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c/ask-anything•campbell.robincampbell.robin•20d ago

Overheard a guy at the hardware store say 'tight is tight, too tight is broke' about plumbing fittings

That stuck with me because I used to crank every connection as hard as I could until I stripped a brass valve last month. Now I just snug it up hand tight plus a quarter turn, has anyone else found a simple rule like that for something they do all the time?
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ray_king
ray_king19d ago
My dad had a saying about everything mechanical, "if it won't go, force it, if it breaks, it needed replacing anyway." That definitely doesn't apply to plumbing, learned that the hard way with a PVC pipe fitting that cracked and flooded my garage floor. Now I just use a rule for tightening bolts on my truck, two fingers on the ratchet handle, if you have to grip it with your whole hand you're probably going too far. Works for spark plugs too, stripped a couple of those before I figured it out.
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danielh81
danielh8120d ago
Read a plumber once say finger tight is for sealing, wrench tight is for breaking.
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