Water spigot/faucet vacuum break a.k.a. backflow stopper

[tcsenter]

I finally got around to replacing the vacuum break on two of our spigots that shower you every time you turn the water off. I was lead to believe the correct function was supposed to be a modest/manageable spurt of water that declines to a trickle and then stops, not a shower soaking like we been receiving for a couple years. But it is NO better, it might friggin be a little worse!

Is this how these things actually are intended to work, you get a soaking no matter how far away you try to stand in any direction while reaching to turning the water off? If so, is there a better solution? Edit: our water pressure here is good, but like commonplace good, not uncommonly or fabulously good.

 

[Red Squirrel]

That doesn't seem right to me but maybe it's just a bad design for that particular one. Mine does spray a bit of water out when I am using the sprayer gun then let go the trigger, but it's not to the point that it sprays at me if I'm standing near it.

 

[Greenman]

I finally got around to replacing the vacuum break on two of our spigots that shower you every time you turn the water off. I was lead to believe the correct function was supposed to be a modest/manageable spurt of water that declines to a trickle and then stops, not a shower soaking like we been receiving for a couple years. But it is NO better, it might friggin be a little worse!

Is this how these things actually are intended to work, you get a soaking no matter how far away you try to stand in any direction while reaching to turning the water off? If so, is there a better solution? Edit: our water pressure here is good, but like commonplace good, not uncommonly or fabulously good.

Completely normal operation. You could just remove them, the conditions under which they actually do something useful are rare.

 

[tcsenter]

Completely normal operation. You could just remove them, the conditions under which they actually do something useful are rare.

I was afraid of that. I think the only other solution is to remove them and install an inline valve before the spigot, or after i.e. between spigot and hose. The neighbor just removed his and did no other mods, just uses without it. I am not sure if I want to go that route.

Now I got one that is leaking too. lol The threads got all damaged by the set screw in the vacuum break fitting. I drilled out that set screw as best I could before trying to remove the vacuum break but it still tore the threads up. I used plumbing tape and some RTV silicon too. I probably buy a whole darn new spigot. Two of them. YAY!

 

[Greenman]

Install new hose bibs and forget the vacuum breaker. The only time it would do anything is if the plumbing in your home is depressurized, the end of the hose is in a puddle with the valve open, and the plumbing bleeds down through a different pipe creating a vacuum at the hose bib and drawing dirty water into the system. There may be some place in the nation where this happens often, but I've never heard of it.

 

[tcsenter]

Hey, might have found the solution! A hose end with one of those integrated plastic collar/nuts seems to do the trick, as opposed the plain brass collar/nut, by covering the little vent holes through which the water spews. e.g.




It doesn't totally seal it off, there is still some spray but it hugely reduced, by like 70%. And it seems to have the effect of redirecting/deflecting the spray back toward the spigot and house, instead of outwardly (towards you, no matter where you try to stand).

 

[herm0016]

Sometimes I forget that people live in places that you don't have to have a frost free spigot.

Do you have a long flexible hose or some other non-open ended attachment, a hand sprayer for example?
If you have something open ended on the hose, or remove the sprayer first it will not spray out the breaker when you turn the valve off.

 

[WilliamM2]

Hey, might have found the solution! A hose end with one of those integrated plastic collar/nuts seems to do the trick, as opposed the plain brass collar/nut, by covering the little vent holes through which the water spews. e.g.

View attachment 122220


It doesn't totally seal it off, there is still some spray but it hugely reduced, by like 70%. And it seems to have the effect of redirecting/deflecting the spray back toward the spigot and house, instead of outwardly (towards you, no matter where you try to stand).

That type of vacuum break is just an add-on for old hose bibs to meet code. I haven't seen one used in newer buildings ever. they use tis type, it does not spray at all when water is shut off:

Prier® 3/4" MIP x 1/2" FIP x 12" L Anti-Siphon Wall Hydrant

12 in. 1/2 turn easy opening anti-siphon hydrant with large handle, 3/4 in. inlet, plated in satin nickel, that is easy to install.

www.menards.com

I would just replace the whole bib, or remove the breaker.

 

[tcsenter]

That type of vacuum break is just an add-on for old hose bibs to meet code. I haven't seen one used in newer buildings ever. they use tis type, it does not spray at all when water is shut off:

That's a hydrant style/type. Every house in our city (CA) built in the past 20 years uses the typical design I pictured. Our house was built in 2005.

 

[WilliamM2]

That's a hydrant style/type. Every house in our city (CA) built in the past 20 years uses the typical design I pictured. Our house was built in 2005.

Much warmer climate. We use these as they are freeze proof. The actual valve is 6 to 12" inside the sill plate. That puts it in heated space in my basement.

Is that just a plain pipe coming out the wall? What keeps it anchored to the wall? Even older homes use something like this:

Homewerks™ 1/2" FIP Lead-Free Brass Male Garden Hose Bibb

This Homewerks brass flanged sillcock is ideal for residential and commercial applications. Constructed from heavy-duty lead-free brass components, it provides a positive shutoff with a 1/2" female threaded inlet.

www.menards.com

 

[Greenman]

Much warmer climate. We use these as they are freeze proof. The actual valve is 6 to 12" inside the sill plate. That puts it in heated space in my basement.

Is that just a plain pipe coming out the wall? What keeps it anchored to the wall? Even older homes use something like this:

Homewerks™ 1/2" FIP Lead-Free Brass Male Garden Hose Bibb

This Homewerks brass flanged sillcock is ideal for residential and commercial applications. Constructed from heavy-duty lead-free brass components, it provides a positive shutoff with a 1/2" female threaded inlet.

www.menards.com

Most likely there is a dog eared threaded el inside the wall.

 

[WilliamM2]

Most likely there is a dog eared threaded el inside the wall.

Seems like the hard way to do it. And the stucco is cracking around the pipe.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I find even the "frost free" ones can freeze up. They don't make them long enough. Longest I've found is 18" and that barely gets it in the heated part of the house. I've just gotten in the habit of flushing it with compressed air in fall now. In fact last summer went by so fast I never even ended up using the hose a single time. Every spring I'm always nervous when I go to open it as if any residual water stayed in there it will explode and I have no way of knowing until I go inside to check. I had it happen once, holy crap that was a mess. I keep meaning to setup a water sensor with a solonoid valve that shuts off the feed, but it's one of those things that's not really a priority so I never actually do it.

 

[Greenman]

Seems like the hard way to do it. And the stucco is cracking around the pipe.

It works. The hose bibs around my last place were all done that way and were 40 years old when I moved.

 

[tcsenter]

Is that just a plain pipe coming out the wall? What keeps it anchored to the wall?

I don't know, never accessed behind it and not familiar with what are the options. We have two that just come out of the wall like that. But here is the main one joined to the supply:

 

[BoomerD]

I don't know, never accessed behind it and not familiar with what are the options. We have two that just come out of the wall like that. But here is the main one joined to the supply:

View attachment 122423

That's a lot like what I had in Modesto. Wouldn't fly here...we get below freezing too often. We have the frost-free hose bibs that are about 12" long.