Toilet Supply Line

I caught a leak (I hope fairly early) where the supply line connects to the fill valve. I replaced with a new fill valve tower but continued to use the chrome plated copper supply line (it's about 8in. long), rather than go with a new braided flexible supply line. I wasn't real comfortable messing with the 3/8in compression side of the supply line.

At first I hand-tightened the supply line to the fill valve, but soon realized I was still seeing a slight leak (which I mistook for "sweating"). A slight tightening with the slip joint pliers tidied up the connection.

Did I make a mistake by not swapping out the old chrome plated supply line for a new braided flexible line?

 

Just as cheap insurance, I always swap out supply lines when replacing a plumbing fixture so I would have done so in this case as well. That said, it sounds like you have resolved the issue and the line itself was fine.

 

You usually want to replace them at the same time because of age they often leak when you remove / move them. But if it's not leaking you might get away with it. But generally I would always recommend they be replaced. Cheap insurance is right. 👍

 

Maybe my question becomes, what is the better supply line, chrome plated copper, sized to fit or kevlar/aramid braided?

Guess I was most afraid of breaking the 3/8in compression fitting or the valve and needing an emergency plumber.

 

I had a similar problem recently and my first attempt to fix it was to reuse the copper compression fitting. One reason was that the shutoff valve is CPVC and the threads were not compatible with a flex fitting. The fix lasted 2 weeks and we discovered that it leaked again when ceiling tiles below collapsed. The ultimate fix was to replace the CPVC valve with a push-on valve and a threaded flex connector. Fortunately I had spare tiles available to repair the ceiling.