[dinkerelli]

Hi, I have a faucet that supplies cold water to our washing machine and it has a steady leak coming out of the turnwheel type handle, like a outside faucet. I have the handle off, but the stem will not pull out, I live in a condo and the faucet is attached to half inch copper pipe that has a nipple soldered to it for the faucet . It goes into the wall and is inline with other floors above and below. Cannot turn the faucet off the copper pipe, it's been on for thirty years. Worried about snapping the copper pipe inside the wall. Help Please!!

[KISS]

Generally, the only way that the stem comes out is when the valve is fully open and the packing nut is removed. It needs to be twisted out counter clockwise.

If it's leaking around the stem then the packing needs to be replaced. It's becoming increasingly difficult to replace the entire stem. If you can get the stem out, take it to a real hardware store.

You can try some of the standard tricks, like taking a wire brush and removing anything near the threads. You can even try WD-40. In order to take it off, you will need two wrenches. One on the female adapter and most likely a pipe wrench on the faucet. In the worst case a small amount of heat can be applied but you'll probably need a heat shield for that.

[labman]

You didn't mention shutting the water off. Do you have access to a valve to shut the water off? Perhaps at your meter. Actually if it is leaking around the stem, you may be able to stop the leak by just tightening the nut under the handle.