My bathroom sink spontaneously started to leak last night. The leak is occuring at the the place where the flexible hot water supply tube connects with the copper pipe and fixture coming out of the wall. The fixture itself looks like the kind most toilets have with an elliptical knob to turn it on and off. When off, it is fine, when on it leaks quite a bit. I don’t know why this should suddenly start leaking, but any advice on what I can do to fix it would be greatly appreciated. I know calling a plumber should take care of it, but I would like to at least try it myself first.
You should see a nut that attaches the flexible tube to the copper tube. With the water turned off at the elliptical know, GENTLY, very GENTLY, (did I say GENTLY?), tighten that nut just a hair or two with a wrench. Now turn the water back on. If it’s fixed you done good!
If not, you might want to try another gentle turn or two. The only danger as such is overtightening and stripping the threads on the mating piece of copper.
Let us know how you make out.
I would turn the water off locally, at the elliptical knob, disconnect the hose from the copper fitting, remove the old layer of Teflon plumber’s tape from the threads on the fitting, wrap a new layer of Teflon plumber’s tape around the threads, and reconnect without over-tightening.
I’ll preface this with my generic disclaimer that goes with any answer to a plumbing question: Plumbing fixtures have changed over the years, and “standard” fittings from forty years ago may not be standard anymore. Plumbers have usually seen it all, and are equipped with adaptors and other fittings to make transitions from one “standard” to another. If your plumbing is old, a plumber may be the way to go to avoid major disasters.
That said, from your use of the term “flexible hot water supply tube”, should I assume that your plumbing is relatively current and that you are referring to the flexible braided hose that connects from your water supply stop valve to your faucet? Those usually attach at both ends with compression fittings. You may see something similar from the floor riser (or wall connection) and stop valve that supplies water to your toilet.
If so: The bad news is that these flexible lines may weaken over time or the gaskets may go bad, and they can start to leak. The good news is that no soldering is involved in the repair. You can shut off the water at the stop valve, and unscrew the nut that connects the braided hose to the water supply. Do the same up at the sink. To replace it, bring the hose to a hardware store; they come in different lengths and diameters, and you want to make sure you get the right one. It will reattach in the same way that you detached the old one; push the fittings together, then tighten the nuts. Finger tight is usually fine; you run the risk of damage if you tighten too much more than that.
A few cautions here: It sounds like the leak is in the hose. However, it may be in the stop valve (although I doubt this because you said that the leaking stops when the valve is off). If so, shutting off the valve to remove the hose may not stop the water. There will probably be other shutoffs in the water line before it reaches that stop valve; if not there is always the main shut off to the house. Find out where they are so that you can always kill water to the valve in case it is the valve that is leaking. I’m guessing that this is a simple fix, however.
Good luck.
How bout posting a photo?
The following is in case the valve itself is the problem;
This may work also and it seems counter intuitive, but give it a go –
Turn the knob FULLY on. Make sure it’s competely seated in the on position, that means, turning it counterclockwise until it stops and then making sure it’s snugly tight.
This will seat the packing and may prevent it from leaking.
The key to all plumbing is to realize that the washers (rubber) or compression fittings (little brass rings) are distorted when installed and cannot be reused. Fresh washers/rings, with threads wrapped with a new bit of teflon tape, will solve all leaks.
When I got home last night I took a closer look at the leak. It was the shut-off valve itself that was leaking, but only when the water was turned all the way on. I tightened (slightly) the outermost nut and the leaking stop. I assume that by doing that I recompressed the packing. This happened before the turn it all the way on suggestion. I would have liked to see of that would have worked for me.
Amen to that! My house is 40 years old, and I’ve done a lot of updating to it over the last year, and I’m finding that NOTHING is standard. I installed a new lavatory sink and cabinet in a bathroom, I had to use a hacksaw to remove the P trap or else tear out the wall to get to where it was connected to the main drain. I retiled part of a shower in the same bathroom only to find that the standard sized tiles are now 3/4 " bigger. I never did find matching tiles. I just rented a wet saw and cut them one at a time. I wanted to replace my front doors, but they’re a non standard size which drives the cost up like 2 to 300 %. I went to replace some moulding and the guy at home depot said “I haven’t seen this cut in years!”. Ugh.
If you are still looking, check out a real lumber yard. One that has a family name (Rufus Jones and Sons) and looks like hell. If they don’t have it in the back warehouse they can tell you who does.