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I got my wife a bidet for her birthday (something she'd been asking for for a while). Several days after install, we came to realize that there was a thin sheen of water under the toilet, enough to have heavily dampened (but not soaked) the bathroom mat. I have been unable to see it actually drip, but the surface of the connection is damp, and there was water on the floor. Originally, the water came out of the wall, into a flexible pipe, and then into the tank. The bidet added a metal T junction, with the bidet getting its water from the added connection.

Unfortunately, I can't work on it right away due to work. I put a towel under the junction last night, and it was indeed damp. I've since stuck a bucket underneath to hopefully catch the water and gauge how much of a problem there actually is. My next step will probably be to unscrew everything tonight, and rebuild it with teflon tape, but if this is due to condensation, I'm not certain how much good that will do. Is there a good way to determine why the problem is happening?

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  • What did you do use as a gasket between the bidet and the toilet flange in the floor?
    – UnhandledExcepSean
    Commented May 24, 2019 at 13:39
  • @UnhandledExcepSean: Nice username! The sequence from the wall used to be valve -> flexible metal tube -> tank. Now, it's valve -> flexible metal tube -> Tee connector -> (tank, flexible metal tube -> bidet). The top of the tee connecter has a little conical rubber piece on the inside. Does that answer that question?
    – Sean Duggan
    Commented May 24, 2019 at 13:46
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    That much moisture from condensation would be difficult. Normally there is only enough of a temperature differential to have condensation on the tank, but not so much that it drips off. If the tank isn't wet with water, it's not condensation on the mat.
    – JPhi1618
    Commented May 24, 2019 at 14:06
  • @SeanDuggan I was thinking more about a wax seal or rubber ring under the toilet that seals the toilet and waste pipe.
    – UnhandledExcepSean
    Commented May 24, 2019 at 15:18
  • @unhandledexcepsean: Ah. The bidet piece actually sits right underneath the seat, so there's no seal issue there.
    – Sean Duggan
    Commented May 24, 2019 at 15:29

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Easiest way is to not use it for a while (equalize with room temperature) dry throughly, and check in a few more hours of not using it.

Teflon tape (or pipe dope) only helps on tapered pipe thread fittings. Flare and compression fittings seal in other ways, but it's not uncommon to see them taped up by folks that don't notice that.

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  • These are all threaded connections, so it might help. I'm honestly not certain whether they are tapered.
    – Sean Duggan
    Commented May 24, 2019 at 13:47
  • Compression and flare fittings (compression fittings are common in hose connections to toilets and sinks) have threads, but the actual seal is made between a bulging part, ring, or rubber seal and what contacts it, brought together by the threads, without the threads being directly in contact with the fluid path. Tapered pipe threads are visibly tapered when you look at the male fitting and the actual seal is between the male and female threads, thus the use of tape or dope to fill the tiny spaces.
    – Ecnerwal
    Commented May 24, 2019 at 20:04

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