In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 27 May 2019 22:06:30 -0400, micky
wrote:


Besides needing the long wrench to close or open the valve, I'd need a
5-sided socket to open the box that the valve is in.

I was still cogitating about that, but I just found it, maybe,
https://www.walmart.com/ip/5-Sided-B...-Key/984668454 $16.78
Arrives by June 7! Maybe a neighbor has one, or a plumber!

Grainger will have it in stock: Nope, neither of these will work:
https://www.grainger.com/category/to...&filters=attrs
and even they are not in stokc.

This might be it:
https://www.grainger.com/product/REE...ter-Key-38HV31 It's $32
and the picture doesn't show what kind of bolt it fits.

None of the ones on Ebay are it:
https://www.ebay.com/bhp/water-meter-key except for this one,
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-No-...-/303137598144
which strangely, has some kind of tape over the opening. I think it's
5-sided, but I have no idea if it's the right dimension. It's called
Vintage No 1.

I should pursue this in advance, in case I really do need to turn off

T-mart, a seller of cheap shlock, of all places, has a wrench that comes
close, but not close enough:
https://www.tmart.com/10-In-1-Cross-...h_p404485.html

The bottom picture shows all 8 sockets, 4 square and 3 triangular (with
chopped off corners), but none 5 sided.

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 28 May 2019 06:48:55 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Monday, May 27, 2019 at 10:07:00 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Sun, 26 May 2019 07:25:46 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Sunday, May 26, 2019 at 6:47:11 AM UTC-4, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 22 May 2019 13:08:55 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 3:06:45 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 22 May 2019 09:08:48 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 11:15:39 AM UTC-4, micky wrote:
I just got back from a trip. Had turned off the water and drained the
pipes so no chance of pipes freezing. I've done this at least twice
before,

The last time was just a year ago.

but this time, when I turned the main house valve on, water
dripped from the valve. Quite a bit.

Is there any way out of this other than having the city turn off the
water to the house so a plumber can replace the valve?

Like putting bread or cheerios in the water pipes, or leeches, or at
least maybe temporarily there's something I can wrap around the stem and
where it comes out of the valve. House built in 1979,

I just got back and other things have piled up. Not a good time to hire
a plumber.

Valve is in the basement, behind a warddrobe full of stuff with stuff
piled on top of it with a heavy box of medium length pieces of wood,
metal, etc. in front of that.

If it's just stem packing, can I replace it myself, with something that
will work better than this did? Will the city turn the water off for
me, or will they insist that a plumber call?

Why are you asking us instead of calling the water company and asking
them?

Because I know that turning off the water is the least of it. I'm
trying to see if I can avoid hiring a plumber too.

And because calling any agency can take 10 to 20 to 40 minutes. Here
it takes me 2 minutes to ask a question and then read answers a few
hours later.

So, it's better to get a lame guess

What is wrong with you? Are you combative all the time, or is it that
you couldn't get me to swallow your strange views on political
commentary.

Just factual and observant. It's pretty dumb to ask what the policy is
for YOUR water company to turn off your water here, instead of just
calling them.

You just don't get it.

I get it.

No. You don't get it.

Time spent calling them, even reading their webpage, would have been
almost totally wasted, because I never had to turn off the water anyhow.

The information would have been interesting, as is the information about
Oshkosh and every other location.

I would much rather be able to turn off the water myself, on my own
schedule than rely on the city or a plumber. Of course I only need to
do that if my main valve isn't working, and it's fixed now.

You'd rather have an answer about what a water company procedure
and charge is to turn the water off in Oshkosh or the UK, rather than the
answer for what YOUR water company does, which is the answer you need.

It took 30 seconds to type the question in the first place, but you've
made it take 10 minutes to rehash it. Still probably less time than if
I had called them and been put on hold.

