Leaking Gate Valve In Basement?
Question:Before last winter began, I shut off my outdoor faucets by tightening the gate valves located in the basement that correspond to the faucets. I recently turned these back on and found that there is water dripping from the valve. Not a lot, but enough to concern me. Any idea what could be causing this? What is the best way to fix this problem? Thank you for your help!
Answers:
Real simple, just take a adjustable wrench and tighten the hex packing nut that is located at the base of the stem that enters the valve body. There is a graphite packing inside there, and when you open the valve, occasionally the nut will loosen with the stem. nothing to panic about, just give it a crank and you should be good to go!
If it is leaking around the handle then you can get some packing, the guy at the store will describe how to use it. If it is down at the big nut then you will need a new gasket there. But since those gaskets are hard to buy you might just end up buying an exact replacement and replacing the top half of the valve.
I agree with the others - tighten the packing nut first and see if that does the trick. One thing, when you do this, the handle will be somewhat hard to turn. If tightening the packing nut doesn't work, shut the water off to the house, remove the old gate valve and install a new brass ball-valve - much better valve.
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