Compression ring for dishwasher leaking

[wahoowad]

I installed a new dishwasher this weekend. It was an easy swap out and the electrical, wastewater hose and water supply were all plumbed to the same locations. Lucky me.

The water supply feeds into a 90 degree brass (copper?) fitting and goes into the unit. I reused my existing compression ring and threaded fitting to connect to the 90 degree brass fitting. It felt snug when I put it back on the new unit and made sure to not over tighten it (but I still made it pretty snug with a wrench). Sure enough I'm getting few drops of water out of it. Hardly enough to call a leak but I don't want to put the cover back in place with it likes this. I tried to pull the compression ring off just to inspect it before putting it all back together but it wouldn;t come off. Now I'm thinking I need to put a new one on but the old one will be a groan to remove. Any advice?

The instructions said to not use teflon tape on the threaded fitting. Should I still try some? Or should I try to tighten the fitting down over the compresing ring even more? I already snugged it up once and not sure if I should crank on it anymore.

Of course it is hard to reach and see as well without totally removing the unit.

 

[Harley]

If its not a real leak, as it would seem, I really don't see any harm in using either teflon tape or a little plumber's putty. I would think it would be ok with that, if the compression fitting is going to be too much of a pia to get out of there.

 

[TMonter]

If you have the tools try and dump the compression fitting for a flare one. Flare fittings don't have the annoying leak problem. Either that or get a new "stainless" flex in place of the copper tubing. That's what i did on my new dishwasher.

 

[Gooserider]

I would say that if you are only getting a drop or two, it might be worth just giving it a bit more of a crank with the wrench...

Gooserider

 

[HarryBack]

I assume the compression ring you speak of is the ferrule? The one that goes over the plumbing line, when the compression nut is tightened, it squeezes and deforms the ferrule to tighly grab the line? As a general rule of thumb, ferrules ARE NOT reuseable. If you take one off, go to the hardware store and buy another....they are all of $.15 or so. You can reuse the fitting and nut of you like, though I usually replace both the nut AND ferrule.

 

[wahoowad]

Yes, ferrule is the correct term. I could not pull it off which is why I decided to leave it on. Maybe I'll fool with it this weekend and try again. I did not know about the flex lines when I installed the new one, but may consider that as well. Thanks guys.

 

[keyman512us]

I assume the compression ring you speak of is the ferrule? The one that goes over the plumbing line, when the compression nut is tightened, it squeezes and deforms the ferrule to tighly grab the line? As a general rule of thumb, ferrules ARE NOT reuseable. If you take one off, go to the hardware store and buy another....they are all of $.15 or so. You can reuse the fitting and nut of you like, though I usually replace both the nut AND ferrule.

Harry hit this one right on the head!

...Although it might come down to "doing it right"...I would suggest another 1/8 to a 1/4 turn on the nut.

Just remember the proper tightening torque for 99% of everything out there is always "A 1/4 turn before breaking"...lol