Frost Proof Hydrant Repair
Amie Mandy
Aaron Stickley is a licensed plumber with 15 years of experience in commercial, new residential plumbing, and residential service and repair. He started his own residential service and repair plumbing business. Aaron's articles about plumbing on The Spruce span four years.
Yard hydrants typically last for several years before developing problems, but all yard hydrants will eventually need to be replaced. Servicing the hydrant with new parts on an as-needed basis will extend its life.
Baker Monitor Yard Hydrants and Repair Kits are essential for efficient, durable, and reliable water control in outdoor spaces. These yard hydrants offer precision in managing water flow, making them ideal for various needs, including gardens, lawns, or farms. Designed for durability and convenience, these hydrants provide easy access to water, even in the driest months. The accompanying repair kits contain all the necessary components to repair and maintain top-quality, reliable hydration systems for a lush and vibrant yard.
The top casted piece of a yard hydrant can come in many shapes and sizes, yet all serve the same basic purpose. They have a handle that when pulled up, will lift either the rod or the wet pipe (depending on the style of hydrant) allowing water to flow through the valve, up the vertical pipe and out the hydrant head.
The head also has an outlet for water to flow through. Some hydrants will have this outlet threaded so that a garden hose or other attachment can be hooked up others and some hydrant will have just a smooth outlet. This is something to look out for when selecting a hydrant for your home or farm.
The last thing that you will find on all hydrant heads is a way to make adjustments to the hydrant. Some hydrants will have flow controls that can be set so you can find the ideal flow of water. Once you have it adjusted, you can keep that as a preset on your hydrant. Many have a packing nut that can be adjusted if the rod in the hydrant comes out of alignment. If there is a small amount of leaking or dripping, you can often adjust the packing nut to alleviate that issue. These features will vary across brands.
There are two basic styles of valves, O-rings and plungers. Some manufacturers opt for a series of 2 or 3 O-rings that when seated into place will shut the water off. The more common approach is to use a rubber plunger attached to a rod to plug off the incoming water.
The hydrant brands that use an O-ring style setup tend to have a little bit better flow through the hydrant. However, the O-rings wear out much faster than plungers and are harder to replace. O-rings can rip and tear. They sometimes end up stuck down in the valve body, making it impossible to install new ones. The styles that use the plunger are less likely to have the entire plunger piece stuck down at the bottom when trying to repair. This style is generally equipped with a steel rod that goes down and attaches to the plunger. Over time these rods can fail due to corrosion.
A properly installed frost proof hydrant should have the base of the hydrant lower than the frost point. This is to ensure when the water is shut off after use, water can drain back into the ground below the frost, to prevent potentially freezing and breaking of the hydrant.
Do you have a frost-free hydrant on your Tulsa, OK, property? At Half Moon Plumbing we know the benefits of having a frost-free hydrant. It can withstand freezing temperatures without the risk of water blockage or pipe rupture.
Unlike conventional hydrants, which extend below the frost line and may freeze, frost-free models feature a unique design that allows the water to drain back into the supply line. This design prevents ice from forming.
Frost-free hydrants need only minimal maintenance, thanks to their self-draining mechanism and durable construction. Unlike conventional hydrants that may require periodic winterization or thawing procedures, frost-free models offer hassle-free operation year-round, saving you time and labor costs.
Hello,
I have two outdoor frost proof silcocks. They are about 40 years old. I'm not sure of the brand though.
A few years ago, I replaced the washer on the end to stop them from dripping out of the spout and that fixed it. Now they are both leaking out of the stem pretty bad when they are turned on. I took them apart and the large o-ring that surrounds the plastic packing nut is brittle and needs replacing. The packing washers have seen better days also. So I went to a local plumbing supply place with the parts and they sold me a couple Prier Hyndrant Repair Kits. The kits have washers for both a left hand and right hand design. From what I can tell, I have a RH design as the packing nut unscrews from the faucet counter-clockwise. I have a couple questions.
