Outdoor hydrant failed

[s219]

Hmm, if you have an old one and it's well made, you may be better off fixing it. It's hard to buy good ones anymore. I have been warned off of the ones sold at Lowes and HD by a couple plumbers and neighbors -- said they are crap. The online reviews seemed to confirm that when I looked a couple years ago. Might have to find a plumbing supply house and pay $$$ to get a good one.

 

[Walkin Horse]

I have one I bought at Ferguson 2 years ago. It's leaking underground. They won't gaurantee it because it's a different brand than what they sell now. Are the parts the same for all of them?

 

[byronlj]

I rebuilt one of mine last year. If I recall, there were two styles. I found a kit that had both.
Dave

 

[Wakey]

The one tip I can offer is to install the new unit in such a manner that you can unscrew the handle counter clockwise in the event you just rebuild them the next time.

We have approx 15 of these on our farm and each time one fails I shorten the post or move it off the fence so that in the future I don't even have to unstrap the riser from the post to repair/rebuild.

Oh yeah, make sure your hydrant doesn't move a bit when you are working the handle or you will be returning shortly to fix a leak

 

[JRobyn]

Even if they are all galvanized and the seals are good, they will leak (a GUSHER) when run over by a bushhog. I bet you know how I know;-)

- Jay

ps: since she ran it over, I made her dig it up while I made the emergency run to the hardware store for a replacement. There was no rebuilding the original pretzel.

 

[greenmojo]

One frost-free is never enough (for me).

Last month the one nearest the house construction failed (only a year old - some brand from home depot), I replaced it with two facing opposite directions about 8 inches apart from one another. Just installed a tee, and then insulated from the tee up a few inches above grade.

If I had a tip, when I first installed it, I dumped an entire FEL bucket of gravel in there... now I realize you only need enough gravel to allow as much as a gallon or two of water to drain when you close it.

~Moses

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I had two chinese ones from Lowes fail within 6 months. Replaced with Campbell (US Made). Since have installed four more Campbells in new locations. Since then one of those failed. Tried to take it apart to figure the problem, pipe wrenches, and hammers and I could never get the push rod out. Scraped it and replaced. I now have eight of them in place and plan 3 more all Campbell. So far all eight have lasted from 1-4 years, keeping my finger crossed.

Ron

 

[kcflhrc]

I ended up breaking the pipe while I was digging it up. Turns out about a foot past where I dug it up it turned from galvanized to plastic, but I had no idea. That's where it snapped when I hit it with my shovel. Called a plumber guy with a backhoe, he had it dug up in 15 minutes and ready for reassembly. I ended up using the Home Depot Hydrant, didn't really have a choice on a Friday night at 6:00 pm, hopefully it holds together. Made in China I believe. Haven't got the bill yet, he said a minimum of 4 hours for the backhoe at $475. he actually worked about 2 hours total so we will see how bad he bends me over. It was a relief to have him show up, I was wore out from digging and just completely frustrated. Anyway, all is good for now. Thanks

 

[bigtiller]

6:00 pm on a Friday night...... I would give some thought about rounding his bill up to $500 and send a thank-you card with the check. It is hard to get anyone out here to work any time of the day. I had a water leak and called the water company to shut the water off at the curb, it was 2 pm. They said someone would be out the next morning.

 

[kcflhrc]

6:00 pm on a Friday night...... I would give some thought about rounding his bill up to $500 and send a thank-you card with the check. It is hard to get anyone out here to work any time of the day. I had a water leak and called the water company to shut the water off at the curb, it was 2 pm. They said someone would be out the next morning.

Thankfully I took off a couple of hours on Friday afternoon so I caught the guy right before he went home. But yes, I agree, I will pay him promptly.