Stick to what you know best

[Steve weightman]

Speaking as a home DIYer / novice myself, whilst I can see what's wrong in all these photos can someone enlighten me why the use of PTFE is wrong? I've used it on several joints at home and feel a bit embarrassed now

There's no point wrapping it around the threads if it's needed at all wrap it around the olives took me ages to take it all off from this job

 

[Ray Stroud]

Interesting. When I was shown the basics decades ago, it included putting tape around the male thread as a cleaner way than using jointing compound. Are you saying use nothing at all unless you get a leak?

 

[Harvest Fields]

I just use the compression fitting.

 

[Millsy 82]

Interesting. When I was shown the basics decades ago, it included putting tape around the male thread as a cleaner way than using jointing compound. Are you saying use nothing at all unless you get a leak?

Around a Male thread yes. Around the thread on a compression doesnt do anything. The olive causes the seal a bit of paste around the pipe/ olive is enough

 

[Best]

Speaking as a home DIYer / novice myself, whilst I can see what's wrong in all these photos can someone enlighten me why the use of PTFE is wrong? I've used it on several joints at home and feel a bit embarrassed now

The threads on a male joint are solely where the water can pass and need ptfe or other to seal.
The threads on compression joints are not solely where water can pass and are only for the nuts to hold the fitting together between the compressed olives.
If the olives failed to seal properly in a compression joint that you had also used ptfe on threads, then the water would just pass between the gap between nut and pipe

 

[SimonG]

Just imagine all the crap you can't see

 

[Jerry]

At least its all compression and not pushfit!