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Bierp's avatar
Bierp
Explorer
Mar 24, 2017

Plumbing - parts and lingo question

I'm definitely a plumbing amateur. I've replaced a toilet and two faucets in my home, but nothing more complicated.

Now I'm trying to install a bidet on to my Dometic 310 toilet. The unit fits nicely, but I'm floundering a bit with the plumbing and I could use a bit of guidance.

First of all, I am really bad with plumbing lingo. The critical piece in my puzzle is the female threaded screw on collar that is at the end of my fresh water line and attaches to my Dometic water valve. What is the name for this part?



Whatever it's called, that's the piece that plays nicely with my water valve. It has a deep open thread area and the 1/2" hose isn't protruding. After several trips to see my helpful hardware man, I'm still struggling to find a connector that gets sufficient grip on my water valve without risking stripping the threads. Home Depot or Lowes will probably have more selection than the local Ace, but I'm all for an RV supply store or Amazon, if I can figure out what it is I'm asking/looking for.

My idea here is to tee off of the incoming water feed. One branch of the tee goes to the toilet water valve, one goes to the bidet. This should be simple, but I'm continually confounded by connectors that don't work as well as the one pictured.

I've pondered cutting the incoming hose, using the existing adapter on the valve and using barb connectors for the rest, but with my low plumbing skill set, I foresee disaster in this direction. If I ended up having to replace the incoming water lead...well, I don't know how to access the main line and I'm fairly certain that's beyond my ability.

If I can acquire another connector (even better with a male end on the other side of a short hose), I can finish this project before our trip in two weeks.

Any help here would be great, thanks.

18 Replies

  • The name of that connector is 1/2" (appears to be from image posted) female flanged connector with hose bib. You can purchase a "T" with two hose bibs and a threaded connector for the bidet supply line. In that case, you would cut the braided hose to install the 'T". A conventional steel braided supply line should connect to the fitting and have as much sealing as your original plastic connector, even though the center sealing gasket "protrudes" more than the original.

    If the supply valve has stripped threads (and it looks like the braided hose has an injury), it may be better to remove the hose and start with conventional fittings, a new valve, and a steel braided supply line from the wall. Installing a full-flow ball shut off valve while you're at it isn't a bad idea, either. If the toilet or bidet develops a leak when you're traveling, the shut off valve allows use of the rest of the fresh water system until repair is completed. I have shut off valves and steel braided supply lines on all my fresh water fixtures.

    Good luck with the plumbing!

    BTW, don't reef on the steel connector to cover all the threads on the valve like your plastic connector. It's not necessary to thread it on to cover all the threads on the valve. I believe this is your original problem.
  • RoyB's avatar
    RoyB
    Explorer II
    You can find all the items you need at the LOWES plumbing section...

    If I have part numbers I have great success finding these parts through AMAZON and with the Prime membership I have they get here in two days shipping even over the weekend...

    Roy Ken
  • SoundGuy wrote:
    PLEASE reduce the size of these pics! ;)


    Why, you can see them better larger.
  • Here's an image of the water valve. You can see how the threads don't start until maybe 1/8" from the tip.

  • Ok, so I'm still decoding this (remember how badly I suck at the lingo.)

    I have a steel braided supply line, but the gasketed center section protrudes quite a bit (as compared to the plastic fitting in the original post). The fitting isn't very deep and the threads on the valve don't go all the way to the tip of the male connector. That leaves very, very little play for the threads to grip.

    I'm on my 2nd valve because I stripped the first with a similar connection on my first try. (Though some of that was pure laziness, trying to install without removing the valve.) Still, even with a new valve in hand, I can't get much thread purchase with my braided hose.

    That's why I'm trying to identify exactly what I'd call that connector in image #1. It is sufficiently deep to get purchase and it doesn't protrude in the center. (I can actually attach that to my slightly stripped first valve).

    Am I making ANY sense? :)

    Appreciate the help.
  • I don't seem to have pex. Here's the image, but it looks like 1/2" fresh water hose. Not sure how that affects your reply?

  • I'm a plumbing contractor, if you have some pex pipe sticking up out of the floor just cut it with a pvc cutter, ask for a 1/2 " pex to 1/2" ips SHARKBITE fitting and a 12" 1/2x1/2 IPS steel braided supply line. push on the sharkbite fitting along with the insert on the pex, screw on the supply line to the threaded part of the sharkbite and the other end to your toilet. PM me if you need more help.

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