Hi there, have a weird one - something I've never seen before.

We've owned this house about a year and just set up a plain old lawn sprinkler in the front yard. We turn on the spigot for enough flow to cover the whole yard, and come back 20 minutes later and discover that the water is barely trickling out of the sprinkler.

It's not that we're somehow getting reduced pressure or flow with the spigot handle in the same position, it's that the handle seems to rotate as the flow decreases. (e.g. we may open it one full revolution, but when we come back it's open only one quarter revolution)

This is really the first time we've used the outdoor spigot since owning the house. When we started three days ago it seemed like there was a gasket missing between the hose and the sprinkler - water went everywhere. So we bought a plain old rubber sprinkler washer and that stopped the leak, but now we notice that the spigot seems to close on its own.

I've never heard of this before at home. Any ideas? Thanks!

K. B.
Centreville, VA

Under the handle should be a fairly large nut, called a packing nut. Try tightening this and see if it tightens up the stem. What you are explaining is unusual but not unheard of. If this doesn't work, Close the faucet, loosen the nut and wrap some new packing, available at any plumbing supply, around the stem and retighten the nut. If all else fails, hope that the valve is threaded, most are 1/2 iron pipe. If so, turn off the house water supply, unscrew the valve and take it to HD, Lowe's or a plumbing supply for a replacement. $6-7 for the valve. Use pipe dope or teflon tape around the threads. If it is soldered, and you don't feel comfortable doing that, have a plumber install a new valve. Hope this solves your problem!