How to repair / re-seal leaking push fit plastic airline fittings

[@markm9125]

Thanks so much for this excellent solution. I had a small leak at the push fitting on the hot water outlet in an RV. After swapping out the tubing with no success, figured it had to be the o-ring inside the fitting. After calling all local plumbing suppliers looking for a new fitting, again with no success, I found your video. It worked perfectly. Thanks again. The Happy Camper.

[@dustinguy101]

Thanks for the help it finally holds air! I took a heat gun with a few drill bits up in size to cram into the line with heat. Expanded the line a bit and boom! Holds air way better. I also tried the electrical tape since why not but found it to be not as useful. Thanks again!

[@CNCModellerUK]

Glad it helped...👍

[@stephensouth9629]

Thank you so much, I'm hoping this trick will save me the several hours of replacing an airline passthough port on a semi-truck

[@suesheane3671]

I'm going to give this a go. I have replaced the push fit elbow on my trucks rear air bag and still leaks slightly. Thanks

[@CNCModellerUK]

Hope it all goes well!

[@_datuke_9291]

Gonna try this out.. looks like the best possible solution!

[@Ultimate677]

Wow bro, a perfect solution which I would not of thought of doing in any case! it worked for me,, excellent video thanks so much for your help👌👌👏👏🏆

[@CNCModellerUK]

Glad you found it useful! :-)

[@manitobaman5588]

Very useful here in Canada.

[@CNCModellerUK]

Glad it was helpful!

[@YourAverageFNAF_Edits]

I'm goin to try heat shrink tube I have alot of that, if that dont work I definitely goin to try heat up the line thanks for the tips

[@WarthogARJ]

Thanks, have same issues. Am using mine with water to test my circuit then will use for cooling oil. I orderered most of mine via Aliexpress from China, and they all come with a small roll of teflon tape....hmmmm...so i sometimes use it if i do get leaks. In my case i want to use them to connect and remove one item of system from another, so was hoping not to have to use teflon, because i would have to re-wrap every time. But the system does seem to be pretty touchy about tolerances, and i would assume type of pipe you use, as well as the temperature. But as you say, if you experiment a bit, you can develop a way to seal all your fittings that have the same type of tubing. One suggestion for you is you could use some hot/just boiled water to soften the tubing to expand it instead of the flamethrower/heat gun. Most of these tubing plastics soften at >70-80C, so even a nice cuppa would work too..;-}

[@CNCModellerUK]

Hi WarthogARJ, I'm now using little bits of thin walled copper tube as inserts in the end of the pipe when I first assemble anything. This is much more reliable long term as it keeps the tube from contracting when my workshop gets cold. Hope that helps and good luck! Cheers Barry M

[@caseyn720]

I’m trying this tomorrow on my dump truck. Got a pesky leak on a plastic manifold that goes through the firewall. Won’t pass safety inspection.

[@CNCModellerUK]

Hope it works! Good luck!! :-)

[@WarthogARJ]

Another issue I had was with a ball valve leaking. I am using it on the suction side of my oil transfer pump on a T-piece (to be able to add more fluid) so it sees a slight “vacuum” due to venturi effect at times, or even a slight pressure: depends on the suction pressure drop and pumping rate. So it is mot so obvious which way to orient the ball valve, with respect to the intended flow direction. There must be an o-ring inside that seals on the blank face of the ball, and it must be designed to work under positive pressure pushing the ball into the seal. But not entirely because if I swap the valve atound in terms of installed orientation it still leaks at times. In one way it leaks air into the system, in the other it leaks a bit of fluid out...sigh. Maybe it works OK with compressed air when installed in the indicated flow firection, could be with enough pressure it forces the ball onto the seal, but if it is not enough then you get a leak. Dunno. I am probably expecting too much from a cheap valve: i am going to try a better grade stainless one now.

[@sukukoshy8216]

Thanks 😊

[@CNCModellerUK]

You're welcome!

[@audiomaker1]

Thank you

[@CNCModellerUK]

No worries, glad it's helpful.

[@leehancock2782]

Im going to try the black tape on an air line fitting. Edit. Didnt work for me

[@CNCModellerUK]

Cool good luck. More recently I've started using a short piece of suitable diameter copper pipe as an insert inside the end of the pipe. This is easier to do and more reliable over the long term!