Hi, I'm trying to install a new electric shower unit, it has a type of connector to the mains water called a 'push-in' connector. No matter what I try this seems to leak. The instructions just skip over it, and don't give any more instruction than how to disconnect it.

I can see how it's supposed to work, you push the copper pipe in, then as you try to pull it out, the connection grips it. Of course the water pipe is fixed to the wall, so you have to pull the shower unit upwards to tighten the seal. I'm pulling up the unit as high as I can, then fixing the shower unit to the wall, but then I turn the water back on and it leaks big time.

I've tried moving the shower unit, but each time I have to shorten the copper pipe, so that the fixing holes in the wall don't merge into one big horizontal hole. I'm at the point now where I can't shorten the pipe any more, and anyway, nothing seems to work. I did seem to have it working OK at one point, then when I tried attaching the fascia to the shower unit, that must have moved the joint between pipe and connector as water began to spray out again.

This kind of connector seems to be very flakey compared to a normal screw-in which I've seen before on showers and other plumbing. Am I missing something. I've tried covering the end of the pipe in Eggshell (PTFE) tape to make a better join, but that seems to make the grip less.

Anyone got any experience of this kind of connector who can help?

Thanks

I am guessing you are in the UK and most of us here are in the USA. This could leave us less familiar with the connector. You might go back to your profile and give us a hint about location, note my Northern USA. For some questions, location makes a difference.

Look at your connector. It is possible a rough edge on the end of the pipe damaged an O-ring. If you see a problem, you may be able to replace the o-ring.

Wow, fast response. Yes I am in the UK, I'll take your advice about location, might save any embarrassment over commonly used words with different meanings along the lines of rubber (eraser in the UK), (Durex - rubber in the UK, sticky tape in Australia).

There is a tiny rubber ring inside the connector. I didn't notice the copper pipe had a rough edge (I'm replacing an existing shower) and I did file down the edges after I cut them. I'll have a go at removing that ring and see if it's going to be possible to replace it. I'm also going back to the shop (store) to see if they'll replace the unit with one that doesn't have some stupid type of connection - I don't see what was wrong with screw threads.

Thanks again