Plumbing Question 105
Question:
How tight do you have to get 1 ¼” galvanized well pipe?
I just drove a shallow well and I am having trouble getting the pipe to stop leaking and losing it’s prime. The problem is between the check valve and the sand point because the house plumbing holds pressure fine.
I used drive couplers for connectors and teflon tape plus pipe dope. I used 24” pipe wrenches and cranked hard on the joints. I kept the pipe wrench away from the joint in case I deformed the pipe.
Answer:
It should only be hand tight and maybe 2 to 3 turns with a wrench. Make sure you put teflon tape around the threads about 6 or 7 times plus a good amount of teflon based pipe dope. Use standard Galvanized couplings to join the pipe. Drive couplers may not set correctly and leak.