wont work, but theres a boatload of old trawlers out there with that fix.

Mine was till I went pex.

The next alternative would be to see if you could get a flare fitting in standard sizes to work on the faucet....if it fits on the copper tubing you should be able to get it to work...if it doesn't you could fall back to the flexible tubing/hose route.

Click to expand...

Buying a simple pipe flaring tool on line will allow you to flare the end of copper pipe. Once it’s flared a single hose clamp will do and leaks won’t be an issue.

Will cost more than 4 hose clamps but will be more reliable.

Insulating the pipe won’t do anything for you unless it is a hot water supply and all that will do is save a bit of running the tap to get the hot water from the tank. Except this, pointless. Fix it properly or add a drain fitting.

Its tough to say what the issue is without a pic of the fittings.

I doubt if it is a problem with British (BSP) threads. With some sizes there is a mismatch in threads per inch, but both BSP and NPT have 14 threads per inch on 1/2" and 3/4" fittings. There is a slight difference in thread angle (55 deg vs 60 degree) but this will still seal at household water pressure.

The problem may be that you are trying to mate a 1/2" NPT tapered thread to a 1/2" parrallel thread. Have a close look. Tapered threads seal on the thread. Parallel threads seal on the end face of the fitting.

Post a picture.



Unfortunately, the plumbing trade lives by a nomenclature that is almost its own language. Add to that regional "dialects" that corrupt otherwise understandable descriptions, and you're describing stuff in what might as well be a foreign language. I've been in or around the business for about 50 yrs. but what you're describing, no offense intended, is gibberish. Point being, that you can describe it all day long, but if you're trying to describe fittings with the goal of matching up another fitting, unless you use accurate and correct nomenclature, it's almost impossible for someone to determine 'oh, yeah, that's a wing-wang and you need a wally-washer based on the description alone. Just too many different fittings out there.



If you can post a picture, someone will no doubt recognize the fitting you're trying to connect to. There's a very broad range of experience here, but plumbing is one of those trades that even an experienced tradesman may come up against something new now & then. Hope we can get you some direction!

Thanks for all the replies. I showed it to my plumber friend and I am able to reuse the fixture. Installed it back today and it works like a champ. Thank u all....

Mgtgrafix said:

Thanks for all the replies. I showed it to my plumber friend and I am able to reuse the fixture. Installed it back today and it works like a champ. Thank u all....

Click to expand...

Aren’t you going to tell us what the resolution was? Maybe others can learn from your experience. That is why this forum exists.

Sure..sorry about that. On the faucet side the po did not put any type of connection to prevent a leak other than plumber's putty. My guy gave me a rubber cone and washer that when connected the cone washer pressed into the base of the sink creating a leak free seal. Sorry I dont have a pic since I already installed it.