On Tuesday, May 28, 2019 at 11:12:14 AM UTC-4, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 28 May 2019 06:48:55 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Monday, May 27, 2019 at 10:07:00 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Sun, 26 May 2019 07:25:46 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Sunday, May 26, 2019 at 6:47:11 AM UTC-4, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 22 May 2019 13:08:55 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 3:06:45 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 22 May 2019 09:08:48 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 11:15:39 AM UTC-4, micky wrote:
I just got back from a trip. Had turned off the water and drained the
pipes so no chance of pipes freezing. I've done this at least twice
before,

The last time was just a year ago.

but this time, when I turned the main house valve on, water
dripped from the valve. Quite a bit.

Is there any way out of this other than having the city turn off the
water to the house so a plumber can replace the valve?

Like putting bread or cheerios in the water pipes, or leeches, or at
least maybe temporarily there's something I can wrap around the stem and
where it comes out of the valve. House built in 1979,

I just got back and other things have piled up. Not a good time to hire
a plumber.

Valve is in the basement, behind a warddrobe full of stuff with stuff
piled on top of it with a heavy box of medium length pieces of wood,
metal, etc. in front of that.

If it's just stem packing, can I replace it myself, with something that
will work better than this did? Will the city turn the water off for
me, or will they insist that a plumber call?

Why are you asking us instead of calling the water company and asking
them?

Because I know that turning off the water is the least of it. I'm
trying to see if I can avoid hiring a plumber too.

And because calling any agency can take 10 to 20 to 40 minutes. Here
it takes me 2 minutes to ask a question and then read answers a few
hours later.

So, it's better to get a lame guess

What is wrong with you? Are you combative all the time, or is it that
you couldn't get me to swallow your strange views on political
commentary.

Just factual and observant. It's pretty dumb to ask what the policy is
for YOUR water company to turn off your water here, instead of just
calling them.

You just don't get it.

I get it.

No. You don't get it.

Time spent calling them, even reading their webpage, would have been
almost totally wasted, because I never had to turn off the water anyhow.

The information would have been interesting, as is the information about
Oshkosh and every other location.

I would much rather be able to turn off the water myself, on my own
schedule than rely on the city or a plumber. Of course I only need to
do that if my main valve isn't working, and it's fixed now.

You'd rather have an answer about what a water company procedure
and charge is to turn the water off in Oshkosh or the UK, rather than the
answer for what YOUR water company does, which is the answer you need.

It took 30 seconds to type the question in the first place, but you've
made it take 10 minutes to rehash it. Still probably less time than if
I had called them and been put on hold.

It would take a Republican 5 minutes to find a wrench and to try tightening
the packing nut.

On Monday, May 27, 2019 at 7:30:39 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
By coincidence, I'm out doing errands today, same day as above, and I
went to Best Buy even though I shoudlnt' have bothered and only spent 5
minutes, but as I was driving out, I saw one of those valve wrenches
sticking two feet out of the sidewalk, with no one around.

In some areas it is standard practice to leave the wrench in the hole, when you're working on the water. It's a message to others who might notice water not working and think it is broken, or who might come by and turn it back on with their own wrench at the worst time.

That's a local custom, I'm not sure how widespread it is.

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 28 May 2019 08:20:00 -0700 (PDT), TimR
wrote:

On Monday, May 27, 2019 at 7:30:39 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
By coincidence, I'm out doing errands today, same day as above, and I
went to Best Buy even though I shoudlnt' have bothered and only spent 5
minutes, but as I was driving out, I saw one of those valve wrenches
sticking two feet out of the sidewalk, with no one around.

In some areas it is standard practice to leave the wrench in the hole, when you're working on the water. It's a message to others who might notice water not working and think it is broken, or who might come by and turn it back on with their own wrench at the worst time.

So I shouldn't have gotten out of the car and turned on the water, just
to see how hard it was to turn. Oops.

That's a local custom, I'm not sure how widespread it is.

Seems like a good idea.

That accounts for no one being around. And still an interesting
coincidence to see one the first and only day I've ever wanted to turn
off my own water.