DIYbanter - Frost free hydrant

On 27 Jul 2006 16:35:21 -0700, "ponylady" wrote:

Help, please! I know there must be some way to adjust a frost free
hydrant when they quit working. I am tired of replacing them every few
years. I have a hydrant now that the flow of water is a mere trickle.
It shuts off just fine but very little water comes out anymore. Can
any one out there tell me how to fix it without buying a whole new
hydrant? Thanks !!

I had the same thing happen. I unscrewed the head, pulled out the
shaft and found the plunger had come loose from the shaft.
Unfortunately the threads on the shaft were badly rusted, which meant
replacing the shaft. That meant I'd have to order a replacement since
they are not a stocked item. In the meantime, I needed water and there
is no way to shut off that hydrant by itself. I opted to temporarily
just JB Weld the plunger to the shaft, go without water overnight, and
put it back together in the morning. Since then, I ordered a new
shaft and plunger, which is in my garage for when I need it. I may as
well leave that JB Welded one till it fails, and that was 2 years ago.

This model uses a completely steel shaft that screws into the plunger.
In my opinion, it's cheap junk. The bottom of the shaft should be
brass by the threads so they dont rust, because the bottom sits in
water all the time.

I should mention that I coated the entire bottom 4 inches of shaft
with thew JB Weld to prevent more rusting. Then I spray painted the
rest of the shaft before I reinstalled it.
When I do need to replace it, I will paint the new shaft too, and have
considered using something like teflon tape to seal any water out of
the threads where they enter the plunger.