04-17-2008, 11:34 PM
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Deity
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Sharon, PA, USA.
Posts: 2,195
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Even under the best of conditions those supply lines are notorious for being a pain in the backside.
I much prefer to use plain straight tubing and the factory supplied rubber cone washer and brass friction washer that comes packed with nearly all faucets.
With the cone washer method if underside of the faucet will be in a concealed location such as in a cabinet you can use ordinary 3/8" copper tubing. When the supply tubes will be exposed, such as when hanging a wall hung or pedestal sink you can get 3/8" plated supply tubes in Bright Chrome, Brushed Chrome, Gold and Bronze finish.
One of the drawbacks of using rigid metal supply tubes is that if you do not have a tubing bender it can be difficult to bend the tubing without having it collapse. While most plumbers would consider it unprofessional, they make a beaded tube that can easily be bent by hand without collapsing.
To install straight tubing you insert the end of the tubing through the faucet compression nut, then slip the brass friction washer on the tubing and finally you slide the rubber cone washer on the tubing and allow the tubing to extend past the rubber cone washer for about 1".
Now slip the end of the tubing up inside the faucet water inlet pipe until the top of the rubber cone washer is in contact with the bottom of the faucet tube. Slip the nut up over the cone washer and screw it onto the faucet in the normal fashion. As the nut is tightened the cone washer will be compressed between the nut and the base of the faucet inlet tube and you get a permanent water tight seal.
In many areas this is the method that is required on commercial plumbing installations which explains why the faucet manufacturers still pack the washers in their kits. If you have previously discarded your cone washer and brass friction washer you can purchase them at any local hardware store, but, be careful. The cone washers used for sinks and Lavatories is different from the cone washers for waterclosets (toilets) Make sure you get the correct cone washer.
See Illustration below:
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