Garden water tap - problem with bibcock and mounting plate

Bertie Bassett

I'm installing an outside tap in my garden. I have most of the work done, connected to mains, attached non-return valve etc. But I am looking at the bibcock and mounting plate for attaching it to the outside wall. When I screw the (male) bibcock into the mounting plate and hand-tighten it the bibcock ends up at a 90 degree angle to the mounting plate inlet. i.e the connection pipe goes in to the mounting plate at the bottom rising up from the ground but the bibcock ends up horizontal. I tried putting a rubber washer in but that just squashes out and does no good. I am afraid to go at it with a wrench in case I over-tighten it and damage either the bibcock or mounting plate. But from the point where I hand tighten it to where it should be is a 3/4 turn which seems a lot. It is probably a very basic solution but how do I tighten the bibcock on the mounting plate so that the water inlet on the plate is at the bottom and the bibcock is vertical, in line with the water inlet?

Wearb

Make sure you have no gunk on the threads. Hand-tighten the stopcock -counting the turns- until it goes in its full depth. Now put hemp and boss white or ptfe tape on the threads and tighten until you come to the deepest position that gives you the correct angle.