SAS
Member
I know it sounds like a good problem to have - the valve stopped leaking, but now I keep feeling that I have to repeatedly check it for leaks, since I don't know why it stopped. It is the shutoff valve for the outdoor hose bibb and it leaked from the stem. It was a slow leak, and I figured it could be repaired by repacking the stem. That's what I did, but then it leaked from the threads below the nut. I tightened as much as I could, but there was still a slow leak - just a drop or two a day. So I put a container under it while I ordered a new valve and assorted hardware. It continued leaking for about a week or so (I checked daily), but when I was ready to replace it, I noticed that it had stopped leaking. As I said, that's great, but without knowing why it would stop leaking, I find myself still checking it every day, worried that it will start leaking again. Can someone reassure me that the valve is OK and that I can just forget about it? Is this something that happens? Does the packing take a while to fully expand (it was very old packing that I had in the house), does the nut or threads develop some corrosion that seals the leak (but in just a couple of weeks?), or what?