Slightly leaky gate valve?

The_Governor

On our central heating we have what I call a gate valve, it sits on the bypass pipe in the airing cupboard.

It's leaking ever so slightly out of the collar, do I need to drain the whole system down to sort it out? I've tightened the collar a bit but it still leaks (although less so).

Instead of drainign down, can I turn the tap to the off position then remove the collar and sort the leak, or will it gush out if I do that ?:D

ariba10

If it is the gland that is leaking (The small nut below the wheel use to open or close the valve)

Slacken the nut right off and put one or two turns of PTFE Tape around the shaft below the nut and then re tighten the nut.

There might be a small leakage of water when you do this but not a lot.

27col

As Ariba10 says, if its only leaking out around the shaft then simply repacking the gland will be easy enough. In the past I have used a couple of turns of string, which is more bulky than ptfe tape. We used to rub it in tallow or candle wax. It may leak a bit while you are doing it but if you have everything ready before you make a start, the whole job can be done in minutes.

The_Governor

Thanks for the confirmation guys, I thought that's what would happen but it's nice to have the reassuarnce not being a plumber :beer: