The house we live in is about 150 years old, and we have been here five
years, during which time I've never tried to turn off the incoming mains
water. Tried this morning, and the handle just spun around on the
shaft, so used a pipe wrench to close the stop cock. Apart from
discovering that the cold water supply in the kitchen comes from the
tank, everything was fine until I tried to turn the water on again.

The stop cock is jammed solid, in the closed position. Any ideas how to
open it again? I have sprayed penetrating oil around the shaft. Would
heating the stop cock with a butane blow lamp possibly help?

The stop cock is brass, and feeds copper pie above. I think the
incoming pipe is probably lead, as it is bulbous where it joins the stop
cock.
--
Graeme

Graeme wrote:

The house we live in is about 150 years old, and we have been here five
years, during which time I've never tried to turn off the incoming mains
water. Tried this morning, and the handle just spun around on the
shaft, so used a pipe wrench to close the stop cock. Apart from
discovering that the cold water supply in the kitchen comes from the
tank, everything was fine until I tried to turn the water on again.

The stop cock is jammed solid, in the closed position. Any ideas how to
open it again? I have sprayed penetrating oil around the shaft. Would
heating the stop cock with a butane blow lamp possibly help?

Has it got a nut above the main body, through which the tap shaft
passes?
If so, try to undo this, not totally, but it has been known before that
when you close the tap, friction also tightens the bolt head, making the
fit very tight.
A blowlamp warming it up first would be a good idea, and be careful you
dont twist and turn the lead piping much, they are quite easily damaged
when using brute force.
Alan.


--
To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

On 30/06/2007 10:50, Graeme wrote:

Would heating the stop cock with a butane blow lamp possibly help?

you'd have to boil all the water in the pipes first to get it to expand
much.

The stop cock is brass, and feeds copper pie above. I think the
incoming pipe is probably lead

melt the lead and you'll have a real disaster.

"Graeme" wrote in message
...
The house we live in is about 150 years old, and we have been here five
years, during which time I've never tried to turn off the incoming mains
water. Tried this morning, and the handle just spun around on the shaft,
so used a pipe wrench to close the stop cock. Apart from discovering that
the cold water supply in the kitchen comes from the tank, everything was
fine until I tried to turn the water on again.

The stop cock is jammed solid, in the closed position. Any ideas how to
open it again? I have sprayed penetrating oil around the shaft. Would
heating the stop cock with a butane blow lamp possibly help?

The stop cock is brass, and feeds copper pie above. I think the incoming
pipe is probably lead, as it is bulbous where it joins the stop cock.

I recently swapped the innards on a stop cock to make it work. I bought one
of these
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...98861&id=15940
turned the water off in the street and it was just a straight swap.

Adam

In article , Graeme
writes
The house we live in is about 150 years old, and we have been here five
years, during which time I've never tried to turn off the incoming mains
water. Tried this morning, and the handle just spun around on the
shaft, so used a pipe wrench to close the stop cock. Apart from
discovering that the cold water supply in the kitchen comes from the
tank, everything was fine until I tried to turn the water on again.

The stop cock is jammed solid, in the closed position. Any ideas how to
open it again? I have sprayed penetrating oil around the shaft. Would
heating the stop cock with a butane blow lamp possibly help?

The stop cock is brass, and feeds copper pie above. I think the
incoming pipe is probably lead, as it is bulbous where it joins the stop
cock.

Job for the water board by the sound of it!.

Best to replace it, but you'll either need to turn it off outside if you
have an outside stop cock or a freezer kit to shut off the supply to it
but better make sure you have all the bits first or plenty of freezer
gas!....
--
Tony Sayer

In message , ARWadsworth
writes

I recently swapped the innards on a stop cock to make it work. I bought
one of these
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...98861&id=15940
turned the water off in the street and it was just a straight swap.

That looks very much like the one I have. One problem - I have found
the external stop cock, emptied the hole of mud and roots, and cannot
turn the tap off :-( Yes, I have one of the special tools with a long
handle, that slips over tap part.

