Outdoor faucet fell off, pipe has no threading

oimachi

Hello,

I've searched around and not found exactly what my problem is, so I apologize if this is a repeat question.

My outdoor faucet is in pretty good shape, but over the winter I forgot to turn the water off (my bad) and the faucet popped off. I say popped off, because, as it turns out, the pipe it was attached to has no threading to screw it back on.

So my question is, what is the best method to get that faucet back on?

Thanks!

bob22

likely was soldered on. What kind of water piping do you have? Copper, plastic, galv?

oimachi

It is copper.

oh'mike

A picture would help---typically,the faucet is soldered onto a length of pipe--then those parts are shoved through the exterior wall and coupled into the inside piping.

Soldering the faucet onto the pipe stub might damage your siding--

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oimachi

http://flic.kr/p/c7idGW

Im not sure the photo will show up here. But now that I've taken the photo, I see the top piece is attached to another piece which looks to have threading - maybe I could replace the top one with another one that has threading?

bob22

Looks like a stone wall behind the pipe so soldering on a new valve should be easy.
You may not have the room to get a valve with threads that would rotate onto the supply pipe without hitting the wall.

oimachi

ok, sounds like soldering it is. Thanks for your help guys!

oh'mike

Picture sure helped--Bob has you covered--

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Javiles

That’s cool the way that pipe popped off, I would as someone suggested going with a ¾ female hose bib. And just screw it on to the galvanized pipe. get rid of the copper galvanized mix,( electrolysis)

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Homerepairguy

It looks like the copper adapater was installed because the galvanized pipe is too close the to brick wall to screw a faucet directly on to the galvanized pipe. If that's the case, then suggest doing this:

Make a new adapter using a brass fitting where it threads on the the galvanized pipe, a short piece of copper pipe, and a dropear pipe elbow at the top that looks like this:


The small dropear elbow should allow you to solder the entire adapter while it's not installed and still be able to screw the adapter assembly on to the galvanized pipe.

Now since the threads of the dropear elbow are horizontal, it will allow you to install a hose bib faucet "after" the copper adapter is installed. It will also allow you to replace the faucet in the future.

If you can attach the dropears to the brick wall somehow (maybe by using a wooden spacer), that would secure the top of the pipe. If not, I suggest strain relieving the garden hose by attaching it to the bottom of the galvanized pipe where it comes up out of the ground using some copper wire with the insulation still on. This will allow pulling on the garden hose without pulling on the top of the pipes.

EDIT: Oh, BTW, if there's enough room to screw a galvanized elbow on, then forget the above and just do that if you don't mind stooping to turn the faucet on/off. Do strain relief the garden hose though.

Just some ideas,
HRG

oimachi

Amazing - Ive got so much to work with here - now on to my soldering lesson Thanks everyone.

oh'mike

Red tin of paste flux--oaty easy flow solder--propane torch

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Homerepairguy

BTW, is the galvanized pipe coming up out of dirt or is it imbedded in concrete? If the latter, don't secure the dropears to the wall. Reason is that if the concrete settles over the years, there will be severe tension put on the solder fittings causing leaks.

In a worse case if the concrete is a small slab used for washing the feet and the ground settles due to the periodic water, tension will be put on the solder joints but the small concrete slab could be held up until a solder joint finally fails and the concrete slab drops pulling the copper pipe out of the fitting. There will be a major fountain and the homeowners should pray that they are home if it happens. --- One would think that the small screws holding the dropears to the wall would pull out first but it's amazing how much strength screws or nails horizontally into walls have with regard to vertical forces.

Off topic but IMO, pipes coming up out of the ground for hose bibs should never be imbedded in concrete. Make a small rectangular opening around the pipe and fill it in with dirt topped with crushed rock. Home owners pouring concrete walkways around their home will sometimes imbed hose bib pipes coming up out of the ground in the concrete.

HRG