Kitchen stopcock seized

[Tommy02]

Evening all.

After suspecting for years that our property never had an internal stopcock when we fitted the bathroom a couple years ago, I recently had the kitchen plinths out to investigate some rodent activity and set some traps and I ended up finding a lead pipe in the far corner which the kitchen fitter didn’t cut out when we had the kitchen done about 14 years ago.

Having managed to locate the incoming lead mains and find a stopcock in the far corner of the cupboards next to the cooker, it appears that the stop cock was seized up and there isn’t a great deal of access to get at it properly (I don’t want to rip anything out for the sake of this). After a bit of fiddling around I managed to free up the spindle and gave it all a clean down with a wire brush, but it appears that the round packing nut appears to be ceased onto the shaft of the spindle itself as when you turn it, the nut moves along with the spindle making it impossible to fully close the stopcock. Now I have heard that there are ways you can free up a stopcock by spraying a bit of wd40 on the spindle shaft and gently tapping it with a hammer, but I would like to know is there any way that I can free off this packing nut from the spindle without causing any damage to the stopcock or kitchen units as ideally I want to get this stopcock working to avoid the needs of messing around trying to replace the damn thing.

Any help from professional plumbers or more experienced DIYers would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Now I have heard that there are ways you can free up a stopcock by spraying a bit of wd40 on the spindle shaft and gently tapping it with a hammer, but I would like to know is there any way that I can free off this packing nut from the spindle without causing any damage to the stopcock or kitchen units as ideally I want to get this stopcock working to avoid the needs of messing around trying to replace the damn thing.

WD40 is not a penetrating lubricant, try a proper penetrating lubricant. Other than that, I would try applying heat from a blowlamp, to just the spindle, with a wet rag around the tap, and packing nut, to see if that helps. Maybe heat it up, and then spray it with penetrating oil, so that gets drawn into where it is seized.

As it's lead, you will have to be careful not to put stress on the lead pipes - put a spanner on the tap, to pull against.

 

[oldbuffer]

1. Clean all that stuff off the round spindle of the tap without scratching the spindle itself. I'd use de-scaler (e.g. Kilrock) and some very fine emery cloth - 240 grit or finer. Do this with the valve open as fully as you dare.
2. Close the valve fully.
3. While holding the valve closed by means of the handle unscrew the gland nut (round knurled nut over the spindle, just below the handle). If it is tight, use grips or a small Stilson wrench.
4. When it comes free (no water, remember the valve is closed) slide it as far up towards the handle as you can then clean the lower part of the spindle as in 1. above.
5. Get a length of PTFE tape, about 300mm long and twist it into a string. Wrap it round the spindle in a clockwise direction (looking from the handle) and once completely wrapped around, push it down into the body of the tap.
6. Push the gland nut back down towards the body of the tap and screw it back in. Tighten until the spindle just turns with the handle.
7. Open the valve and check for leaks.
8. If it leaks a bit, fully close the tap again and repeat step 5, adding a new twist of PTFE wrapped around the spindle to the one previously inserted. You can repeat this process until the valve no longer leaks from the spindle when opened.
9. By doing the above you will have renewed the gland seal for the stop valve. Provided you have cleaned the spindle adequately it will no longer pick up and open the gland nut. There is no need for any additional lubrication, PTFE is self lubricating.
10 As Harry Bloomfield has already said, don't put any strain on the pipework. Use grips or an F spanner on the body of the tap to stop it turning.

 

[cdbe]

If you can turn it off on in the street leave that nasty thing alone and fit a new one in the copper above it.