Handyman role: plumbing: quick connects

Self-tutoring about plumbing: the tutor relates….

I had to change out a plumbing connector the other day…it seems its liner was disintegrating.

I went to the hardware store and got helpful advice. (I also made a few impulse buys.) When I got home I made preparations, then, with my son Paul’s help, began the job.

The old connector, which I was replacing with one identical, had a quick connect on one end. I’d heard that proper insertion depth of those is important, and that you can look it up for a specific one, by size.

One general idea I’ve learned about home maintenance is that, when fixing something, it seems best to change exactly what’s broken, but hopefully nothing else. Naturally I wondered if the old fitting had been placed at recommended depth, or if the tradesperson had used their own judgement. Since the new fitting was identical, the question arose: “Do I insert the pipe at the same depth as before, or do I go by the published guide?” I marked the old fitting’s place on the pipe before removing it.

Once the fitting was off, I measured the depth it had been placed to on the pipe: it was 1/8″ less than the guide said. Yet, it had never leaked. I made a new mark at the recommended insertion point, 1/8″ further from the end. Now there were two marks.

I reasoned that anywhere between the last one’s position and the recommended one would be good; the fitting seemed happy to come to rest between them.