I have 6 outdoor spigots (faucets, bibs) around the perimeter of my house.
They are 25 years old. The washers are chewed up. The screws that hold the
washers in are all corroded and are crumbling.
Therefore I cannot replace the washers.

Short of replacing the faucets ( 1/2" soldered fittings) is there any way I
can revive these faucets? If I could only get the stubs of the darned screws
out of the valve stem!

Thanks, although this looks hopeless.
--

Walter
The Happy Iconoclast www.rationality.net

"Walter R." wrote in message
...
I have 6 outdoor spigots (faucets, bibs) around the perimeter of my house.
They are 25 years old. The washers are chewed up. The screws that hold the
washers in are all corroded and are crumbling.
Therefore I cannot replace the washers.

Short of replacing the faucets ( 1/2" soldered fittings) is there any way
I
can revive these faucets? If I could only get the stubs of the darned
screws
out of the valve stem!

Thanks, although this looks hopeless.
--

Walter
The Happy Iconoclast www.rationality.net


I just bought a circa 1971 house and I replaced all of the hose bibs with
ball valves (sweated). I bought threaded ball hose bibs and 1/2 sweat to
threaded adaptors. No leaks for me and easy to change if need be some day.

If freezing is an issue you might want to consider the valves that turn off
inside. So freezing is not a problem.

Walter -

You might be able to drill & easy-out the screws.

Without replacing the washers, these faucets won't work very well.

Or just bite the bullet & sweat a male pipe adapter on so you can
easily change the faucet in the future.

Like Alan I often use threaded ball valves., they're great for use with
a hose but suck for hand washing.

cheers
Bob

BobK207 wrote:
Walter -

You might be able to drill & easy-out the screws.

Without replacing the washers, these faucets won't work very well.

Or just bite the bullet & sweat a male pipe adapter on so you can
easily change the faucet in the future.

Like Alan I often use threaded ball valves., they're great for use with
a hose but suck for hand washing.

cheers
Bob

It would be difficult to easy-out screws that small, particularly brass.

But if you have access to a lathe it you can easily chuck up those
stems, drill out the stubs of the old screws with the tap drill for the
present size screws and run a tap down the hole. That will probably give
you good enough threads to hold a new screw of the same size.

If not, there's probably room to use a tap drill for the next size screw
up from what's there now.

You'll probably need new stem packing too, but that's easy to get.

If you wanna send just the stems to me I'll be happy to do the machining
work for you gratis. Just e-mail me directly.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"

Thank you for your generous offer, Jeff. Problem is, that would leave me
without water for several days or weeks. My wife will be pretty unhappy if
she has to refill the toilets by hand from the irrigation system.

I'll just sweat on male adapters and screw on new hose bibs.

Have a great day :-)

--

Walter
The Happy Iconoclast www.rationality.net


"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
news
BobK207 wrote:
Walter -

You might be able to drill & easy-out the screws.

Without replacing the washers, these faucets won't work very well.

Or just bite the bullet & sweat a male pipe adapter on so you can
easily change the faucet in the future.

Like Alan I often use threaded ball valves., they're great for use with
a hose but suck for hand washing.

cheers
Bob

It would be difficult to easy-out screws that small, particularly brass.

But if you have access to a lathe it you can easily chuck up those stems,
drill out the stubs of the old screws with the tap drill for the present
size screws and run a tap down the hole. That will probably give you good
enough threads to hold a new screw of the same size.

If not, there's probably room to use a tap drill for the next size screw
up from what's there now.

You'll probably need new stem packing too, but that's easy to get.

If you wanna send just the stems to me I'll be happy to do the machining
work for you gratis. Just e-mail me directly.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"

Walter R. wrote:
Thank you for your generous offer, Jeff. Problem is, that would leave me
without water for several days or weeks. My wife will be pretty unhappy if
she has to refill the toilets by hand from the irrigation system.

I'll just sweat on male adapters and screw on new hose bibs.

Have a great day :-)


OK, it sounds like you must live where you don't need inside shutoff
valves to prevent freeze damage to the hose cocks during the winter.

That probably means you don't have to shovel snow either. G

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"

You can buy new stems. Bring the old ones in to the hardware store and match
them up.
Ron

"Walter R." wrote in message
...
I have 6 outdoor spigots (faucets, bibs) around the perimeter of my house.
They are 25 years old. The washers are chewed up. The screws that hold the
washers in are all corroded and are crumbling.
Therefore I cannot replace the washers.

Short of replacing the faucets ( 1/2" soldered fittings) is there any way
I
can revive these faucets? If I could only get the stubs of the darned
screws
out of the valve stem!

Thanks, although this looks hopeless.
--

Walter
The Happy Iconoclast www.rationality.net