Old bath sink, water leaking, thread on faucet tailpiece wet

[Mnalep]

I have a very old faucet that has water dripping under the bathroom sink. The drip is on the threaded brass tailpiece that extends out the bottom of the sink where the cold water supply line hook up to.

I was wondering if the leak could be cause by an o-ring on the faucets stem? (If I can just fix the leak by replacing an o-ring I would be happy). I assume that leak is not due to bad washer on the valve stem?

I was also wondering, there is a piece that is between the galvanized elbow and the brass tailpiece of the faucet supply. It does not look like galvanized or brass, and seems like a compression fitting? What is that called?

Worst case is, I suppose the faucet would need replacing?

I notice that the hot supply tailpiece still has the tailpiece mounting nut in place, although it looks rusted to the sink. How would I remove that if I decide to replace the entire faucet? (BTW, it look the the tailpiece mounting nut on the cold supply side has long ago rusted, or broken, off)

Would those galvanized pipes come apart if I soak them with liquid wrench, or PB? (I was thinking about putting shutoffs on if I replace the faucet, and would need more space in there)

Here are some pictures.

 

[Mnalep]

Anyone?

Thanks...

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Terry]

Okay, that's just strange. those are straight cut threads on the faucet, and tapered pipe threads don't work all that well on them.
I would cut that out, find where the pipes exit the wall and put shutoffs there. Then you can install a new faucet using lav supplies between the faucet and the shutoffs. Though some new faucets now come with the supplies attached.

 

[Jadnashua]

Galvanized water piping is a disaster waiting to happen. Unless you're really tied to the existing vanity faucet...I'd replace it and the piping with new.

You never know when working with galvanized fittings/pipe whether it will fall apart when you try, but given a large enough wrench, you can get it apart. Something like PBlaster might help a little. The galvanized layer is almost always compromised at a threaded connection, and the stuff can rust not only from the outside in, but from the inside out...IOW, it could look great on the outside, but be paper thin and since rust is larger than elemental iron, the flow through it can be severely compromised.

 

[Mnalep]

Okay, that's just strange. those are straight cut threads on the faucet, and tapered pipe threads don't work all that well on them.
I would cut that out, find where the pipes exit the wall and put shutoffs there. Then you can install a new faucet using lav supplies between the faucet and the shutoffs. Though some new faucets now come with the supplies attached.

Hello Terry,

Thanks for your reply.

The pipe piece that is attached to the brass faucet threads is not galvanized pipe. It looks almost like a piece of aluminum, or something else. This is probably original to the home built around 1920.

Do you think some part of the faucet body is cracked? (It is leaking from somewhere above the point where the supply line connects to the brass faucet threads. Could the leak be either stem packing, or valve seat?)

When you say 'cut that out', did you mean the galvanized pipe? If so, if I cut the galvanized, how would I thread on a shutoff?

 

[Mnalep]

Galvanized water piping is a disaster waiting to happen. Unless you're really tied to the existing vanity faucet...I'd replace it and the piping with new.

You never know when working with galvanized fittings/pipe whether it will fall apart when you try, but given a large enough wrench, you can get it apart. Something like PBlaster might help a little. The galvanized layer is almost always compromised at a threaded connection, and the stuff can rust not only from the outside in, but from the inside out...IOW, it could look great on the outside, but be paper thin and since rust is larger than elemental iron, the flow through it can be severely compromised.

Hi Jim,

I am not so much tied to the existing faucet, as I am looking for a fix in order to avoid taking apart the galvanized pipes. I just want to stop the leak in the easiest way. I am afraid of the rust on the pipes and accidentally breaking them taking them apart.

I have seen something called a dresser coupling. It is a compression coupling for galvanized pipes. I've nevr used one, but I wonder if it would be a workaround if I brake something unthreading the gavanized? At least as a short term fix.