Anyone familiar with a Woodford wall hydrant?

B Mann · Dec 30, 2023

I am not a plumber, but very fluent in residential plumbing. My Daughter has a building in town. There are 2 Woodford wall hydrants. Neither one work. They are both the same. This one is missing the vacuum breaker. They may have never been turned on (or even opened) since the building was built 40+ years ago. I had a rough time getting the cover to open. I had to use heat and and impact driver to loosen the bolt. I turned the faucet but no water. One water line is in a finished wall, the other water line is in the middle of a double block wall. I can see it about 7 feet down between the blocks. There are no valves and no way to reach them if there were. Could it be possible that having these valves closed for decades sealed them shut? (yes the picture shows full of cobwebs)

Only thing I can think is to unscrew the whole valve and see what happens. I hate to break something, because there are quite a few different size parts that would have to be ordered.

(OK, It looks like I can only post pictures by remote links... Will try in a bit.)

B Mann · Dec 30, 2023

Ugh this forum hates me. Try this and take out spaces at imgur Or someone else is welcome to put the picture in the thread.

https://
imgur .com /a/79IG4I6

snowhead · Dec 31, 2023

Had to find a photo on imgur and change the number, copy the photo and here we are,,

B Mann · Dec 31, 2023

snowhead said:
Had to find a photo on imgur and change the number, copy the photo and here we are,,

Thanks for posting the picture... Maybe it was because I had a new post count or being in a review que.

You can see it is packed in cobwebs, but that should not stop anything. When I open the valve with a key, I get nothing.

B Mann · Jun 20, 2025

Ok, this has been a while. Though I would post the end results for anyone who has the same problems. Woodford sells a rebuild kit. There are no shut offs inside the wall. I removed the valve and the rubber seal pulled out of the brass stem. It was bonded to the brass seat from years of non use. With the water turned on it was still stuck, deep into the wall. The rubber seal was about 14" (35cm) into the wall. I eventually thought I could loosen the seal with a tire iron. Too deep for any screwdrivers I had. Not the best thing to do. It took a while of twisting and tapping on the seal. (I didn't want to damage the seat.) Started a slow drip and pieces came loose a little at a time. After a while it came loose and the water blew the rest out. It is an outdoor faucet so no water damage.