Bill Stock wrote:

I had a leak at the main shutoff valve coming into the house. It just seemed
to be leaking around the stem, but it was hard to tell. So I called the city
and $60 (this blows my mind) later they shut off my water. I went to Home
Depot to try and find a replacement stem, which was a futile effort. So I
ended up buying some new stem packing. This seems to have solved the
problem, as another $60 later I'm leak free. In hind sight, tightening the
packing nut might have solved my problem. But the Flax/graphite combo in the
packing nut seemed pretty dried out.

I'd like to have one of these on hand for future disasters, not to mention
my own T-Wrench (probably illegal). Given the speed with which the city
reacted to my original call, I'd hate to have water gushing into my
basement. (Finally the question) The valve is actually in an elbow that is
threaded on one end and slip on the other. The stem threads into the top of
the elbow. It is probably an 1.25" where it screws into the valve and only
has about 1/8" of thread. The valve is about 30 years old. What is this type
of valve called and who might the manufacturer be?

It's hard to tell the type of valve from your description. It sounds like it is
not a ball valuve, which I would recommend replacing your main shut-off valve
(and any other shut-off valve that you care about) with a ball valve at your
next opportunity; they last a *long* time without going bad.

Regarding the outside shut off that the water department used, was it marked
above ground or have a visible cover to get to it? If my shut off inside the
house ever fails, or the run of pipe before the shut off ever fails, I'm at the
mercy of my water department to come out and *find* the shut off. For some
reason the shut offs (assuming it exists) in my 1960s era neighborhood are well
covered over. I'm very curious to know where it is, and I'd be willing to
install a cover so it can be accessed quickly if needed.

By the way, did the water department charge you another $60 turn the water back
on? Having your own wrench seems like a good idea, you should be able to find
them at a decent plumbing house.