Why didn't I just leave it alone?
--
Graeme

"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
In article , Graeme
writes

snip

The stop cock is brass, and feeds copper pie above. I think the
incoming pipe is probably lead, as it is bulbous where it joins the
stop
cock.

Job for the water board by the sound of it!.

Why, they have no legal responsibility for anything after their
isolating cock in the street. It might well be a job for a
professional but that doesn't need to be the water supply company.

Graeme wrote:
In message , ARWadsworth
writes

I recently swapped the innards on a stop cock to make it work. I
bought one of these
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...98861&id=15940
turned the water off in the street and it was just a straight swap.

That looks very much like the one I have. One problem - I have found
the external stop cock, emptied the hole of mud and roots, and cannot
turn the tap off :-( Yes, I have one of the special tools with a long
handle, that slips over tap part.

Why didn't I just leave it alone?

Ah.. the plaintive cry of the DIY-er..


You star off by replacing a cracked toilet cistern and end up rebuilding
the entire bathroom :-)


Gird thy loins mate, and welly the stopcock. They are ALWAYS jammed .

"Graeme" wrote in message
...
In message , ARWadsworth
writes

I recently swapped the innards on a stop cock to make it work. I bought
one of these
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...98861&id=15940
turned the water off in the street and it was just a straight swap.

That looks very much like the one I have. One problem - I have found the
external stop cock, emptied the hole of mud and roots, and cannot turn the
tap off :-( Yes, I have one of the special tools with a long handle,
that slips over tap part.

Why didn't I just leave it alone?
--
Graeme

Your water co will sort that for you. That obviously will not help you over
the weekend. Have you tried brute force on the street tap? Try to move the
head both ways to loosten it.

Adam

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 11:58:59 +0100, Graeme
wrote:

In message , ARWadsworth
writes

I recently swapped the innards on a stop cock to make it work. I bought
one of these
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...98861&id=15940
turned the water off in the street and it was just a straight swap.

That looks very much like the one I have. One problem - I have found
the external stop cock, emptied the hole of mud and roots, and cannot
turn the tap off :-( Yes, I have one of the special tools with a long
handle, that slips over tap part.

Why didn't I just leave it alone?

The external stopcock is the responsibility of the water company. If
it's jammed then they have to fix or replace it. I had mine done a
couple of years ago.

It MAY take a couple of days, or in this weather, months, for them to
get to you. Call them now. Tell them there is a health hazard
because you can't get water into the loo cistern. That might get them
to move quicker.

"ARWadsworth" wrote in message
...

snip
Your water co will sort that for you. That obviously will not help
you over the weekend. Have you tried brute force on the street tap?
Try to move the head both ways to loosten it.


Don't worry if the street cock starts leaking, the more the better,
your water supplier will be around quicker.....

:Jerry: wrote:
"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
In article , Graeme
writes

snip
The stop cock is brass, and feeds copper pie above. I think the
incoming pipe is probably lead, as it is bulbous where it joins the
stop
cock.
Job for the water board by the sound of it!.

Why, they have no legal responsibility for anything after their
isolating cock in the street. It might well be a job for a
professional but that doesn't need to be the water supply company.

I think he means for replacing the one in the street...

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In message , Mike Barnard
writes
On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 11:58:59 +0100, Graeme
wrote:

Why didn't I just leave it alone?

The external stopcock is the responsibility of the water company. If
it's jammed then they have to fix or replace it. I had mine done a
couple of years ago.

Really? I didn't realise that. The external stop cock is on my
property, though. One problem is, that I don't know, without being able
to turn it off, whether or not the one external tap controls all the
water to the house. That may sound unlikely, but given the mish-mash of
plumbing here, nothing would surprise me. We have two entirely
different drainage systems, one of which goes from the side of the
house, to the sewers under one road, and another which runs below the
rear garden, to another road in that direction. That is quite lucky,
really, as we cannot use the toilets on one system for solids, because
it is full of next door's tree roots :-(

The house was a B&B at one time, and now has a PO and sorting office
built on one side. We have nine toilets, nine hand basins, four sinks,
six showers and three baths to contend with.

--
Graeme

In message , The Natural
Philosopher writes
Graeme wrote:

Why didn't I just leave it alone?

