Plumbing Question - Unions

[rbredding]

Has anyone ever had trouble disconnecting a union they hard plumbed into their system (years ago?). I'm getting ready to bring a 90gal online and I don't want to have to take the thing apart in a year only to find that the unions have completely frozen together.


has this been an issue for anyone?

Is there a fix like Vaseline or some other lubricant that will facilitate taking the unions apart (way) down the road... ?

 

[budsreef]

I took some apart that had been together for a year recently with no problems. I don't see how it would be an issue.

 

[jonboyb]

Mine releases very easily (although not very old) but I found you just have to barely sung them up....not crank down on them to get good seal.

 

[markl]

Did you glue it while it was closed to the pipe?I've seen people glue them together from the glue running into the union.

 

[enderg60]

teflon tape on the union threads every time

 

[skriz]

I've found the better quality unions work better than the cheapies.

I removed mine after 6 years in service and they came off like they were just installed 5 minutes ago..it was awesome!

If you're going to put something on the threads, I wouldn't use teflon as that would only make it tighter (you don't get your seal from the threads, you get it from the o-ring). You can add some dielectric grease or even vaseline to help it glide better. The "lock up" is generally due to the 2 parts not lining up square (at an angle). As long as you make sure you square your plumbing nicely, you'll be fine.

 

[rbredding]

cool... I appreciate it.. I was thinking dielectric grease, but if it's not going to be an issue, it's not going to be an issue..

i dunno what a high quality union runs, but I purchased mine from lowes..

Thanks everyone..