First, slide on the compression nut, making sure it’s the right way around. Next, slide the olives onto the pipe then side the slip-on coupling onto the pipe.

Again, yes. Your valve has both a screw or a handle, and both can fail as time goes by. Why Is My Isolation Valve Leaking?Hand tighten the compression nut on both ends. Hold the body of the valve with a wrench to stop it turning and then tighten the nut at either end. This tightening process compresses the olive around the pipe to form the seal. When the nut feels moderately tight, give another half turn to fully tighten but don’t overdo it. Overtightening Isolating valves of all types also come in a right angled form which allows you to fit them to the top of a pipe running along, or up, the wall so that the opening for hose connection is facing out into the room (See below). In a hard water area it could be a build up of limescale causing problems or the seal may have failed, either way it is a cheap and simple job to replace it and not worth trying to repair unfortunately. If you’re fitting your isolation valve in an existing run of pipework then you will need to be a little more accurate with your cuts. However, if you are using plastic Speedfit pipes along with copper compression fittings then always use pipe inserts as they prevent the fitting itself crushing the pipe when tightened as this would almost certainly result in a leak.

If this is the case, the best tool to use is a pipe cutter (or pipe slice as they are also known) as it will give you a clean cut and also bevel the cut edge, leaving no rough burrs or jagged edges. Flexible hose tap connector with isolation valve 15mm How do you tell if an Isolation Valve is on or off?

How Do I Stop My Isolation Valve From Leaking?

The most common location for toilet cistern isolation valves is underneath the cistern itself. This can either be an independent isolation valve on the pipework with a female to female flexible tap connector attached to it, or a flexible tap connector with an integrated isolation valve. Indeed, if you would like to know more about Speed Fit or pushfit fittings, then see our project here.

Say you want to do some plumbing work on your toilet. You’ll need to cut off the water to the toilet without affecting the rest of your house. An isolation valve allows you to do this. The valve is positioned on the feed from the main supply, and closing it will stop water from reaching your toilet. Maintenance

The easiest way to think of it, is that it is as if the valve is pointing along the flow of the water. It is also possible to buy flexible lengths of pipe, called flexible hoses, that are in most cases used to connect taps to the hot and cold water supply and these can also include a built-in isolation valve (see image below).