I realize this is a skill of the craft type of question, but how tight do you pull up your iron pipe into the fittings? I have always pulled up mine to about what I would guess is about 90% of my strength -really scientific, huh? I’ve never heard of a torque wrench for pipe. I usually use a 12″ wrench for 1/2″ and a 14″ for 3/4″ and a 18″ to take them apart if the previous mechanic didn’t use good dope. I am talking about natural gas lines here mainly, and only once did my runs not hold pressure (an elbow had an unnoticed pinhole). With a good pipe dope such as Rectorseal, do I really need to pull it up all that tight? I worry about leaks if not tight enough, and stretching/cracking the fittings if too tight.
Thanks for your opinions.
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The old saying is that you tighten until they snap and then back off half a turn.
Something to this. Once you crack a few you will develop a feel for tight enough but not too tight. I know of no plumbers, gas men or electricians with conduit that use any gauges or calibrated wrenches when tightening fittings.
I will say that I have had helpers who were bruisers and who had trouble tightening things without going too far. By the time they felt tight to them they were cracked and falling apart. My solution was to have them 'choke up' on the wrenches, or make them use shorter wrenches, to reduce their mechanical advantage. Effectively making them work harder to get the same effect. For the most part this worked.
Then again as an electrician I seldom have to worry about truly gas-tight connections so the plumbers may have different views. Where is 'Wet Head Warrior' when you need him?
Thanks, I would like to hear from those other plumbers as well. It just seems that what "feels" right to me is always 1/8th of a turn beyond the desired alignment, and the rest of the way around is literally stretching it.
A properly cut thread will hold when tightened by hand without tape or dope.
Problem is the quality of the fittings has dropped.