leaking cistern ball cock valve

DeVlaeminck

We've got an old bathroom with a leaking ball cock valve - discovered as the overflow pipe also leaks from a join - I could probably fix the overflow with some of that plumbers tape but unsure on the ball cock.

Are these old internals replaceable - planning on getting the bathroom done anyway as it's very dated so if I can just do a quick fix for now I'd rather do that (as you can see from the colour of the toilet - the bath and tiles are the same colour I'd guess 1970s).

darkhairedlord

just turn it off and use a bucket.

pblakeney

I'd be tempted to replace all the internals.
Just check connectivity.

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Torbeck-Cistern-Bottom-Entry-Float-Valve/p/420336

photonic69

pblakeney said:

I'd be tempted to replace all the internals.
Just check connectivity.

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Torbeck-Cistern-Bottom-Entry-Float-Valve/p/420336

Do this. Cheaper at Screwfix by a few pennies. Not worth trying to faff with corroded brass valves and washers.

Ben6899

Have to say, I agree. Put some new kit in there and be done in 5mins rather than faffing for an hour.

DeVlaeminck

Probably right.

Hopefully the fitment on the pipe is a modern standard - can't find a way to isolate the toilet so will have to turn the water off at the stopcock so don't want the repair to drag on.

DeVlaeminck

Thanks all

photonic69

If you are unsure of your plumbing capabilities then get a tube of this at the same time:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/fernox-ls-x-leak-sealer-50ml/23614

Use it on the external thread of the new valve assembly and maybe a smear on the sealing washers too. It works wonders.

briantrumpet

One lesson I learnt the hard way in my days doing bodge-job plumbing on the farm was always to get too many bits, in different sizes, if I wasn't sure. More than once I'd get half way through a job and realise I was missing something or got the wrong size. and had to go all the way back to the trading estate for a washer or something.

darkhairedlord

Any thread will fit to any thread with enough ptfe tape. Get the thick gas tape, not the weedy thin one.

lesfirth

darkhairedlord said:

Any thread will fit to any thread with enough ptfe tape. Get the thick gas tape, not the weedy thin one.

That sounds like a recipe for some wet carpets.

photonic69

darkhairedlord said:

Any thread will fit to any thread with enough ptfe tape. Get the thick gas tape, not the weedy thin one.

Um, no it won't! I found some pretty old (50/60's) brass backnuts with a much coarser thread on some fittings in my house during renovations. They wouln't fit on any more modern male thread. PTFE tape of any thickness wouln't help here.

In the OP's instance and considering he is going to be renovating pretty soon and if he replaces the valve assembly with a new Torbec valve with a plastic tail then IF there is any thread miss-match then a few winds of normal PTFE tape and a smear of LSX would probably hold as a temporary measure.

So, advice to the OP @DeVlaeminck - turn off mains. Flush cistern. Loosen tap connector nut under cistern and compare thread to the thread on the new valve first to establish if you will encounter the above problems. Hope this helps.

webboo

In my first house we had one of those cistern with a chain pull. You could just about get your head in between to top of it and the ceiling. It wouldn’t fill properly so we decided to replace the ball cock etc. We had all the replacement parts when I started to unscrew the the nuts they jammed half way down the thread. I couldn’t get the nut to move in either direction. I had to make several trips to Homebase to buy various saws to cut the thing off.
This was in the days when the power tool section of your local d.I.y. Store consisted of corded drills.

darkhairedlord

photonic69 said:

darkhairedlord said:

Any thread will fit to any thread with enough ptfe tape. Get the thick gas tape, not the weedy thin one.

Um, no it won't! I found some pretty old (50/60's) brass backnuts with a much coarser thread on some fittings in my house during renovations. They wouln't fit on any more modern male thread. PTFE tape of any thickness wouln't help here.

In the OP's instance and considering he is going to be renovating pretty soon and if he replaces the valve assembly with a new Torbec valve with a plastic tail then IF there is any thread miss-match then a few winds of normal PTFE tape and a smear of LSX would probably hold as a temporary measure.

So, advice to the OP @DeVlaeminck - turn off mains. Flush cistern. Loosen tap connector nut under cistern and compare thread to the thread on the new valve first to establish if you will encounter the above problems. Hope this helps.

you just need more tape, a hammer, and some more tape to hold it together.

DeVlaeminck

photonic69 said:

darkhairedlord said:

Any thread will fit to any thread with enough ptfe tape. Get the thick gas tape, not the weedy thin one.

