How to open a stuck gate valve?

bothyhead

The gate valve that feeds my washing machine is stuck in the open position. I think it's about 30 years old. I sprayed a bit of WD40 on it earlier on, and there's not a budge out of it. There is a nut holding the wheel on. Would it do me any good to take that off, and try a vice-grips on the shank for better leverage?

Thanks guys

Carlow52

the vice grips will prolly just ring it

Have u tried gently trying to open it a bit further, the proper way to leave taps like this is a 1/2 turn from fully open to allow for movement both ways..
I would think about replacing

bothyhead

Yeah, I was thinking the Vise-Grips might do damage alright. The wheel came off very easy, so I sprayed a bit of WD directly onto the spindle. I'll leave it soak in a bit and then see if there's any movement.

bothyhead

If I was to replace this myself ... what would I need?



Current set-up is T-connector on cold pipe > gate valve > some sort of adapter connector > washing machine inlet hose.

Assuming that I'm going to leave the T-connector in place, can I connect a more modern inline valve (?) directly to this T-connector, or do I need to attach it to a little bit of horizontal pipe first (much like the existing config).

Davy

Leave it the way it is, just swap for a new 365, you will need a little extra copper pipework. Can you kill the feed handy enough

cruizer101

Tap of a hammer oftens works to loosen stuff like this. Tap straight down, or in this case horizontally, onto the centre of the gate valve, i.e. in line with the shaft of the valve. Make sure to support behind it though don't want the force going into the pipes, maybe a block of wood or that.

bothyhead

Davy wrote: »

Leave it the way it is, just swap for a new 365, you will need a little extra copper pipework. Can you kill the feed handy enough

Ok, thanks. I have a couple of feet of 15mm pipe knocking around somewhere. That cold pipe is fed from from the rising mains; though when I turned the mains off, the feed reduced to a trickle, but it didn't stop completely (unlike the kitchen tap).

Is my current valve what you call a 365?

bothyhead

cruizer101 wrote: »

Tap of a hammer oftens works to loosen stuff like this. Tap straight down, or in this case horizontally, onto the centre of the gate valve, i.e. in line with the shaft of the valve. Make sure to support behind it though don't want the force going into the pipes, maybe a block of wood or that.

I'll give that a go, thanks. I assume when you mention putting a block of wood behind the valve, that you mean hitting the end of shaft itself, in order to drive it deeper into the body of the valve?

Joey the lips

Davy wrote: »

Leave it the way it is, just swap for a new 365, you will need a little extra copper pipework. Can you kill the feed handy enough

and while he is at it he might need a new nut and ring for the t where the gate valve is running to. However your solution is best

tipperary

bothyhead wrote: »

Ok, thanks. I have a couple of feet of 15mm pipe knocking around somewhere. That cold pipe is fed from from the rising mains; though when I turned the mains off, the feed reduced to a trickle, but it didn't stop completely (unlike the kitchen tap).

Is my current valve what you call a 365?

I'd say the trickle might be whatever water is in the pipe feeding the sink and feeding the tank in the attic - should be limited enough amount of water involved. Does the main run on the tee feed the kitchen tap? If so, and you're draining the pipe to replace a valve anyway, it may be worth while putting a valve on that run too. In general these days I think they use 1/4 turn valves.

Buford T Justice

If its on the rising main, and the feed to upstairs is in the vicinity don't forget to drain off the head of water via the cold tap before you open any fittings or else you'll get soaked.

bothyhead

I appreciate all the replies - ta much!

I'm still puzzled by the source of the trickle ... The house is a bungalow, and after some years a utility room was added and two of the bedrooms had en-suites installed. It looks like the cold feed to these later additions is coming straight from the rising main.

If I switch off the main:

- Kitchen stops immediately
- Bedrooms stop immediately
- Utility room is reduced to a trickle immediately, but doesn't stop

I left the cold tap running in the utility room for half an hour, and it still trickled. It's almost like it is getting 90% of its feed from the mains and the other 10% from the attic tank (weird, huh?)

Anyway, I have a blanking cap that I can put on the end of the T while I make up the rest of the unit, so a towel around the pipe should mop up the water if I work quickly enough.

I just hope I don't run into any metric/imperial problems - the utility room was added circa 1980?

bothyhead

Job done lads. 20 mins with very little mess. Thanks again.