Novice and attempting new valve packing

Undo the packing washer & poke some waxed string into the space underneath, then do it up again. Make the waxed string yourself with melted candles and ... string.

Will you be my hero?

With the valve turned "off", you should be able to remove the gland packing nut, add more packing, and refit the nut all without any leakage.

In the past, I have made it with Vaseline and, yes, string. Some heavy grease of practically any sort plus string would do nicely.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many thanks to all. I have some grease and have both cotton string and nylon string. Would either type of string be preferable, or does this not matter?

If I make a very careful job of it, is there any reason not to be turning 'on and off' this simple kind of valve on a regular basis ? Or should I be thinking about having a better kind of valve fitted like a thermostat valve ?

Cotton string.

I wouldn't worry too much. Just use it.

-- ---------------------

The ideal would be to remove the old packing which has gone hard. However you can put a bit more in as a temporary measure. At some point however the valve will have to be dismantled and the packing renewed. This will be when yo ucan't get any new packing on top of the old. The cotton would be best.

Modern thermostatic valves have no packing (usually an Oring). When they leak, they usually have to be replaced. However thy do save energy. But you would still have to turn it off/on as required.