Plumbing Help………changing An Outdoor Faucet?
Saturday, November 28th, 2009 at
9:34 am
I have an outdoor faucet that is leaking through the handle. However, it only leaks through the handle when I turn it on. When turned off, it does not leak. Anyway, I decided to change the faucet. I’m a bit confused on getting the old faucet off. It’s connected to 1/2 inch copper pipe but I cannot unscrew it. I was wondering if it could have been soldered on rather than screwed on. How do you tell? Also, if it is soldered on, How do you remove it?
Tagged with: Faucet • Help.........changing • Outdoor • Plumbing
Filed under: Articles-Home Repair
yes it is probably soldered on……try this……there should be a nut just behind the handle ( thats called a packing nut) try to tighten that just a bit…over tightening will make it hard to turn on and off….if it still leaks you will need to find some graphite packing material… its kinda like a piece of grey string about 8″ longyou would then loosen the nut slide it up to the handle then wrap the string around the stem in a clockwise manner then put nut back on…… in a pinch i have used teflon tape in place of the packing………….if its solder on it will be a project to replace you will need to have a torch and you will need to know how to solder…. thats if you have access to the pipe from inside or under the home
Your faucet may just need the packing nut tightened. Under the handle, if you see a nut, this is where you GENTLY tighten. This will cause the seals that are wearing out to squish out more and make the seal again. This will only work just so far and may not fix it at all. You can get rebuild kits however for some spigots. You may need to go to a real plumbing store vs. a big box store home center. Other than that, outdoor faucets are sometimes hard to get off. If it is a threaded type,it may have pipe sealant that ‘locks’ it onto the standpipe so it won’t turn when you are yanking on it with a hose. Pipe wrenches and some heat from a heat gun or small torch (careful you dont set the wall on fire) may be needed to get it off. If the spigot is soldered on (sweated-on) then you will have to torch it off or cut it off.
Mark, I’m getting the impression, after reading your question, that you really aren’t very familiar with plumbing. Is this a frost-proof sillcock or a simple boiler drain on a pipe nipple sticking through the wall? If it’s connected to 1/2″ copper, it’s most likely a frost-proof style, but I’ve seen boiler drains soldered right on the end of a piece of copper pipe too. You should probably either go down in the basement or get into the crawl space, to look for the spot where the pipe goes out through the wall in between a couple of floor joists. If you find that, you should be able to tell if it’s soldered on or screwed on or bolted together somehow. If you have to ask how to remove a piece of pipe that’s soldered, then you probably should be calling a plumber, or a good handiman.
If it is screwed on it will have two nuts. Hold one and loosen the other and the compression fitting will come off. However since it is copper it is probably sweated on with solder.You will need a torch to heat the solder and sweat the valve off. Mepp gas in the yellow container works best.You will need to shut the water to the house off and open another faucet so that steam doesn’t build up in the pipes while you are sweating off the old valve.You can sweat on a new valve with solder and flux (can get it in a kit with the gas and torch) or just buy a compression valve and tighten it onto the pipe.
Pull it outward hard and look at the pipe going into the back. Can you see threads?
If it’s only leaking through the handle, shut off the water supply—probably at your house’s main) and unscrew the valve cap (or packing nut). For example, in this photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/ejbsf/37179… it unscrews with a wrench around the base of the handle. Replace the washers in it and reassemble. Here’s a detailed description and helpful photos of the whole process. http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/plumb…
this might help,below the handle is a nut that the handle stem goes through,if you take a wrench and tighten the nut a little,it may stop the leak,don’t tighten it to much,then you can’t open and close the faucet,hope this helps.