Wamsutta
Well-known member
Don't buy it. When you go to tug on it, the ENTIRE roll slips on the spool ! 
Oatey Yellow Teflon Tape
- Thread starter Wamsutta
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Vinny
Well-known member
Gasoila is my preferred brand. Big box stores don't have it but small plumbing stores do.
Steel_Rain
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Beerhippie
Well-known member
This is the stuff I've been using for years:
Ain't cheap, but we bought it by the case back when we were building out the brewery. Their pipe dope is dope, too.
Ain't cheap, but we bought it by the case back when we were building out the brewery. Their pipe dope is dope, too.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
I prefer Tru-Blu pipe dope but couldn't you just simply cut off a piece and wrap that around the fitting. That's what I typically do with teflon tape of any brand.
SouthernIllinois
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I've used this stuff for a few years and haven't looked back:
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www.amazon.com
Lays right and don't get static bound like the cheapo stuff.
^^ That is my go-to as well.
I also use their paste sealant.
That brand was recommended to me by a 30+ year plumber.
redwrench60
Well-known member
You know that’s specialty tape for gas pipe and fittings, right? All of it had a different consistency and is a little less “cooperative “ for lack of a better term. I don’t use it unless I’m dealing with a picky inspector since the regular Blue Monster tape is rated for everything including natural gas and propane.
leadfoot415
Well-known member
Spent about the same a month ago to replace a 40 gallon natural gas water heater and a few fittings. Bradford white unit from ferguson. Ouch.Yes I was installing a new water heater yesterday. $835 hard earned cash.
NoahG
Well-known member
+1 for Blue Monster.
Schurkey
Well-known member
Is there REALLY a difference in pipe-thread tape? It's all Teflon (PTFE), there's several colors, and there's choices in the thickness of the tape.
The ordinary white stuff is really thin, I've seen yellow advertised as being thicker. If there's a color-code for thickness, I don't know about it. I figured every manufacturer either sells white...or their favorite color which signifies nothing except the brand of tape.
I do almost exclusively automotive--so pipe-thread tape is practically banned in my shop. I would consider using tape on compressed-gas plumbing, but NEVER in automotive use. Loctite/Permatex 592 is my go-to for automotive thread sealing.
The ordinary white stuff is really thin, I've seen yellow advertised as being thicker. If there's a color-code for thickness, I don't know about it. I figured every manufacturer either sells white...or their favorite color which signifies nothing except the brand of tape.
I do almost exclusively automotive--so pipe-thread tape is practically banned in my shop. I would consider using tape on compressed-gas plumbing, but NEVER in automotive use. Loctite/Permatex 592 is my go-to for automotive thread sealing.
White tape isn’t rated for gas.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
Typically, there are three versions of teflon tape: White, Pink and Yellow. Each has a specific purpose. My view is why deal with any of that **** when one can of TRU-BLU can do it all. I actually think I can apply pipe dope faster than I can wrap teflon tape.
redwrench60
Well-known member
Yes, there’s a big difference in cheap tape and pro quality tape. I prefer Blue Monster because it’s thick, tacky and has the right stretchy-ness. They sell it in many widths for ease of use on the bigger pipe and fittings. Pretty much every plumbing supply house around here carries it and it’s just good stuff.
It’s approved for liquids, oils/fuels, compressed air, natural gas, propane, and butane so no yellow tape needed unless you’re working on oxygen systems or you have a picky inspector stuck on color.
I like Gasolia dope and I also keep 592 for automotive and other select applications.
rlitman
Well-known member
I get that. Now get a spool of Loctite 55 and forget about all of the BS from tape.
Had the plumber out a month ago and he used some purple stuff. Used pipe dope and teflon tape. Never saw it before. Must be a new-fangled thing.
dr_clyde
Well-known member
I also use blue monster for everything except oxygen service, which requires tape/dope that was designed for use in a pressurized oxygen system.
Color is not indicative of anything, really, but it can be a clue. It isn't standardized, so it doesn't mean much beyond branding.
Tape/dope is ONLY required on tapered pipe threads, so you wouldn't see any in automotive use. Primarily used in the plumbing and pipefitting trades.
I have seen many people assume PTFE is a subsitute for threadlocker, anti-seize, gaskets, and many other tasks, but it is ONLY meant to lubricate and assist in sealing TAPERED pipe threads. A tapered pipe joint is truly self sealing, the threads distort to each other and form the seal, but the PTFE assists in this by lubing and taking up any gaps or small voids in the mating threads.
