Mains stopvalve seized - help please!

[MANDATE]

The 'plus gas' can't get to the threads you want to loosen and if it could it needs 24 hrs to penetrate. When you tap the ring spanner with a hammer, make sure it's not a toffee hammer. A heavy lump hammer is ideal although I doubt you'll need it. If you have the room the ring spanner or stilsons are bound to shift it.
Best of luck!

 

[Nickthedentist]

Nhs or Private.... I`ll run a new supply for a new set of dentures

Used to be NHS, now P (except for kids), thanks to Tony Blair's "reforms" (aka cutbacks)

 

[Nickthedentist]

The 'plus gas' can't get to the threads you want to loosen

Yes, I just thought of that

No room for Stilsons, just enough room for a ring spanner, I'll let you know how it goes - don't want to tear the leadwork though

If no luck, I'll have to wait until I change the kitchen units, then at least I'll have decent access.

Thanks again,
Nick.

 

[Nickthedentist]

All sorted now, thanks guys (esp. Mandate!). Can't believe it took me so long though

After managing to loosen it with a long, metric ring spanner (the 7/8" AF one I bought was a tad too tight), I switched off the water to the whole terrace in the road, in the middle of the night to avoid inconveniencing too many people

I couldn't find anything that fitted - my tap reseater didn't, nor did the tops of modern 15mm & 22mm stop valves, nor did the guts from a load of old (1930s-50s) taps I'd ripped off old basins in skips

But with a vice, some good spanners, water pump pliers and WD40, I managed to separate all the bits quite quickly, polish them up with a wire brush and a fine sandpaper block, then re-assemble with a new washer and about 1 yard of PTFE tape rammed into the packing box and squashed down with the nut. I managed to fix the tap head back on with a thin nut and bolt running through a 2.5mm hole drilled through it and the spindle.

Switched the water back on in the road... perfect No leaks and shuts the supply off 100%.

I'll make sure I operate it a couple of times a year to prevent a repeat performance.

N.A.

 

[chrishutt]

Can't believe it took me so long though

Nor can we! 3 months of scavenging from skips and midnight forays into the street armed with long spanners - have you been getting some funny looks from the neighbours lately?

Still, well done and 10 out of 10 for perseverance. But remind me not to sign up for dental treatment with you.

 

[brumylad]

If you can fix a problem with a pragmatic approach like that then I reckon the guy would succeed at any trade.

shame for Nick the dentistry trade dosen't pay the way it used to.

 

[chrishutt]

But would you want to be sitting in the chair for 3 months while he scavenges filling materials off the local skips?

 

[Agile]

I am glad that we have been able to give you some good ideas for your plumbing problem.

Are you able to suggest to me a dental web forum where I could get some advice on an apparently rare problem which my dentist is unable to give any very definite advice on?

Tony

 

[ChrisR]

I get on well with my dentist, both being in the "crisis purchase" industries.

I'm not quite up to his £250/hr rate, but don't have the back office and posh kit to support.

Well done with the tap Nick; the chances of not getting the head off, or cracking the lead while trying, are quite high.

 

[Agile]

The reason a dentist does quite well is because he works from his own premises and people bring their teeth to him.

Gas engineers have the problem that they have to travel to the client and in London this takes up to two hours per visit.

Even so a rate of £100 per hour on site is seen as high. This equates to about £20 per hour when trransport costs are taken into account.

Anyone know of a dental discussion forum?

Tony

 

[ChrisR]

http://www.askthedentist.info/ ??

 

[vinniejones]

Lots of good advice, but none of you warned Nick the dangers. I used to do a hell of a lot of lead work and I would have been very wary of a job like that. If things had gone wrong the neighbours would have lynched him. Firstly if the solder had cracked on the stop-tap, or a drawing fault causing a very thin section of the wall of the pipe causing it to split when disturbed, or de-zincification of some part of the stop tap as he tried to reassemble it which would cause the brass to crumble, he's got nowhere else to go. Believe me, it's all happened to me over the years. I would advise getting together with the neighbours to get indidual supplies in alkathene. You'll have to bite the bullet sooner or later.

 

[vinniejones]

OOPS sorry I didn't see the warning about lead cracking. How do you edit on here?