Water Shutoff Valves

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shackdweller

shackdweller

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Over the years, I have tried to keep my water shutoff valves, under the kitchen and bathroom sinks, and water closet to the commode, well maintained.

I think that the o-rings on some of the valves were deteriorated, or even dissolved entirely.

The water closet valve did not shut off the water at all, but after I replaced the o-rings in it, no problems.

And, under the kitchen sink, I also put in new o-rings and no problems since.

But, I am having problems under the bathroom sink.
 
I will start with the left shutoff valve, to the hot water faucet.

It turns the water off completely, but after doing so, I get a slight leak around the valve stem.

This leak goes away after I open the valve.

Anyone have any idea what the problem might be?
 
Have you considered replacing the existing valves with ball valves? I have never had a ball valve fail and they require no maintenance.

By the way, I believe that what you are referring to as "o-rings" are actually washers. An o-ring is typically a thin rubber piece, about the same diameter as kite string, that typically seals the outside of a fixture to its sleeve.
 
Thanks forthe post, jeff. I'll give it a try and then report back.
 
oldognewtrick said:
Have you tried tightening the packing nut on the valve stem?
Click to expand...

listen to the olddog

he knows what for he speaks.

your packing nut is loose, all it needs is to be tightened less than a 1/32''

THEN

when you turn your valve on..turn it off slightly
 
I was not disagreeing with the olddog. I have made it a habit that whenever a valve goes bad for whatever reason i replace it with a ball valve. Might be overkill i know but i want to eliminate maintenance items.
 
jeffmattero76 said:
I was not disagreeing with the olddog. I have made it a habit that whenever a valve goes bad for whatever reason i replace it with a ball valve. Might be overkill i know but i want to eliminate maintenance items.
Click to expand...

whoa up my friend.....peace on your house !!!!!!!!smiley-hug010.gif

never said you disagreed with the dawg. was just voicing my opinion
 
Many thanks for the posts, everyone.

Last night, I did tighten the packing nut, after which the leak around the valve stem was gone, with just a little dampness. So, carefully gave it another tightening, to make sure it was down to no dampness.

After these two tightenings, however, turning the shutoff valve clockwise as far as possible, still left a slight trickle from the open sink faucet, which was not the case before the packing nut tightening, which did cut the water completely off from the faucet, but with the leak around the valve stem.
 
When I had my hot water replaced, the plumber tightened the packing nuts on the shutoff valves, with a pair of slip jointed plyers, until they sqeaked!

He was experienced, and knew what he was doing, but that is something that I just would not do, because I would not want to strip the threads on the packing nut, and have an even bigger problem.
 
If you are not cross-threaded, you will not strip the threads. Frodo's suggestion about backing off the valve a touch would help prevent that little bit of drip in the future.
 
levels of tightness,,,common since

loose
hand tight
snug
tight
good n tight
gorilla tight
damn tight
you busted the damn thing !!
 
Thanks for all the great replies, everyone.

Below is a photo of one of the two shutoff valves that I have been telling all of you about.

26797258685_d159dccce7.jpg
 
jeffmattero76 said:
Have you considered replacing the existing valves with ball valves? I have never had a ball valve fail and they require no maintenance.

By the way, I believe that what you are referring to as "o-rings" are actually washers. An o-ring is typically a thin rubber piece, about the same diameter as kite string, that typically seals the outside of a fixture to its sleeve.
Click to expand...

Jeff, thanks for the post. The condo association has encouraged owners to install ball valves on the master cutoffs to our units.

Don't know if Dollars and cents are Taboo here, but I have never been given any estimates of how much it would cost to install 2 ball valves on the master cutoffs to my condo.

Yesterday, I saw a truck for an outfit titled "affordable" plumbing.

Condo rules are that only a licensed plumber is allowed to cut off the water to a condo building, which would be necessary for me to have the ball valves installed.

My last, and only use of a plumber was for a new hot water heater, and I have still not recovered from the high expense of that!
 
Are ball valves used only for water cutoffs, or are they also used for regular faucets on the sinks and bathtubs?
 
jeffmattero76 said:
Have you considered replacing the existing valves with ball valves? I have never had a ball valve fail and they require no maintenance.

By the way, I believe that what you are referring to as "o-rings" are actually washers. An o-ring is typically a thin rubber piece, about the same diameter as kite string, that typically seals the outside of a fixture to its sleeve.
Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing out the differences between o-rings and washers.

Am I correct in assumng that washers are flat and o-rings are round?
 
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