replacing a frost free sillcock, can I just twist this out?

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borisivan

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Hi,

I have a frostfree sillcock that won't shut off, I assume the washer mechanism inside is toast, as I've had this happen before on a different one.

My question is: based on the picture (hopefully I can post it correctly), does it look like I should be able to twist the old one out? I see a threaded connection.

And if so, is replacement as simple as finding a replacement of the same overall length? And if so, do I apply any kind of tape to the threads before securing the new one?

I wasn't sure if the threaded part in the 1st pic is part of the frost free and is permanently soldered on to the house pipe, and if so, does the textured portion next to it come off if needed, or will I need to remove the sweat fitting to remove the old threaded part.

In the second pic, I see a new one, that looks like it has the threaded part, and the textured part next to it too.


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Reach4

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My question is: based on the picture (hopefully I can post it correctly), does it look like I should be able to twist the old one out? I see a threaded connection.
If you knew had that one, you may or may not be able to unscrew it from the outside. The thing it screws into might be solid, or it could be hooked to pipes that will bend and break. It would depend on what that screwed into. But you don't really have that one. You are just hoping. If you had posted a picture of one that is soldered in instead, that would not change what is inside of your wall.

Can you access the inside part?

If you actually had the one in your picture, you could get parts to probably fix it without removing the sillcock.

I am not a plumber. If it were mine, and I did not have a crawl space and I was unwilling to put an access panel inside, I might try what you propose. But I would know that I might fail, and have to go into the wall to fix the mess that I made.
 

Cacher_Chick

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You can replace the washer without taking the entire valve out. To replace the entire valve, you really need to get wrenches on it on both sides of the threads to prevent from damaging the interior piping and so you can see that the threaded fitting is not leaking after you put a new valve in.
 

LLigetfa

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The small wrench flats directly behind the knob is what holds the innards. The male threads at the other end go into female threads if used but those units usually also have the option of a soldered connection in which case the copper pipe goes inside leaving all of the threads showing.

As was mentioned, if threaded you need to get a pipe wrench on the end of the sillcock and another wrench in the FPT fitting it is threaded into or else you might mangle the long tube. Don't ask me how I know.
 
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