My daughter had a cold tap fail that wouldn't turn off.

(Her husband away on business & I live locally but I was away on this
day, (sexist I know but a real situation!)).

A genuinely helpful neighbour tried to turn off the mains entry stop
tap inside the house. He couldn't turn off the water (washer was shot)
so he went to the Water Co's thingy (where the meter was) outside where
he turned off the water on the Water Co's side using a socket set.

In slower time I fixed the stop-tap and fitted a simple 90 degree valve
and demonstrated where it was, so that if she has a problem in the
future, stopping the flow is a 90 degree turn. (Previous owners of
house had removed the bib from main stop tap so it's not her fault
that she couldn't she where to turn off the main supply even if it
would have worked!)

BUT: We couldn't turn the Water Co's plastic valve back on again.
It appears that the bit you turn has a rachet-like device that makes
turning it back on very difficult.

I gave up, not wanting to damage the valve/meter fitting and called
our water supplier.
Within an hour or so, a good man turned the water back on cheerfully
waited while I checked that my work wasn't leaking. And No Charge!!

While I'm v pleased our supplier (Bristol Water) and the prompt cheery
response to our problem, I would like some input into how these valves
work.

It appears that the bit you turn has a rachet, albeit in plastic, that
allows ease of "turning-off" and difficulty of " turning-on".

When the good bloke from B Water came, it only took him a few seconds
to switch supply back on.

SO: Where can I get the tool to turn on/off the plastic valve on our
stop taps; mine and my extended family that I do stuff for?

AND: Can anyone point me at a site that shows how these valves work and
what tools are need to use them?

Thanks in anticipation,


N

In message . com,
naffer writes

BUT: We couldn't turn the Water Co's plastic valve back on again.
It appears that the bit you turn has a rachet-like device that makes
turning it back on very difficult.

Umm.. I doubt the ratchet bit. My only experience of plastic meter/shut
off assemblies are those used by Three Valleys Water Co. in
Hertfordshire.
These have a removable T shaped plastic operator which fits into a
square socket on the valve.

The torque required to open and close the valve is significant. For
security reasons, I removed one from a field supply and subsequently
lost it! A replacement was supplied by the meter reader.

regards

--
Tim Lamb

In article ,
Tim Lamb writes:

Umm.. I doubt the ratchet bit. My only experience of plastic meter/shut
off assemblies are those used by Three Valleys Water Co. in
Hertfordshire.
These have a removable T shaped plastic operator which fits into a
square socket on the valve.

The torque required to open and close the valve is significant. For

Yes, I found it rather alarming that the plastic shaft wound up
about half a turn before the valve turned at the bottom. I thought
it was going to snap off, and wasn't sure I was doing the right
thing at all initially.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Tim Lamb ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying :

BUT: We couldn't turn the Water Co's plastic valve back on again.
It appears that the bit you turn has a rachet-like device that makes
turning it back on very difficult.

Umm.. I doubt the ratchet bit. My only experience of plastic meter/shut
off assemblies are those used by Three Valleys Water Co. in
Hertfordshire.
These have a removable T shaped plastic operator which fits into a
square socket on the valve.

The torque required to open and close the valve is significant. For
security reasons, I removed one from a field supply and subsequently
lost it! A replacement was supplied by the meter reader.

I'm also in Three Valleys, and had a new main stopcock about seven or eight
years ago - the previous one was seized solid...

There's a simple plastic lever to turn it on or off, and it requires very
little torque indeed.

There's no meter on my place, but there is a connector for one - If we were
to move to a meter, I gather they just fit a meter head to the existing
stopcock.

Thanks for the answers. But I'm none the wiser.

Could it be that each Water Co. does it differently?

I am sure that ours has a device that latches when turning
off and slips when turning back on.

I had a v good look at it having un-screwed the head.

I found that the head which you turn has an underside with
lugs that are a bit like those metal screws that you can't
unscrew for good reason.

Wedge shaped lugs engage the lower part of the tap,
90 degs one way (off) and a long slope the other that unscrews what
looks like a wood-screw holding the head down so that it won't engage
and open the valve.

So, any more ideas?

N

You always turn it clockwise - off-on-off-on ?