Stopcock handle just sheared off! Any suggestions??

[RRRRRR]

Hi- 1930's lead pipe with brass stopcock inside house- shut it to do work, opened it and left with horizontal handle in my hand- sheared off vertical rod. Any (polite) suggestions?!

If turned off at road, could internal mechanism in the stopcock be screwed out and replaced with new handle? Or maybe....... as it is open now and runs immediately into copper, guess again could turn off at road and bung in a new stopcock immediately after it (?).

Thanks!

 

[Whitespirit66]

If you can, I would just put a new stop cock on the copper pipe.

 

[tommyl18]

Lets just hope the same dont happen to the stop tap in the road dont force it if has seized use wd40 and turn it back and forth untill it starts to free up

 

[echoes]

Be prepared for the stop cock in the road to not close completely. I had to do exactly this job in my last place after the s**tting thing sheared off.
Get towels and big towels and be ready to get the new stop cock on quick.

 

[Nige F]

If you can, I would just put a new stop cock on the copper pipe.

Indeed - forget the lead one . It might be a completely obscure thread on the body . best left alone

 

[tim00]

If this is your house then why not bite the bullet and replace all the lead pipework from the external stop tap or wherever the lead starts to where it ends. This is your best option in the long run.

You can replace the works of the old shut-off but as has been mentioned, threading might be an issue and if it's not a true jumper stop tap then the new works wont fit.

If you leave the damaged tap in place and go for cutting in a new stop-tap you can use lead-loc fittings. Any new stop-tap make sure that it faces the correct way - flow with the arrow.

Before doing anything carefully make sure that the external stop-tap works.

 

[Agile]

Its not clear to me what you have done.

If you opened the valve then you should not have been forcing the handle,

You can probably unscrew the spindle assembly and file/grind a new square head on the valve and replace the washer at the same time.

Even if you cannot remove the spindle you may be able to file a new square in situ.

Tony

 

[RRRRRR]

Hi- thanks for this. Yes- in closing it, I put a great deal of force on as it wouldn't fully shut off. On opening it, similar force the other way, but with an odd 'give' just after I opened it... Then it was in my hand! Got it just open enough afterwards with mole grips and expletives, but almost a foot under boards between joist and a wall, and really inaccessible. Don't think I've got the space to file it, but will remember your plan- thanks.