# Tape and dope? Yes!



## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

I just started using dope only, Rector seal T2, after about 12 years of tape and dope. I had a stainless water filter housing, with 2" male threads in and out, and 1/2" female weld-o-lets for drains. Both of the 2" joints leaked and one of the 1/2" drains leaked. One of the 2" adapters was very hard to get started, I had to spin a galvanised fitting on, before the copper fitting would catch, that should have been my clue that just dope wouldn't do.
I was smoked, because my helper/firewatch was a concrete finisher. He works for the maintenance contractor at this particular refinery and he knows the permitting process, the unit operators and is certified by the plant to firewatch. So I looked like a jack-arse in front of a different trade, then the super walks up, so he saw it, too. Luckily, the unit operator didn't see it. I took everything apart and cleaned the old dope off and used *Key-Tite.* Problem solved. My problem is that no supply house around here carries Key-Tite, so it's tape and dope for me.


----------



## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

i did dope only for along time , now i do both


----------



## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

Use #5. T2 sucks.


----------



## stillaround (Mar 11, 2009)

Either or both..whatever is handy...as long as it doesnt leak or I have to do it twice is all I care about..but I like teflon dope and hate rectorseal#5


----------



## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

Will said:


> Use #5. T2 sucks.


isn't #5 the yellow, stinky stuff?


----------



## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

422 plumber said:


> isn't #5 the yellow, stinky stuff?


 # 5.... stinky GOOD stuff!


----------



## wyplumber (Feb 14, 2013)

Nothing is better than #5 my boss only uses blue monster but luckily he lets the j man pick what they prefer


----------



## ILPlumber (Jun 17, 2008)

I can ship you keytite 422. Its all ive used for years. Awesome stuff.

Lemme know

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Plumbing Zone


----------



## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

Heck yeah! I will pm you.


----------



## Bigcim (Feb 22, 2013)

i love *Key-Tite *hard to get though. only certain places carry it and I have to remember when im there


----------



## ILPlumber (Jun 17, 2008)

I need to open a wholesale branch....

Sent from my iPad using PlumbingZone


----------



## MDPlumber1977 (Mar 4, 2013)

Tape- Blue Monster or 3 wrap Red!!!!!!! all the way!!!!!!. Pipe Dope for NSF 61 applications Blue Monster. Gas and Mechanical work Hercules Blu Block.


----------



## Plumberman911 (Dec 23, 2012)

What is key-tite?


----------



## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

It's a brand of dope. It is real thick and olive green. It says on the can that it seals iffy joints, and it does. It's the best stuff I have ever used. I will post a link later.

http://www.keytite.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1


----------



## Justin Gruver (Apr 9, 2012)

So, Teflon then dope? Or dope then Teflon. That's the big debate I have with my fellow plumbers. It's half and half in my shop. I myself put the Teflon tape on first then the dope. No real reason for it. That's just how I always have done it.


----------



## DIZ (Nov 17, 2010)

tape then dope. Blue magic by whitlam, tape depends on potable or gas.


----------



## TX MECH PLUMBER (May 27, 2011)

T+2. Dope. It has Teflon in it !!! I only Teflon old threads!!


----------



## dclarke (Dec 22, 2012)

I clean old thread with a wire brush. Lots of times I will use just tape lots of times its just dope. Sometimes I use both


----------



## Plumbducky (Jun 12, 2010)

Blue Monster tape first then Mega-loc or Gasoila dope.


----------



## damnplumber (Jan 22, 2012)

Tape and Dope ... I like the pretty blue stuff


----------



## Kevan (Jul 5, 2010)

What is the *theory* behind using both? To me it sounds like using the same product twice--like, for instance, using twice as much RectumSeal #5: the excess doesn't seal the joint better, it just gets pushed off the threads while the joint is being made up.

What am I missing here?


----------



## Justin Gruver (Apr 9, 2012)

Kevan said:


> What is the theory behind using both? To me it sounds like using the same product twice--like, for instance, using twice as much RectumSeal #5: the excess doesn't seal the joint better, it just gets pushed off the threads while the joint is being made up.
> 
> What am I missing here?


Better safe then sorry is my philosophy. Do it once, do it right. No call backs!


----------



## Rando (Dec 31, 2012)

Kevan said:


> What is the *theory* behind using both? To me it sounds like using the same product twice--like, for instance, using twice as much RectumSeal #5: the excess doesn't seal the joint better, it just gets pushed off the threads while the joint is being made up.
> 
> What am I missing here?


You're not missing anything, it's totally unecessary.


----------



## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

Rando said:


> You're not missing anything, it's totally unecessary.


It seems like every time I use tape only or dope only, I get a leak. The quality of the threads anymore is terrible. Maybe using both gets enough teflon in there to seal any gaps? The only dope I use by itself is Key-Tite, so I am eagerly awaiting ILPlumber's shipment, and I will report back.


----------



## Rando (Dec 31, 2012)

422 plumber said:


> It seems like every time I use tape only or dope only, I get a leak. The quality of the threads anymore is terrible. Maybe using both gets enough teflon in there to seal any gaps? The only dope I use by itself is Key-Tite, so I am eagerly awaiting ILPlumber's shipment, and I will report back.


I say if it works for you keep doing it. 
Who knows, maybe I'm just lucky all these years:laughing:


----------



## TX MECH PLUMBER (May 27, 2011)

Ok. I use to do fire protection. 200psi air. Then 200psi hydrostatic test for two hours. If you use any dope with out Teflon in it u use 3 rounds of Teflon then dope. If u have t+2 dope that has Teflon in it u are good with out the Teflon tape. You must have dies set rite. 3 turns on with a new fitting by hand and ur set rite.


----------



## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

You learned all that in 2 hours?


----------



## TX MECH PLUMBER (May 27, 2011)

No the test we put on the system was a 2 hour long Test!!! I learned all that in two years of sprinkler work Did a Little steam condensate repair tonite. I used both Teflon and t+2. It was a nice change to be in a big mech room Talked to the boss ther about getting an est. from me to repipe all the old piping its at a coca cola plant


----------

