The basement shut off valve for my outside faucet (hose bibb) has been a pain for years. I have repacked the packing nut, replaced the washer, etc. Our water has lots of minerals. I did more replacements today but I still have seepage. I found a new boiler drain. I replaced the shut off valve innards with the innards from the boiler drain and it fit and works with no leaks. Is there any reason not to have done this? I have asked folks in plumbing departments if I could buy a new shut off valve and use its innards as a replacement for mine.....they keep saying 'no' that different manufacturers use different specs. Did I luck out with the boiler drain I have?

 

Yes I think you did. ___________________________

 

Why not replace it with a ball valve and never have to work on it again?

 

Joe, I offer this suggestion to many customers almost daily. But most don't understand or do not know how to solder or use a compression fitting or don't like the price of a gator bite valve.

 

I've never done soldering. I've worked with compression fittings. The valve is soldered onto a T a couple of inches off the main 3/4" water line. I'm sure it would be easy for a pro. If I ran into a problem the whole house would have no water. The boiler valve that I installed is tight and dry. Any reason to think that something might go wrong with my fix?
Also, when the shut off valve was originally installed (I bought the house new) the plumbing contractor installed it backward.....I found this out when I opened the petcock to drain it and the water never stopped. I noticed that the arrow on the valve housing was pointing in the wrong direction. The GC sent a plumber to fix it and he did a really messy job with solder all over the pipe. I'd hesitate to apply heat due to the closeness to the T joint that is cut into the main.

 

No! You're good. But try practicing soldering. It's not hard, just need practice. Then next time swap out the valve.

 

Thank You. Soldering is on my bucket list and I've started collecting the tools and supplies. My wife keeps asking me what I want for my birthday.....I'll have her get me the rest of the equipment. I figured I go with propane but a lot of recommendations I see say to use MAPP gas.
Which torch to buy?

 

Here are pictures. Original housing with boiler drain valve (blue handle) innards installed. Second picture is original valve (red handle) innards that I removed and Boiler drain housing without its (blue handle) innards.

 

I'm confused! Did you remove the valve internals from the boiler to fix hose bib? Say it ain't so. Does the boiler have a drain valve on it? If not put it back on the boiler and buy a new hose bib valve.

 

The outside hose bib was not involved with this fix. The first picture is the shut off valve inside the basement which controls water to the hose bib outside the house. Its blue handle innards were taken from the boiler drain that I had laying around. The old innards of the basement shut off valve are shown in the second picture...the cruddy looking part with the red handle. The next piece is the boiler drain valve without its innards.
As the picture shows the plumbing job looks kind of messy and the shut off valve solder joints are fairly close to the water main.
The boiler drain was not taken off of a boiler....I had bought it several years ago and it was just laying around. 'It ain't so'.

 

OK

I was just a bit confused.

When soldering or de-soldering close fitting like these, a trick is to wrap a wet rag around the fitting you don't want to loosen or take off. And MAPP gas is the better choice. But careful not to burn through the fitting.

 

So what I did is OK?
I'll practice a whole lot before I go near this one....but should be good for years if you say my fix is acceptable.
My apologies for causing confusion. Not being in the trade I don't always use the correct terminology.

 

What you are calling "innards" are the bonnet, stem and seat. As long as it fits together, doesn't leak and works to close off the flow when desired, you are fine. It is rare to have that kind of good luck but this time it seems to have worked.

I will mention that installing a valve with the stem and handwheel in the down position like the picture is generally frowned upon. The reason is that dirt, scale and other corruption can settle in the bonnet and cause problems down the road.

 

Thank you for the technical info. I kept trying to stop the seepage with the old parts. I figured I'd give the boiler parts a try and viola. I think the reason it is upside down is because the original plumber installed it backwards.....I discovered this when I opened the drain nut to drain it before winter.....the water just kept on running and then I noticed the arrow indicating the direction of water flow. The GC, from who we bought the house, sent somebody to reverse the valve direction....this was the way he 'fixed' it. There was a lot of other shoddy plumbing work in the house too.
P.S. I just checked the basement shut off for the hose bib at the rear of the house......it's handle is upside down too.
Way back when I had a summer job working as a carpenter's helper. The job was a semi gut and remodel.....the plumber installed some traps upside down. The plumbing inspector asked the plumber why he had done this. The plumber said it was easier to do it that way. Plumber was fired.

 

Well I have to admit that I also installed several isolation valves with the handles facing down. Only because it was easier to get to them.

 

Really not meaning to be a jerk but a viola is a violin on steroids, actually a stringed instrument larger than a violin and smaller than a cello. The word you meant to type is voila which is pronounced close to wahLA, accent on the second syllable.

 

I'll say viola instead of voila to see who's listening or reading. When my nephew was 4 or 5 years old I said Bernie and Ert instead of Ernie and Bert....he did a double take and gave me a funny look.
My wife's mother has 24 X 7 CNA care. The CNAs are Haitian and their first language is French or Creole....I'll say viola in front of them and they just laugh at me.