Um, no it won't! I found some pretty old (50/60's) brass backnuts with a much coarser thread on some fittings in my house during renovations. They wouln't fit on any more modern male thread. PTFE tape of any thickness wouln't help here.

In the OP's instance and considering he is going to be renovating pretty soon and if he replaces the valve assembly with a new Torbec valve with a plastic tail then IF there is any thread miss-match then a few winds of normal PTFE tape and a smear of LSX would probably hold as a temporary measure.

So, advice to the OP @DeVlaeminck - turn off mains. Flush cistern. Loosen tap connector nut under cistern and compare thread to the thread on the new valve first to establish if you will encounter the above problems. Hope this helps.

Yes I'm going to unscrew it carefully and compare as there is no isolation valve so if the thing is seized and ends up snapping I'll need to get an emergency plumber out.

surrey_commuter

DeVlaeminck said:

photonic69 said:

darkhairedlord said:

Any thread will fit to any thread with enough ptfe tape. Get the thick gas tape, not the weedy thin one.

Um, no it won't! I found some pretty old (50/60's) brass backnuts with a much coarser thread on some fittings in my house during renovations. They wouln't fit on any more modern male thread. PTFE tape of any thickness wouln't help here.

In the OP's instance and considering he is going to be renovating pretty soon and if he replaces the valve assembly with a new Torbec valve with a plastic tail then IF there is any thread miss-match then a few winds of normal PTFE tape and a smear of LSX would probably hold as a temporary measure.

So, advice to the OP @DeVlaeminck - turn off mains. Flush cistern. Loosen tap connector nut under cistern and compare thread to the thread on the new valve first to establish if you will encounter the above problems. Hope this helps.

Yes I'm going to unscrew it carefully and compare as there is no isolation valve so if the thing is seized and ends up snapping I'll need to get an emergency plumber out.

I would weigh up the cost of a normal plumber doing the job against the likelihood of it snapping (high in my inexpert opinion) and cost of an emergency plumber

ballysmate

If not already mentioned I would take the opportunity to fit one of these whilst you are at it.

https://www.toolstation.com/isolating-valve-cp/p36879?store=AL&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=googleshoppingfeed&mkwid=s_dm&pcrid=515847200312&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2tCGBhCLARIsABJGmZ4dadAfdXC6N5UNjy7g0DDkvM3ZcUK-VmMjPC8uHDJiWsjhUP--2xMaApH4EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

That way if it all goes bosoms up you can at least turn the water on to the rest of the house.

photonic69

ballysmate said:

If not already mentioned I would take the opportunity to fit one of these whilst you are at it.

https://www.toolstation.com/isolating-valve-cp/p36879?store=AL&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=googleshoppingfeed&mkwid=s_dm&pcrid=515847200312&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2tCGBhCLARIsABJGmZ4dadAfdXC6N5UNjy7g0DDkvM3ZcUK-VmMjPC8uHDJiWsjhUP--2xMaApH4EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

That way if it all goes bosoms up you can at least turn the water on to the rest of the house.

I don’t think there is room on the pipe to fit this from the OP’s pics. Ideally yes, it should but many old houses only have one stopc0ck and sometimes that is seized.

rjsterry

DeVlaeminck said:

photonic69 said:

darkhairedlord said:

Any thread will fit to any thread with enough ptfe tape. Get the thick gas tape, not the weedy thin one.

Um, no it won't! I found some pretty old (50/60's) brass backnuts with a much coarser thread on some fittings in my house during renovations. They wouln't fit on any more modern male thread. PTFE tape of any thickness wouln't help here.

In the OP's instance and considering he is going to be renovating pretty soon and if he replaces the valve assembly with a new Torbec valve with a plastic tail then IF there is any thread miss-match then a few winds of normal PTFE tape and a smear of LSX would probably hold as a temporary measure.

So, advice to the OP @DeVlaeminck - turn off mains. Flush cistern. Loosen tap connector nut under cistern and compare thread to the thread on the new valve first to establish if you will encounter the above problems. Hope this helps.

Yes I'm going to unscrew it carefully and compare as there is no isolation valve so if the thing is seized and ends up snapping I'll need to get an emergency plumber out.

Use the opportunity of having the water off to insert a servicing valve in the supply pipe. Edit: I see this has already been suggested but it's worth finding somewhere to fit it even if it is some way from the toilet. I speak as someone who managed to shear the top off the aged stopcock when fitting a new kitchen sink.