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SuaveGato's avatar
SuaveGato
Explorer
Feb 20, 2016

Plumbing wrench? Spanner wrench? HELP?

Hello,
trying to see if there is a special wrench for the compression fitting on the black plastic plumbing? My shower drain down-pipe has come lose from the "J" pipe and I can't get it tight enough by hand to stay up, it keeps slipping back down. it's REALLY tight in there so I can't get a good enough position of leverage and grip to crank it down tight. Does anyone know if there is a wrench used to tighten these plastic compression fittings?

Thanks,
  • If that's the connection I think it is no wrench should be necessary. If hand tight isn't enough I suspect you don't have the little rubber (or whatever it's made of) gasket that goes under the nut. Without that it won't stay "stay up" no matter how tight you make it.
  • "SuaveGato"......My sister just had the same issue. The dealer overtightened the fitting when the coach was delivered new. Pretty much destroyed it. They had to replace the entire "J" trap.

    If yours is still good, you may need the nylon o-ring like "KD4UPL" stated above. Below is an exploded "J" trap and the O-rings. You can usually buy them separately.

  • Hand tight only on plastic fittings. If new seal is not working - small amount of Teflon dope should do the trick, unless something is really bad with it.
  • The white nut is a combination sealing ring and nut in one piece. You can also get a separate sealing ring if that is what you have.

    P-trap
  • thanks for the responses folks. The type of fitting I have has the all-in-one plastic nut and built in compression ring (the white one) so there is no lost part best I can tell.

    I think the problem is that in order for me to slip the shower drain downspout into the "J" trap, I have to lift the rest of the pipes weight that are connected to the system "downstream"... so that one fitting at the shower drain down pipe has to hold up the weight of the rest of the pipes.

    I think I am going to try and just hang the pipe with some plumbers tape to take the weight load and hold it in place, then the fitting won't need to support any weight and shouldn't have a problem sealing, since it's not a pressure system, just gravity. It should drain fine with no leaks if I can just get it to stay in place without slipping down and off... wish me luck, thanks.
  • liborko wrote:
    The white nut is a combination sealing ring and nut in one piece. You can also get a separate sealing ring if that is what you have.

    P-trap


    Thanks, guess it's called a "P trap" not a "J-trap".
  • Or place some blocks or similar under the P trap to support the weight of the plumbing.
  • BigSkyBob wrote:
    Or place some blocks or similar under the P trap to support the weight of the plumbing.

    Thanks, I thought of that first but the shower pan flexes a bit when someone is in it, so I didn't want to crack the pipes if they are propped up by wood, not allowing them to flex up and down with the shower pan when it moves. The plumbers tape would be anchored to a wood cross beam for the shower pan, so when it moves, the tape will move with it. I think this will work, we shall see?

    Thanks