Ah.. the plaintive cry of the DIY-er..

Grin

You star off by replacing a cracked toilet cistern and end up
rebuilding the entire bathroom :-)

Story of my life, in this house ...

Gird thy loins mate, and welly the stopcock. They are ALWAYS jammed .

The immediate problem has been solved, in that water is now flowing.
Could not get the shaft of the stop cock to turn at all, but by turning
the whole caboodle, water is running where it should. Not an ideal
solution, but at least it keeps SWMBO happy for the time being.

One discovery is that the kitchen cold water tap is fed via the CW tank,
which doesn't thrill me. Not exactly healthy, drinking water from the
tank, which is *huge*. At least it is fairly modern, and plastic.
--
Graeme

Graeme wrote:

One discovery is that the kitchen cold water tap is fed via the CW tank,
which doesn't thrill me. Not exactly healthy, drinking water from the
tank, which is *huge*. At least it is fairly modern, and plastic.

I would be inclined to fix that asap! Is there anything in the kitchen
the cold main feeds?

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Graeme wrote:

The house was a B&B at one time, and now has a PO and sorting office
built on one side. We have nine toilets, nine hand basins, four sinks,
six showers and three baths to contend with.

So not a place to be caught out with a bad case of diarrhoea and
indecision then!

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article ews.net,
:Jerry: writes

"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
In article , Graeme
writes

snip

The stop cock is brass, and feeds copper pie above. I think the
incoming pipe is probably lead, as it is bulbous where it joins the
stop
cock.

Job for the water board by the sound of it!.

Why, they have no legal responsibility for anything after their
isolating cock in the street. It might well be a job for a
professional but that doesn't need to be the water supply company.



Yes wrote that before I realised that it was not the stop cock in the
street he was on about;! Mind you round here in Cambridge water land
they are very well priced for those sort of jobs one of the few I expect
that is!......
--
Tony Sayer

"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
snip

Yes wrote that before I realised that it was not the stop cock in
the
street he was on about;!

The funny thing is, since you posted that remark it has become just
that - can you tell email me the winning Lottery numbers?.....

In article ews.net,
:Jerry: writes

"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
snip

Yes wrote that before I realised that it was not the stop cock in
the
street he was on about;!

The funny thing is, since you posted that remark it has become just
that - can you tell email me the winning Lottery numbers?.....



Share of the winnin's if I do?. OK I'll tell you later...
--
Tony Sayer

In message , John
Rumm writes
Graeme wrote:

One discovery is that the kitchen cold water tap is fed via the CW
tank, which doesn't thrill me.

I would be inclined to fix that asap! Is there anything in the kitchen
the cold main feeds?

Not in the kitchen, although there is in the scullery/utility room,
which is off the kitchen, so not too bad.

There are two jobs that I really need to do. The first is wander around
closing various water valves, and try to work out what feeds where. The
second is to do something similar with the electricity. The meter area
is a nightmare, with three fuse boxes and a *huge* on/off switch. One
of those enormous grey MK boxes, with the handle at the side.
--
Graeme

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 10:50:10 +0100, Graeme wrote:

The house we live in is about 150 years old, and we have been here five
years, during which time I've never tried to turn off the incoming mains
water. Tried this morning, and the handle just spun around on the
shaft, so used a pipe wrench to close the stop cock. Apart from
discovering that the cold water supply in the kitchen comes from the
tank, everything was fine until I tried to turn the water on again.

The stop cock is jammed solid, in the closed position. Any ideas how to
open it again? I have sprayed penetrating oil around the shaft. Would
heating the stop cock with a butane blow lamp possibly help?

The stop cock is brass, and feeds copper pie above. I think the
incoming pipe is probably lead, as it is bulbous where it joins the stop
cock.

See if you can turn it off in the road/garden.

The cut the lead and put a lead-loc on. the rest is copper or plastic as
you see fit.





--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html
Gas Fitting Standards Docs he http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFittingStandards

"Ed Sirett" wrote in message
...
snip

See if you can turn it off in the road/garden.


Some times it really does help to read the thread before replying to
an hours old and fast moving situation....