Ball valve leaking - should I replace it?

A week ago, a plumber replaced a failing gate valve with a new ball valve on 3/4 inch copper pipe. It's my main water shutoff for the house. The day after the installation and for the following four or five days, I noticed a drop of water would form every several hours on the valve at the "seam" on the body of the valve (see attached picture - look near the center of the picture at the horizontal seam on the valve). The water does not seem to be coming from any of the obvious openings like near where the handle gets connected or where it was soldered.

For the past couple days, I have not seen any more water leaking as described above.

I was told by a representative of Webstone, the manufacturer of the valve, and someone else who works in the plumbing section of a local hardware store, that the leak likely occurred because of over heating during the soldering.

I have a 30-day warranty with the plumber. Should I have the plumber come back and replace it with a new valve? (I'm concerned that, even though it has stopped for now, the leak may show up in the future and maybe get worse.) What do you think?

 

Welcome to the forums.

It looks to be leaking at the threaded location where the valve is assembled.

Of course we don't know for sure what happened during installation but in my opinion..... that's a defective valve and nothing to do with over soldering. It would be helpful to know how the valve is sealed there but that can't be determined by looking at it from the outside. I'd have the valve replaced.

 

I would have the valve replaced as well. Take advantage of the 30 day warranty. Plumbers are paid to make repairs with no leaks whatsoever.

 

Does the valve rotate smoothly?

I've had fittings/valves, even my whole house filters with o-rings that showed signs of water after installation that dry up, seating of seals and sealants, I would leave it alone!

 

Have it replaced before warranty runs out. At the least call plumber and let him know it is leaking and let him see it. Don't wipe water off before he gets there.

 

Thanks, everyone, for all of your advice. The strange thing is that, as far as I can see, in the past couple of days, it hasn't been leaking.

But because it was forming drops of water during the first 4 or 5 days, I'm concerned for the future, so I've decided to have the plumber come back over and have the valve replaced.

Thanks again!