Flared fittings, bevel seats, swagelok, welding regulators and hoses, anything with a gasket, straight threads of any kind or basically any joint that ISN'T a tapered pipe joint does NOT need tape.
Yes, there is a HUGE difference. High quality tape is a pleasure to use and seals well, the cheap stuff is aggravating and doesn't work very well.
Color is not indicative of anything, really, but it can be a clue. It isn't standardized, so it doesn't mean much beyond branding.
Tape/dope is ONLY required on tapered pipe threads, so you wouldn't see any in automotive use. Primarily used in the plumbing and pipefitting trades.
I have seen many people assume PTFE is a subsitute for threadlocker, anti-seize, gaskets, and many other tasks, but it is ONLY meant to lubricate and assist in sealing TAPERED pipe threads. A tapered pipe joint is truly self sealing, the threads distort to each other and form the seal, but the PTFE assists in this by lubing and taking up any gaps or small voids in the mating threads.
Flared fittings, bevel seats, swagelok, welding regulators and hoses, anything with a gasket, straight threads of any kind or basically any joint that ISN'T a tapered pipe joint does NOT need tape.
Steel_Rain
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Yep! Don't tape a compression fitting unless you want it to leak.
Schurkey
Well-known member
OK.
That's what I figured.
Tape? Yes. Has no business on straight threads, or anywhere on a vehicle. Tapered-threads only.
Liquid "Teflon" (PTFE) thread sealer is used on head bolts when they go into the water jacket, along with any other bolts in through-holes--rocker arm studs that intersect the intake ports, water pump bolts that go into coolant, etc.
Thus my preference for an anaerobic-compound PTFE "pipe dope" like the various Loctite/Permatex "PST" products--with 592 being the easiest to obtain locally. That 592 is custom-packaged for GM exactly for that use on bolt threads. ARP sells their own brand of anaerobic bolt-thread-sealing compound--which, I suspect without proof--is another custom-label 592.
The (non-anaerobic) cheap brush-cap tubs of Permatex "Teflon" (PTFE) thread sealer works great on old-style steel shim head gaskets; and makes a MEAN paper-gasket dressing, for instance, on intake manifold gaskets. Gasket dressing should not be needed...until it is.
How difficult can it be?
I probably used a couple hundred miles of Teflon tape during my career and never had a problem with it?
dr_clyde
Well-known member
Remember who the OP is and what his prior threads have been about...
Because I'm trying to get it perfect as if it was painted on. A lot of times the tape will be slipping on the threads as I'm trying to pull it tight.
I try to push it into the threads in an effort to make it stick, but it still slips. I clean the threads with brake cleaner, but the tape still slips.
An absolute nightmare.
I always did pipe dope, and then Teflon tape, never had a problem
NPT aren't, there's clearance between the crests of the one piece, and roots of the other, which creates a radial leak path. You need something -- lampwick, tape, dope, etc to seal that up. (having a gorilla install them can work for low pressure, but isn't reliable, and has other problems.) There are other pipe threads that are leak proof without something filling the gap, most common is NPTF. It has root to crest interference, so the thread itself fills the gap. They're generally single use, and are used where there's a good reason not to have dope, like worry about contamination, or extreme high pressure.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
dr_clyde
Well-known member
This is true.
I didn’t specify, I should have been more clear.
The common NPT needs tape/dope for those reasons.
Either way, I wasn’t saying you should put pipe threads together dry. Tape/dope is required.
Funny, I’ve been dealing with NPT on vehicles since, well, since I started dealing with vehicles.
dr_clyde
Well-known member
Alright, I’m sure there are a few odd things that are pipe threads on automotive, but it’s relatively rare compared to other fasteners/systems.
Certainly rare to use tape, which was the whole point of the conversation. I certainly cannot remember a time when I’ve needed to tape a pipe joint working on a passenger car.
It’s a fairly common thing in the stuff in my shop.
Oil senders, vacuum ports, water temp senders and ports…all NPT.
The intake on my Jeep pickup has three different sizes of NPT.
KnurledNut
Well-known member
Some automotive drain/fill plugs are NPT.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
Driving a Jeep needs some dope.
Check your dm!
It can be done. That's why Mama Nature gave us two opposable thumbs. Not kidding - you need to hold enough tension on the tape to pull it to the bottom of threads for it to cut off and seal when assembled. Can't rely on spool for that, needs thumb/forefinger tension pinch to do so.
dr_clyde
Well-known member
And you use thread tape on those?
rlitman
Well-known member
It works and makes taping slightly easier. Just be sure to not overdope or overtape.That gives me an idea. Maybe I need to coat the threads with something sticky before applying the tape.