1

Maybe uniquely, this is what my home's main water shutoff is like. It's the one with the red handle that is askew when completely open due to a pervious owner re-orienting the handle (yes, annoying). I would like to replace it but not sure how since all the tutorials and materials I see are copper related. 

I bought a tool to shut off water at the street and so far that's all I have. My instinct was to shut off the water, saw off the pvc and install a brass push fit ball valve in the same place. Does that make sense?

The other option since the valve works just fine is to replace the handle.

Any suggestions for the best way to go about doing this?

Text

6
  • 2
    Just the handle is weird? The valve works okay? Take the small nut off and the handle will come off. Check the square shaft on the valve and the square hole in the handle. Both should be a tight fit to each other. Might not be square hole. That small nut just to keep from losing the handle.
    – crip659
    Commented May 31 at 20:22
  • 1
    Judging from that photo, the valve is NOT fully closed. Maybe just enough to stop the water, but if it works it's not by design or proper install. Commented May 31 at 20:33
  • @RobertChapin Someone had unscrewed and re-oriented the handle so yes, it's technically not a proper install currently but it is fully closed. Peculiar indeed.
    – Marc J
    Commented May 31 at 20:41
  • 1
    If the valve is off, the handle is in the "on" position, (parallel to the pipe). Someone before you took the nut off and moved the handle because there was no room to turn it to get to the "off" position, ( perpendicular). If it works, why mess with it?
    – RMDman
    Commented May 31 at 20:42
  • I misspoke (and corrected) the original. Right now, it's in the fully on position, but not completely parallel to the pipe.
    – Marc J
    Commented May 31 at 20:43

1 Answer 1

0

Unscrew the nut while holding the handle, get new handle if your OCD really requires that, put it in place, screw nut back on to hold new handle.

enter image description here

There's absolutely no need to replace the handle if the valve operates correctly. It's something you might use once every 5 years that lives in a hole in the ground with a cover hiding it from sight.

You'll probably find that a new handle hits the other valve and won't close fully, which would be why this one was bent. It was not a particularly well done installation, (the valves should have been offset so as not to interfere with each other) but there's no benefit to re-doing it if it works as is.

What might be worth doing is removing, cleaning, and drying both handles, hitting them with some rust conversion coating, and painting them, before they rust away completely and don't work when you need them to. The bronze valves will be fine, the steel handles are showing some major rusting.

0

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.