Surestop

Brambling

Apologies if this has been discussed before ...

I have been speaking to a plumber about fixing a seized stopcock and he has suggested that a Surestop may be the answer which I had never heard of.  I've googled it but was wondering if anyone has one and if they have had any problems with it?

I've tried DW40 on the stopcock but unfortunately my hands aren't great due to joint issues and I still can't move it I think it's probably the original 1960s one and definitely hasn't been used in 8 or 9 years, the plumber will see if he can fix it but I'm thinking if they are any good a Surestop will stop me having to crawl to the back on the airing cupboard to turn off the water 

Thanks

tonyh66

I have been thinking of putting a surestop in, our stopcock is under the floor just inside the front door. I would recommend one, try going to youtube and searching surestop for more information.

Spinybif

We had one fitted in holiday home.  Plumber recommended leaving in stopcock ( for emergencies) but adding Surestop downstream.  We have the remote operated one with switch at waist level.  When we leave we turn water off by pressing switch.  Great piece of kit. 

greyteam1959

If the stopcock is seized you might be better leaving it alone.
Force it and break something & you are in a world of trouble.

Surestop or similar would be the way to go.

Brambling

Thank you, the plumber is coming on Tuesday so I'll discuss it further with him then and do a bit more research 

MouldyOldDough

I'm thinking of getting one of these fitted too - our stopcock is stiff to say the least - it's 70 years old and has never been used in anger, as far as I am aware - it is covered in tons of extremely hard sealant around the actual tap.

How much do they cost to get fitted ?

I know that they cost around £45 to actually purchase

They claim to be powered by water rather than electricity - how does that work ?

GDB2222

MouldyOldDough said:

I'm thinking of getting one of these fitted too - our stopcock is stiff to say the least - it's 70 years old and has never been used in anger, as far as I am aware - it is covered in tons of extremely hard sealant around the actual tap.

How much do they cost to get fitted ?

I know that they cost around £45 to actually purchase

They claim to be powered by water rather than electricity - how does that work ?

It's a pretty easy replacement job, as long as you can turn the water off in the road. So, maybe £100-ish to fit?

You can ease a lot of stop cocks by loosening the gland nut. 

MouldyOldDough

GDB2222 said:

MouldyOldDough said:

I'm thinking of getting one of these fitted too - our stopcock is stiff to say the least - it's 70 years old and has never been used in anger, as far as I am aware - it is covered in tons of extremely hard sealant around the actual tap.

How much do they cost to get fitted ?

I know that they cost around £45 to actually purchase

They claim to be powered by water rather than electricity - how does that work ?

It's a pretty easy replacement job, as long as you can turn the water off in the road. So, maybe £100-ish to fit?

You can ease a lot of stop cocks by loosening the gland nut. 

I tried that a few years ago and felt that the spindle was going to break before the nut would even move so gave up

It is too risky relying on being able to turn the stop c ock in an emergency.

how does the remote switch work ? Hydraulics ?

greyteam1959

Explanation here
https://mjc-gas.co.uk/surestop-water-switch-heres-all-you-need-to-know/
Lots of YouTube videos also available about the product & it's fitting 

FreeBear

GDB2222 said:

MouldyOldDough said:

I'm thinking of getting one of these fitted too - our stopcock is stiff to say the least - it's 70 years old and has never been used in anger, as far as I am aware - it is covered in tons of extremely hard sealant around the actual tap.

How much do they cost to get fitted ?

I know that they cost around £45 to actually purchase

They claim to be powered by water rather than electricity - how does that work ?

It's a pretty easy replacement job, as long as you can turn the water off in the road. So, maybe £100-ish to fit?

If you are turning the water off in the road, might as well replace the old stopcock at the same time.

ThisIsWeird

greyteam1959 said:

Explanation here
https://mjc-gas.co.uk/surestop-water-switch-heres-all-you-need-to-know/
Lots of YouTube videos also available about the product & it's fitting 

I love their, "How the Surestop works" part, where it goes on to not explain it at all. 
Ach well, YouTube it is... :-)

Pffft, still don't know.
I guess it's like the Fluidmaster-type cistern valves, that use the water pressure to do the instant shutting off. I'm aware that inside these valves, a wee jet of water is allowed through, and it's blocking off that wee jet that triggers the pressure imbalance that shuts the whole valve off instantly. But 'how', I dinnae ken.