replacement headgear for 'very old' stopcock

[JCplumb]

Hi guys,

wondering if any of you know a decent stockist for the above?
The stoptap is half buried in a wall and lead both sides and the handle has snapped off.
I had a couple of different sized stopcocks in my kit but they would not fit.
Took the head gear down to 2 different plumbers merchants and neither had anything close to the right size.
The cust knows the tap was there when they bought the house 45 years ago, I'm guessing it's been there a fair bit longer than that.
The 2 threads (the one that holds the headgear in the tap body and the one on the spindle that lowers/raises the washer) are both different to any I have found. The main thread (shown in the below stock pic of a different stopcock) is normally 3/4" but is about 1/2" on this one, and the spindle thread is a fair bit wider than the others I have had my hands on today.

Any info on who might stock these would be greatly appreciated.

 

[spanner]

A Good old plumbers merchants would have one.. But I would keep the old one just in case!
Might be worth a few bob...well I tried looking and this is what was up, hope you get it sorted and keep me posted Dripping Stopcock - DIYbanter

thanks

 

[Paulus]

Hammer and chisel needed I think.

It will probably take less time to dig out the wall and fit a complete new stopcock than it will to find a replacement headgear.

The only place that may be worth trying for the part is your local scrappy.

 

[Whn1]

I'd replace that, it'll cause you more grief searching for it.

 

[PlumbBobBob]

is there room upstream of it to fit a new one and leave that one in situ?

 

[JCplumb]

It has lead pipe on both sides, it only comes out of the wall for about 4 inches, then all the pipes are buried. Even the 4 inches that are visible are half buried 🙁
My first thought was a couple of lead locs and replace the whole stopcock, but there really isn't enough room and the pipe appears ovalled so would be a nightmare.
The set up of the plumbing is very far from ideal, from the stopcock we think the lead pipes go up to the loft then back down to the kitchen taps, either that or there is some very 'flamboyant' hidden plumbing inside the exterior wall of the house. Luckily the water boards' stopcock in the back street is easy to use.
I'm guessing they simply don't make these any more so will have a ring round the scrappers tomorrow.
Thanks for your help 🙂

 

[Whn1]

Does it still work? If not has it snapped open or closed?

 

[JCplumb]

It work(ish) water pump pliers can get it almost closed. Just needs a washer to be honest. Are we thinking about welding? 😉

 

[Guest123]

Fit a new stopcock in place of existing and then a Surestop valve after this and the water can be turned off at the flick of a switch. If the guy bought his house 45 years ago, he might on getting on a bit and a Surestop will make switching off the water very easy for him.

Surestop 15mm Remote Water Switch - Surestop available at Plumbworld

 

[JCplumb]

Thanks for the input Sys, but I just need to fix this existing stopcock, replacement of the whole unit isn't in the customers budget or plans due to the reasons above i.e. lack of available pipe, they're fitting new kitchen units and wanted the current stopcock working before building round it.

 

[gavinwilson]

u tried the plumbing merchants on halliwell road?

 

[JCplumb]

Yep, the old guy further up near the Robin Hood has shut up shop now afaik, he would have probably had one, he was a star 🙂
I tried HPM further down, but as usual they were a waste of space.

 

[Guest123]

JC, is the valve connected to the lead via a lead wiped ball joint or does it have a compression nut, probably old drifted style with cone olive?

 

[JCplumb]

It's wiped lead jointed on both sides unfortunately

 

[Guest123]

It's wiped lead jointed on both sides unfortunately

Ah well, no luck mate, that rules out the idea I had!
There is a place up here called Falkirk Brass and they'd have the parts for you. Not much use if you're needing it in hurry though.

 

[JCplumb]

Well spent 2 hours stripping and comparing stopcocks at the local scrappers and found no match 🙁
When I got back they had knocked all the plaster off the wall to reveal all the lead, I did think about 2 leadlocs to allow a copper section for a new stopcock but remembered reading somewhere that it's a bad idea because the copper will cause corrosion of the lead further upstream so ended up servicing what was left of the existing one. Apart from that I'm pretty sure it's against regs to do that.
Apart from having no handle I got it working very well and 'unofficially advised' the customer to drill a hole through the spindle and insert a metal rod as a makeshift handle for now as a stop-gap until they can get all the lead replaced.
It was a messy one, and not very profitable but got a happy customer at the end of it.

 

[PlumbBobBob]

another solution would be to get a tap and die set, cut a thread on the spindle and lock a couple of nuts together on it so it can be turned by a spanner.

 

[spanner]

Brilliant Stevee.. I'm learning ere, Love it.
;0)

 

[jtsplumbing]

Did you think about trying your local water board ??

 

[JCplumb]

Did you think about trying your local water board ??

Regarding the lead replacement scheme? Afaik, UU will only do it free up to the boundary 🙁