[Shop-talk] Leaking faucet

[John P. New]

This is how they sealed valves in the "old days."

My heating system is hot water radiator ca. 1928. All of the radiator feed pipes are valved and are sealed with some sort of string, soaked in a nasty goo of graphite and grease, wrapped around the valve stem and held in place by a nut which compresses the string.

It (mostly) works but if I turn the valve after years (decades?) of not being touched, the valves tend to seep at the stems, probably because the grease has dried out and is no longer pliable. Although I get the same behaviour from modern gate valves as well. I suspect the solution to both may be to either turn the valves regularly or never.

John New
London, Ontario, Canada

On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 1:49:45 PM EDT Scott Hall wrote:
> The packing nut was tight and there was no sign of a packing washer.
> 
> I did something I saw in a YouTube video that I'm going to call "the janky
> repacking": loosen the packing nut, wrap about six inches of twisted PTFE
> tape around the valve stem, use a pick or screwdriver blade to push it down
> towards the valve, then tighten the packing nut.
> 
> It's working so far. That supply box made the list for replacement, but I
> can move on for now.
> 
> On Wed, Sep 5, 2018, 6:34 AM Jeff Scarbrough <fishplate at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > My experience is that repacking is fairly simple - or even just
> > tightening the packing nut, as suggested elsewhere - and usually
> > successful.  If the valve appears to be in good shape otherwise
> > (corrosion, etc.), then I'd give it a try.  I guarantee there's a
> > YouTube video showing someone doing it on your exact type of valve.
> > I've also fount the Family Handyman site useful for showing step by
> > step instructions for stuff like that.
> >
> > -- Jeff
> > On Tue, Sep 4, 2018 at 10:37 PM Scott Hall
> > <scott.hall.personal at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Guys, thanks for the door lock help--the front door popped out.
> > >
> > > Then the locksets we picked out didn't show up, so now I'm waiting for
> > them to arrive to install.
> > >
> > > New stupid question: the washing machine's hot water supply faucet is
> > leaking.
> > >
> > > It's brass, has a gate valve, and a wheel handle. When I turn the faucet
> > on, water is flowing up the stem from the body, spraying off the wheel
> > handle (the thing you grab and turn), and leaking down into the drain. It
> > does not leak when turned off.
> > >
> > > The drain is that pre-fab box thing that holds the supply faucets and
> > that the washing machine's drain goes into, but apparently it's shot,
> > because it's draining down inside the wall and forming a puddle in the
> > basement.
> > >
> > > So...Google says I can 'repack' this thing--disassemble it and do a
> > variety of things to make it stop leaking. Seems to be a loose packing nut
> > or a bad packing washer.
> > >
> > > Before I do that, would the wiser members of the list like to advise
> > whether or not I should do that, or just replace the whole assembly?
> > Likewise, the fact that the box-drain-unit isn't, er, holding water bothers
> > me. Should I replace this too?
> > >
> > > My usual M.O. here involves destructively disassembling the faucet, the
> > supply lines, the drywall, and replacing that drain box all with new,
> > taking about a week and involving a lot of work. I thought here I might
> > just repair the faucet and rejoice in the fact that when the washing
> > machine drains there's no leaking so perhaps if I fix the faucet, I'll have
> > no leaks and I can focus on more important things.
> > >
> > > So...should I repair the faucet? (And if so, please feel free to offer
> > advice on technique).
> > >
> > > Replace the whole faucet?
> > >
> > > Replace the supply/drain box or just fix the faucet leak and move on?
> > >
> > > I'm trying to avoid the shipwright's disease, and I have so many more
> > pressing issues, but water leaks don't seem like something to overlook or
> > halfass.
> > >
> > > Thanks.
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