"jay-n-123" wrote in message
news:BChRh.7191$be2.3544@trnddc08...
My 20 year old townhouse has a total of 17 Brasscraft shutoff valves.
These
are the multi-turn style (NOT ball) and are the ones with metal stems (NOT
plastic). I believe they were all soldered on.

When I first moved here 2.5 years ago, most of these valves were siezed
but
I was able to use a pair of pliers to get them unsiezed so they could then
be turned by hand.

Every two months I've been turning them as slightly as possible to prevent
them from being siezed again, and then turning them back slightly to the
original position. I'm not giving them a full workout as I want to avoid
deteriorating existing packing. Question is to continue with this strategy
or just leave them be?

Someone, who is not a plumber, but an experienced homeowner, suggested
that
I should simply leave them alone and not touch them unless I really need
to
shut something off, since turning them at all may be deteriorating the
packing and cause a leak and then the valve might need replacing. He said,
unless you are prepared to be spending a lot of money getting the valves
replaced, then just leave the shutoff valves alone.

Should I continue to turn them slightly every two months and hope that
none
of develop a leak a result of my turning them, or just leave them alone?

Thanks,

J.

I did the exercise bit. One day the hot water tank failed. Closed the
in-line valve--didn't stop the water--had to use house main shutoff
valve--took the in-line heater valve apart----valve stem seat gone,
corroded, valve was useless. From then on went on a replacement routine and
put in ball valves wherever I could. Much happier now.
MLD