Stopcock does not work

[Axel]

Technically the freeholder should at least assist in isolating supply if you are arranging the stopcock replacement. It could be argued that they have some responsibility up to and maybe including the valve that isolates the water supply for whole building from your flat.

 

[fine tune]

Ok, so- find external stopcock, and then replace this stopcock?

With regards to the number of turns- below picture is of the tap backed off two and a half turns, at which point I wimped out turning it any more:

looking at that second picture the spindle seems to turn ok so the problem you have is the gland nut has siezed to the spindle with lime scale which stopping the tap turning far enough down, give it a sqirt of releasing fluid and let it soak in , and keep giving a sqirt every time you pass it. don,t try to loosen it for a day or two , or you will round the nut off

 

[Axel]

If I were you I wouldn't mess with this tap - it's important to have a good, serviceable isolation valve and you really need a new one put in asap so best to organise whole building off - just for 20 mins or so, to change the valve.

Being unable to isolate your own flat is an unsatisfactory situation for whole building. It is a matter of concern for the freeholder.

 

[Axel]

p.s.

Fit a FULL BORE lever valve.

 

[Dammit]

I spoke to the freeholder/managing agent this morning, he basically said "best of luck with it", and asked me to make sure the plumber did not spill water everywhere.

I'll have a crack at freezing the water main tomorrow and changing the stopcock myself.

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Wangerman]

I spoke to the freeholder/managing agent this morning, he basically said "best of luck with it", and asked me to make sure the plumber did not spill water everywhere.

I'll have a crack at freezing the water main tomorrow and changing the stopcock myself.

What could possibly go wrong?

Don't say that

Hire a mains freezing machine don't try it with cans unless you want to buy at least a couple more than you think you neeed

 

[Dammit]

In all seriousness I was going to get the verniers onto the pipe to determine what size it is, then measure between the two compression nuts at either end. The idea of doing this is so that I can get a replacement that is as close as possible to being the same size as the one that is there at the moment.

Off to the shop, get same size replacement stopcock and two to three cans of Pipe-O-Freeze.

Freeze the pipe, run the taps to bleed off the pressure, then undo the existing stopcock and replace it.

What have I missed?

 

[studips]

if you intend to remove the old tap, cut the olives off, polish the pipe and refit the new one, then buy a suitable 15 or 22mm speedfit cap. if your cans don't last long enough, at least you might be able to cap it while you nip out to find an electric pipe freezer

if you haven't done something like this before, there is soooo much that can go wrong.

 

[Dammit]

I'm getting a feeling that the majority of people here would recommend hiring an electric pipe freezer rather than relying on cans.

Recommendations for a place to hire one from in SE London on a Saturday morning?

 

[studips]

HSS hire centres, but look for your local hire shop, they will probably be a lot cheaper.

 

[Axel]

Freeholder is saying ' best of luck with it' cos he / she doesn't want to have to pay someone to go and switch off main building stopcock briefly, which is their responsibility.

 

[Nige F]

This is the fellow:

It is ?

That`s probably onto screwed iron (- or maybe soft copper = can`t see exactly from the pic). so either way you need a bloody good freeze kit - then a plumber with the ballz to unscrew the top and pop in a new top out of a BS1010 tap - simples for me anyway - difficult bit is getting all the way up the A23 then to SEwhatever

 

[Axel]

You sure the thread dimensions will match??

 

[Dammit]

Bottled it today, I measured the pipe at OD 22mm:

 

[Dammit]

Better shot of the pipes: