Compression and Flare Fitting Photos

Here are some photos that may help you visualize the way you hook an icemaker up. Visit a REAL plumbing supply house or an old hardware store to get really good parts and advice. They will show you how all of the parts fit together. You don't always get this service at the big box home improvement stores!

This photo shows the 1/4 inch soft copper line coming down from a 1/2 inch copper tube. In between is a brass adapter that screws into a 1/2 inch female copper adapter - you can see the white Teflon tape at this joint. The 1/4 inch tube connects to the brass adapter using a nut and a brass ferrule. The soft copper tube fits perfectly inside the ferrule - it resembles a ring on your finger. You can see those two parts just to the right of this line in the photo to the right. As you tighten the nut on the adapter, it compresses the brass ferrule to make a tight joint.

In this photo, there is a flare fitting coupling. This allows you to connect two pieces of soft copper to one another. The top of the fitting accepts a flared piece of copper. See the nut on the other end? As you tighten it, it makes a tight joint on the rounded machined face you see at the top of the fitting.

 

Assorted compression type fittings. The top & middle ones are toilet tubes. Bottom one is a Delta tube.

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