[clopez1]

Anyone have a brand or type they prefer or recommend?

 

[Shremph]

I've used oatey and other of the more expensive brands of tape for lawn irrigation and plumbing for a sprinkler system. I've learned that the 67 cent generic rolls sold in cardboard bins at Home Depot are just as good.

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

[clopez1]

Good to know, I almost went for the Oatey..I can get twice the tape for less money now.

 

[PlantedRich]

Since all it has to do is filled the gaps between the threads, I never see any difference. If you use lots of it, Harbor Freight has a ten pack that is handy as well as cheap. That way I have one almost every place that I keep tools.

 

[clopez1]

Ugh I hate harbor freights.. I spent so long looking for something Friday and no one around to help..The place is a wreck.

 

[GraphicGr8s]

I've gotten the 10 packs from HD and I've gotten the good stuff. Definitely a difference in the thickness. Every roll of the cheap stuff seems to start unwinding on only half the width and I have to cut through and start it again. It seems that they've made the cheap stuff with even less quality than a few years ago.

"Teflon tape"? It's not what you may think.

Did you know?

• Teflon® isn’t a thing — it’s a brand! A world famous brand that’s owned by DuPont.

• The DuPont™ Teflon® brand identifies products that are made with DuPont raw material(s), like fluoropolymer or industrial coatings. Over time, the tape has been mistakenly referred to as "Teflon tape". We thought it was important to let you know that.

• If somebody offers to sell you “Teflon tape” when you need plumber tape (or thread seal tape), they are wrong, mistaken or — worse — trying to mislead you. To help you make an informed purchase, you should be aware that no plumber tape is authorized by DuPont to be sold as “Teflon tape”.

• DuPont has brought thousands of meaningful innovations to people for more than 200 years, including many Teflon® branded products for consumers. Plumber tape is not one of these innovations.

Teflon® is a registered trademark of DuPont.

http://www2.dupont.com/Teflon_Industrial/en_US/teflon_tape.html

 

[AndreyT]

Anyone have a brand or type they prefer or recommend?

To use for what purpose, may I ask? So called "teflon" tape is heavily misused in aquarium applications, which makes it hard to recommend anything without knowing what the original poster is planning to do with it. CO2 fittings? Water-related plumbing?

 

[jeffkrol]

http://www2.dupont.com/Teflon_Industrial/en_US/teflon_tape.html

Ahh throw in the other part..
Personally I prefer pipe dope anyways........

• 1969 — DuPont PTFE fine powder is used for plumber tape for sealing joints in piping and central heating systems. However, DuPont never manufactured the tape. The manufacturers purchased and used DuPont PTFE fine powder as consumers started favouring easy to apply PTFE tape over existing solutions. Plumber tape using DuPont™ Teflon® PTFE fine powder was the first such product to reach consumers.

• Times changed, other companies started making PTFE fine powder that was of a lower quality and at a lower cost. The companies that made the plumber tape switched to the lower quality powder. They didn’t have permission from DuPont to use the Teflon® brand because they no longer were using DuPont product.

• Separately, in the 1990’s, DuPont stopped selling its PTFE product lines labeled as Teflon®, including fine powder. The reason for the change was to ensure products bearing the Teflon® brand met the highest quality standards expected by consumers. Any use of the Teflon® brand now needs written authorization from DuPont.

Teflon® is a registered trademark of DuPont.

http://www2.dupont.com/Teflon_Industrial/en_US/history_plumber_tape.html

White – used on NPT threads up to 3/8 inch
Yellow – used on NPT threads 1/2 inch to 2 inch, often labeled "gas tape"
Pink – used on NPT threads 1/2 inch to 2 inch
Green – oil-free PTFE used on oxygen lines and some specific medical gasses
Copper – contains copper granules and is certified as a thread lubricant but not a sealer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_seal_tape

All this makes me want to reach for a Kleenex.. err "tissue"..

