[See pictures below]

The spigot for my garden hose was leaking. Water was coming out from the stem when the valve was in the open position.

I opened up the valve and saw that the rubber seal that surrounds the stem had decayed and was not sealing properly.

I took the stem/seal/cap to a few local plumbing supply stores hoping to either:


1. get a replacement seal
2. get a replacement stem/seal/cap unit


I was told that the valve was an old style that is not made any more and therefore replacement parts would be impossible to find.

That left me with 2 options:

3. un-solder the entire spigot and replace it with a new, modern one
4. remove the stem/seal/cap and replace it with a brass cap. This would keep the valve in the 'open' position, but would not leak and I could control flow from splitter on the exit of the spigot


#3 is not preferable because the spigot is flush up against the house. I imagine I'd need to tear away some stucco to expose enough pipe so I could de-solder. Also, I'm not sure how (or if my house even has a way) to drain water from the pipe so that soldering would work.

The problem with #4 is that I can't figure out what threads are on the cap. I tried a 3/4" FIP brass cap and it does not thread on properly. Looks like the threads on the valve are finer (i.e. closer together)


My questions:


1. Is it, in fact, possible to locate somewhere on the Internet either a replacement seal or a replacement stem/seal/cap unit? If so, how do I figure out what size/dimensions to order?

2. How can I locate a brass (or PVC or other material) cap with the correct threading so that I can replace the ste/seal/cap altogether? How do I figure out what threading is on there?


The valve has been painted over, so I don't see any markings that would indicate the manufacturer, but if that's helpful to know, let me know how i can do it and I'l post results here.


Thanks in advance.

this is a 5 minute repair.
google search for valve stem packing.
heck, you can even wrap a few turns of teflon tape over the old packing and fix it. (over the old packing, not the threads)

Thanks - that's really helpful. I'll try it with teflon tape but would this be the correct packing tape to use?

[www.homedepot.com]

If not, how do I find the right size packing tape?

take a couple of feet of teflon tape and roll it betwen your fingers to make a long teflon 'string'. wrap that a number of times around the stem where the old packing was. you might have to do this a couple of times and then you might put too much and have to unwind some to get the nut back on. eventually you will hit it right and the teflon will compress and form a great seal.
P/S, it isn't rocket science. i knew an old timer who used string and vaseline..

Thanks. Will give it a try.

Ended up picking up some graphite valve stem packing tape and it's working like a charm. Many thanks for the easy and sensible advice.



Edited 1 times.

The first thing you have to know is that the valve is NOT "soldered" in place. It is screwed on to a thread and should unscrew so you can replace it.

hj,

that is the way it SHOULD be installed

however

MANY have been soldered, rendering them non-serviceable for a DIYer


Because of that very reason (newly painted cedar siding) I worked on rebuilding my front hose bib for 2 weeks - screw for handle was a bit*h - spray-tap-wait - repeat 14 times - replace screw with s/s


however, since I am retired and STUBBORN ...........

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638