What is the correct packing waster set-up for this faucet? There is a large packing washer and a small packing washer. There is also possibly a large brass washer involved that is the diameter of the larger packing washer. If I use the larger packing washer, it seems that I would need that large brass washer behind it to support it. Then the plastic packing nut would seat flat against it. That doesn't seem exactly right but it could be. If I use just the small packing washer by itself, it is fully supported by (and the same diameter as) the built-in washer. Is small enough that it will fit inside the tapered hollow back side of the packing nut and will "crush" or conform to the inside of the packing nut. Which one is correct? I'm laying odds that the small one is the rightr one.
Also, I am having great difficulty re-installing the plastic packing nut into the faucet. I tried lubing it up with silicone spray and then used engine assembly lube (had it laying around) but to no avail. It seems that this o-ring is just slightly too large. There is no corrosion inside the faucet. The guy at the plumbing supply place told me that I may have to lube it up to get it in. But man, I've messed with this thing and all it will do if it starts to go in is bunch up in one area. It just simply seems like it's slightly too large. Any ideas? I thought about going to the hardware store and trying to fit a slightly smaller o-ring. The replacement packing nut is exactly the same as the original one so the kit seems correct. The washer for the end is correct and the screw is also. I even tried gently heating up the faucet to expand it a bit. I'm stumped on this one.
Thanks for any advice!
Honestly I have never replace a packing washer in a frost free sillcock in my life. Around here someone usually forgets to take a hose off and it freezes and busts the body. In a typical gate valve, I usually just use teflon packing or teflon tape twisted into a cord to repack valves. I may just be reading it wrong, but the smaller washer fits into the opening, but it is too tall for the thread to catch after that? I am unclear on how it isn't fitting.
put your planned set up in order on a flat table and take a picture and upload to this site for better advice, or bring whole set up to the counter of local plumbing supply house and get it built there, or scrap the brass for the down payment on a new faucet.
Well, all the parts look like they are the correct ones. As far as the part that doesn't fit, it is the plastic packing nut. It needs to thread back into the faucet body. In order for the threads to start to catch, it needs to be pushed in a bit with the o-ring. I can't get the o-ring portion of the packing nut pushed into the faucet body.
Sometimes it just takes pushing and turning to get the threads to catch. Remember that for normal operation, the washer is completely smashed around the stem and the wall of the valve to create the seal it needs. It is possible that the replacement is simply too thick, but I would lube both sides up with plumbers grease. I know you used spray, but I don't know if would help as much as grease would in this instance.
Yes, I did try turning it while pushing very hard. If it does start to go in, the o-ring bunches up in one spot and will not go in. I did use a grease (engine assembly lube). I'll try again though. I can take a picture if it would help also.
Thanks.
Ok, here are a couple pics. The brownish plastic packing nut is the old one with the old o-ring. As you can see, they look identical (at least to me). The other pic is showing the end of the packing nut that butts up against the packing washer. I'm assuming that packing washer along with the metal brass washer will work?
Thanks.
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Ok. I'll go to their site again and look for the video. The repair kit I have is from Prier and it does look like it has the correct parts. I think the kit is somewhat universal and repairs several different models of hydrants.
As far as the o-ring. It seems to be leaking now because the old o-ring is brittle and basically crumble if not handled gently. I can check but I'm sure if I assemble it without it, it will leak badly. I'm going to head back to the plumbing place and see what they say.
Thanks.
I went back to the plumbing store with all the old parts and new parts. He set me up with some new o-rings. They are the same thickness but smaller in diameter. So when they are stretched over the plastic packing nut, they should be slightly smaller in thickness than the original ones in the kit. I was then able to get one of them to go in. The other one still would not go in. So I installed the latest o-ring onto the old plastic packing nut and it went in. I since measured the diameter of the packing nuts with the same o-ring installed. The old packing nut/o-ring assembly measures .91". The new one measures .97". So I suppose it's not so much the o-ring that was different between the old and new but the diameter of the plastic packing nut. It was just enough that it would not go in. So if you have the right parts, the job is easy.
At any rate, the leaks appear to be stopped.
Thanks.