KP Texan
Marine Engineer
So the wife bought a new shower head at Costco and I was going through the process of installing, but realized the short 6" shower arm wasn't allowing much clearance for this large shower head. Made a trip to HD and purchased an 8" as a replacement.
Now this wasn't my first rodeo with a shower arm - I've always found them to be a bit of a pain because you have to have adequate tightness to prevent leaking, but also have it clocked perfectly.
When I first installed the arm, I used Rectorseal T Plus 2 thread compound only and tightened hand tight. Thought it would be good, so installed a 1/2" cap on the end to pressure test - was good at the beginning, but then I noticed a drop start to form after a minute or so.
So then I removed it, and gave it a go with teflon tape + Rectorseal. Got it fairly tight and decided to go another turn. I ended up feeling uncomfortable with how tight it was, so I decided to back it out and start over.
Third try - used a bit less teflon tape + Rectorseal and then cranked it down by hand. Felt like I could get another full turn out of it, but it was getting really hard by hand. I made the executive decision to use the handle of my channelocks in the end of the arm to use for slightly more leverage for about half a turn. Pressure checked, and all was good after that.
My question is, is it unheard of to use any other leverage besides the short drop on the arm to turn it? I didn't really use much force with the channellock handle, but I start to second guess myself afterwards and hope I didn't overtighten it - it certainly didn't give way like the threads stripped and the arm didn't seem distorted in any way. I also know hand tight is a subjective torque, so this one is hard to answer.
It also didn't help that the job was taking longer than I initially conveyed to my wife, and it was interfering with shower time, haha. Kind of turned up the stress level a bit!
A screwdriver in the end gives you more leverage.
Terry Love
Now this wasn't my first rodeo with a shower arm - I've always found them to be a bit of a pain because you have to have adequate tightness to prevent leaking, but also have it clocked perfectly.
When I first installed the arm, I used Rectorseal T Plus 2 thread compound only and tightened hand tight. Thought it would be good, so installed a 1/2" cap on the end to pressure test - was good at the beginning, but then I noticed a drop start to form after a minute or so.
So then I removed it, and gave it a go with teflon tape + Rectorseal. Got it fairly tight and decided to go another turn. I ended up feeling uncomfortable with how tight it was, so I decided to back it out and start over.
Third try - used a bit less teflon tape + Rectorseal and then cranked it down by hand. Felt like I could get another full turn out of it, but it was getting really hard by hand. I made the executive decision to use the handle of my channelocks in the end of the arm to use for slightly more leverage for about half a turn. Pressure checked, and all was good after that.
My question is, is it unheard of to use any other leverage besides the short drop on the arm to turn it? I didn't really use much force with the channellock handle, but I start to second guess myself afterwards and hope I didn't overtighten it - it certainly didn't give way like the threads stripped and the arm didn't seem distorted in any way. I also know hand tight is a subjective torque, so this one is hard to answer.
It also didn't help that the job was taking longer than I initially conveyed to my wife, and it was interfering with shower time, haha. Kind of turned up the stress level a bit!
A screwdriver in the end gives you more leverage.
Terry Love
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