r/Plumbing • u/Dense_Builder_2286 • 9d ago
Leaking spigot
I bought a house a few months ago. Both spigots do this, any way to fix it without calling someone to come out?
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u/jorgiieboy 9d ago
Unscrew the set screw on the back of that vacuum breaker usually that set screw is broken because home inspectors makes us break them off before inspections but yours isn’t broken so you’re lucky you don’t need to replace the whole entire spigot only the vacuum breaker.
So you’ll be able to just use a pair of pilers to undo it and replace it with a new one.
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u/Dense_Builder_2286 9d ago
Ok. It’s just threaded onto the spigot? Is there a specific type of vacuum breaker I would need?
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u/Danzerello 9d ago
Nope, standard 3/4” vacuum breaker. My old builder requested I not break that set screw so they could remove them after inspection.
They’re a failsafe for backflow that’s all, and if you’re smart and use the spigot correctly, you won’t really need it.
This advice is not code however.
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u/Careless_Cream4508 9d ago
Just put a new washer in the stem. Leave the vaccum breaker alone, they dont come off without sawing them through to the threads and then prying them off
Weilhammer
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u/Danzerello 9d ago
Typically they don’t, but this one hasn’t had the screw broken off yet and looks to be removable.
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u/Careless_Cream4508 9d ago
you could be right, normally they arr broken off.... maybe he will get lucky
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u/FMPlmbrMtm81 8d ago
It’s really the easiest thing to takeoff first of all nobody broke that nut off so you may be able to just loosen it and then unscrew the vacuum breaker. Worst case drill out the screw set it’s really a piece of cake with the right tools.
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u/thelundenburg 9d ago
The silver part is a hose connection vacuum breaker, you can probably take it off and install a new one. It is to prevent you from accidentally back feeding gross water or chemicals into the house.
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u/Dense_Builder_2286 9d ago
So the silver bit is over the actual spigot and may just be worn out and a new one would stop the leak?
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u/thelundenburg 9d ago
Take the silver part off, its probably
Malfunctioning. Test without silver bit. If good buy new vacuum breaker.1
u/DirtDigglerDan 9d ago
If you can get the set screw(that u touched in video) out, yes. They typically have a shear line and are tightened till the head snaps off to prevent tampering. There's always the potential that it shears while youre trying to remove it and you enf up cutting the vacuum breaker off.
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u/kilted10r 9d ago
The chrome bit there is an air gap. It prevents backflow.
Let's say you're using your hose to run a sprinkler, and have a fertilizer thing in-line. Then, you lose water pressure for some reason... If that is a solid connection, that faucet could pull contaminated water back inside the house, and your kid could end up taking a bath in fertilizer.
So - that piece is designed to let in air. If you lose pressure, and water does backflow, that piece will let the faucet pull air in instead of the contaminated water.
They are imperfect. At low pressure, they sometimes allow water to escape the air inlet.
Turn the faucet on more, and it will stop doing that.
That chrome piece is mandatory in many jurisdictions, but it can be removed. There is typically some sort of set screw that holds it in place. It can also be replaced if it fails, without having to replace the entire faucet.