Guide to replacing toilet supply tubing

[pretzelb]

I replaced the working parts of my toilet with a easy kit but I must have damaged the flex spiral metal tubing because it leaked and eventually broke when I was investigating. Now I need to replace this tubing. It's the tubing that runs from the water supply to the toilet.

What scares me is that it seems to be on the far side of the compression valve and it appears to be molded to the valve. I'm not sure if I can just use a wrench to detach the now broken hose and I'm really afraid of replacing the compression valve.

I can easily go buy some new tubing but what I'd really like to see is some pictures on how this is done. I see plenty on replacing the toilet and it's parts, but haven't found any on how to replace this tubing. Any ideas?

Edit: I took another look and I don't see how I can replace the flex metal tube. It appears to be one piece attached to the valve. There is no nut where the tube meets the valve, only smooth round metal.

[Hawk]

quote:Originally posted by pretzelb

I replaced the working parts of my toilet with a easy kit but I must have damaged the flex spiral metal tubing because it leaked and eventually broke when I was investigating. Now I need to replace this tubing. It's the tubing that runs from the water supply to the toilet.

What scares me is that it seems to be on the far side of the compression valve and it appears to be molded to the valve. I'm not sure if I can just use a wrench to detach the now broken hose and I'm really afraid of replacing the compression valve.

I can easily go buy some new tubing but what I'd really like to see is some pictures on how this is done. I see plenty on replacing the toilet and it's parts, but haven't found any on how to replace this tubing. Any ideas?

Edit: I took another look and I don't see how I can replace the flex metal tube. It appears to be one piece attached to the valve. There is no nut where the tube meets the valve, only smooth round metal.

Sounds like you have single piece angle stop & supply. !/2 compression or threaded at the wall, 3/8 from the stop to the toilet and 7/8 at the toilet. Simple to change, just have everything in hand and of coarse, turn the water off outside at the service valve. Piece of cake. TIP: Buy the angle stop and supply separately. Don't look for the single piece type as you already have. There crappy construction grade. Hope this helps. [)]

[pretzelb]

Thanks for the reply. I thought I was missing something because I didn't think they'd make these things as single pieces, but it looks like they do.

Now to find the main water cut off. Time to ask the neighbors where their cut off is and go from there. Since we don't have basements in Dallas it's either got to be in the attic or outside the house.

Edit: Forgot to ask something. Any trick to installing the new valve? Is it just a matter of using a wrench to un-install and install or does it require some heating, solder, or putty of some sort?

[Hawk]

Your welcome! Our company policy requires us to change them (single piece) if we touch them for obvious reasons.
If: The stop is threaded, use TWO wrenches to remove. Back up the steel or brass nipple out of the wall while turning the stop. Dope or Teflon tape the threads before installing the new one. If the nipple is copper ( or compression type), back up the nut while turning the body of the stop. If your uncomfortable with doing it, seek professional help. Sometimes , even the simplest procedures can go south real quick.

[pretzelb]

Thanks to Hawk and a ton of help from my neighbor I was able to replace this valve. We used the city shut off since neither of us knew where the home owner water shut off was. After that it was pretty easy. The hard part was figuring out which size valve to use. I bought two different sizes at Lowe's since I had no clue what I needed. Turned out that a 3/8" x 5/8" quarter turn angle valve did the trick.

It definitely requires two wrenches - one to grip the valve and the other to loosen the nut (compression nut?) that holds the valve to the pipe. Once the valve came off we tried to take the old nut off too but it would not come off. There was a small joiner tube (looked like copper) inside the pipe that stopped the nut from coming off. We left it in place and just attached the new valve using the old nut. Applied some teflon tape to the threads and tightened things up. I also screwed up with my new supply tube. I got a 20" tube and probably only needed about 6". I might replace it but I hate to undo something that works. The new tube is much nicer. It has a built in attaching nut on each end making install a breeze. It's also some kind of plastic/rubber combination that seems very sturdy.

All this started because I noticed a small leak after installing the new toilet mechanisms. I hope it was caused by a crack in the old tube but not sure yet.

I'm actually debating whether or not to replace the other valve in the guest bathroom now. I hate messing with working stuff but the new setup seems to be much higher quality - much like the new mechanisms I installed on the toilets.

[Hawk]

quote:Turned out that a 3/8" x 5/8" quarter turn angle valve did the trick.

Good news! Glad I could help. The new style [u]1/4 turn stops </u> Ball Valve type are great. That's all I carry on the truck these days.

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Saftey First! </center>

[pretzelb]

As an FYI to anyone interested in this topic I ended up replacing my other valve too. This didn't go as well for some reason. The connection to the pipe and the new valve kept dripping. I had to turn off the water and re-install the valve three times. I'm not sure what I did right on the third try but so far it's drip free. I made more of an effort to keep the valve still as I tightened the nut. I was worried that not using all the parts that came with the valve was a mistake but all appears well now.

Just goes to show you I was right - if it isn't broke don't fix it.