I have a packing nut leak on a main line shut off valve. Can I remove the packing nut to make a repair without turning off the water?

Mundmi:

You will be better to just tighten the packing nut a 1/4 turn or so first and see if that stops the leak at the nut. Packing nuts are meant to do just that... pack down the graphite rope inside and seal the stem assembly. Hold the body of the shutoff against yourself and then tighten the packing nut clockwise... see if that helps.

Otherwise, you can loosen the packing nut slowly and see if water pressure gets excessive... most of the time it won't and you can repack the nut. Sometimes, the leak can be bigger, and in this case you would actually shut the shutoff itself off and then make the repair. You should NOT need to shut down the water main at the street... ;)

Be careful here because as you know... if you make a mistake here you could be digging up the pipe in the yard!

Let us know how you make out...

MARK

Thanks, Mark I was able to repack the nut and got a mini-shower while doing it. The leak did stop. :rolleyes:

Mark, great response. Tried to leave positive feedback for you but the system would not allow me to... Milo

Thanks guys!