Replacing main water supply valve

[stevenhg]

All,

After 15 years of using the house main water supply valve to turn off water to the house it no longer completely shuts off the water. My sense is that the seal inside is not fully functional and the outside water pressure is enough to maintain a flow even though the valve is off.

So, could anyone suggest the best plan from here. It looks like the valve is soldered in. It's located just outside the house.

Do I have the city shut off the house water, hacksaw out the old valve and solder in a new one? There is one nut between the body of the valve, around the shaft. Is there any chance I could simply open that up and pull out the guts of the valve and replace just that?

Thanks for any advice.

Steve

[hallerb]

good friend had that problem, he installed a second valve, ball type, they never go bad. left original valve in place.

ask the water company they might replace the valve for free, to save inconvenient emergency calls for them.

[Oren]

Call the city. They will fix their own valve. I suspect you are talking about a valve near the water meter. Precede from there.

Oren "My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."

[PipeDown]

There is a good chance you can repair the valve seat or seal, it may only need a rubber washer (if you have not mashed the valve seat trying to turn it off with a bad washer). Can't say for sure not knowing what valve you do have.

You will still need to shut off the water at the curb. You can do this yourself if you have the tool or the city will probably do it for you for free as long as that is all you ask for.

If it comes to replacement, use a 1/4 turn ball valve since it will always be all the way open or closed and are most reliable for this application. A gate valve would work too but is not as reliable.

Adding or replacing the pressure regulator at this time would be only marginally more work and money if the old one seems worn out (visable cracked rubber seals like on mine or cannot adjust because shaft is stuck etc.)

[WConner]

Installing a second valve is probably the best idea.

Walt Conner

[stevenhg]

Thank you.....It is the house valve that I am talking about not the city valve. However, as someone mentioned, perhaps I can get a tool to turn off the city valve and see if I can simply replace the rubber washer in the house supply valve. I'll try that first. If it doesn't work I'll call the city and see if they will do it for free. Great suggestion. Also good advice on the 1/4 turn ball valve.

[Steve Barker LT]

You should be able to turn it off at the meter without getting the city involved. Replace it with a quarter turn ball valve. If its on copper, you can use compression unions as opposed to sweat soldering it into place.

[Oren]

You can turn off the city valve anytime IMO... if I break the company valve I pay. I do use a "crescent wrench" or "channel locks" to turn off city water any time necessary.

Oren "My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."

[buffalobill]

we called the plumber and rather than braak the underground city shutoff also, he got out his tarp and a compression 3/4"ID ball valve and replaced it live. and wet. call aquajet if you are in buffalo ny.

[BocesLib]

Geez... Nasty way of changing a valve.

Interesting around here compression fittings arent allowed for some reason... (Nassau County, LI New York)

Tom

[Toller]

Quite frequently simply cranking down on the nut below the knob will tighten things up so the valve works again. You can only play this magic once or twice; so if it works, install a new full bore ball valve after the old valve. I did that while my old valve was still working, cause they don't last.

(tighten means clockwise when looking down on it; I don't want to think about what will happen if you screw it off)

[Toller]

Geez, I would pay to see that done! Did he use some sort of fixture to get the new valve on? Doesn't seem possible by hand.

[Art Todesco]

This happened to me on a Sunday a few years ago. I called the water company, recently privatized from the local government. I expected a major problem, but instead a guy, from a cellphone, working in the field, called me back in a few minutes. He came over and shut off the water at the buffalo box near the street. I then soldered in a new valve and called him back to turn on the water. The whole thing took a few hours.

BTW, my valve was stuck off, so we had no water. It had to be fixed right away. You could probably schedule the shutoff c>

[Sev]

Aren't some of these service shutoffs shared by more than one house? Just a thought- you might want to look at that and notify neighbors if that's the case. My service shutoff is between mine and neighbors' driveway- never bothered to check if there are separate valves.

[PipeDown]

There will be a seperate valve and meter for each billable account.