Oh FOR FUN:

I dislike tape, so I use Oatey alone when I need to seal threads. When I was a kid on the farm, all we knew about was the bottom sediment of an oil based paint can. I guess it worked. Of course it undoubtedly had lead in it. Now we have so many choices we can color code our work. All of that while using 98% less threaded joints. How times change!

http://www.terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?20242-Which-pipe-dope


http://www.rectorseal.com/index.php/rectorseal-no-5/

 

[clopez1]

For fittings on regulator build.

 

[GraphicGr8s]

Use any brand you can get your hands on. After you put it together just use the soap test to make sure it doesn't leak at any of the fittings. And be careful not to get the tape into any of the openings.

 

[clopez1]

Found some laying around so saves me a few cents on this build.

 

[Bettatail]

Use any brand you can get your hands on.

+1.
All brands work, it is how you make it work count the most.
For single density tape on 1/8 npt threads, cover at least 4 threads, wrap it the right direction evenly about 4 - 5 times, then press in tight on the threads.
Make sure do not use too much tape, it is a mistake that most people make, if the layer of tape too thick, the tape will be pushed out when you skrew the fitting into another.


BTW, It is a chore to type with thumbs...

 

[Lab_Man]

Like everyone before me, I don't care what brand it is.

Just make sure to wrap it in the direction of thread rotation.

 

[AndreyT]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_seal_tape

Note, as the Wiki article correctly states, the purpose of thread seal tape is to provide lubrication for the mating threads. The lubrication is needed in order to make sure that the threads don't seize while being tightened, until they deform and mate properly. It is not the tape that seals the threads, it is the threads themselves that seal by deforming. The tape is there for lubrication only. And that lubrication makes sense for metal threads only. Plastic threads (like PVC) don't seize prematurely and therefore don't need any lubrication in order to reach the proper deformation point and produce a watertight seal.

Too many people are trying to use this tape as some sort of "thread filler" that is supposed to "seal" the gaps between the threads. This is completely incorrect use of "teflon tape". If you are not sure of your thread-tightening skills (or just need extra assurance), use pipe dope or some other compound specifically designed to serve as a sealant. Meanwhile, "teflon tape" is not a sealant and has never been intended to be used as such.

 

[GraphicGr8s]

Note, as the Wiki article correctly states, the purpose of thread seal tape is to provide lubrication for the mating threads. The lubrication is needed in order to make sure that the threads don't seize while being tightened, until they deform and mate properly. It is not the tape that seals the threads, it is the threads themselves that seal by deforming. The tape is there for lubrication only. And that lubrication makes sense for metal threads only. Plastic threads (like PVC) don't seize prematurely and therefore don't need any lubrication in order to reach the proper deformation point and produce a watertight seal.

Too many people are trying to use this tape as some sort of "thread filler" that is supposed to "seal" the gaps between the threads. This is completely incorrect use of "teflon tape". If you are not sure of your thread-tightening skills (or just need extra assurance), use pipe dope or some other compound specifically designed to serve as a sealant. Meanwhile, "teflon tape" is not a sealant and has never been intended to be used as such.

I too was taught not to use tape on pvc. As soon as I started using it the leaking stopped.

 

[Lab_Man]

Andrey, I respectfully disagree with you. Teflon tape is to fill in gaps so gas or liquid will not pass through the threads.

If you actually saw a closeup magnification of thread stretching during torquing it would scare the heck out of you.

 

[GraphicGr8s]

http://www.regufluid.com/PDF/Seal Threads with PTFE Tape.pdf

 

[Lab_Man]

Thanks for the link GraphicGr8s, I thought this excerpt was particularly useful.

Please note that the white PTFE or teflon tape/plumbers tape/thread tape as
it is known is designed only to seal
threads for liquids, and is not appropriate
for use with any gas fittings. Teflon
tape for gas fittings is generally a
distinctive colour - usually yellow

 

[Bettatail]

Gas means gasoline, my friend.
Yellow tape is double density, white tape is single density. And it is your task to find out what color is the highest density tape.

And majority of the application are for water/liquid, because that is what you can see 99% of the time, but its application not only limited to water, but also other fluid(flow media).

 

[jeffkrol]

Gas means gasoline, my friend.

Actually in this case it is more like Natural gas..or propane ect.. a real "gas"...