Old House Plumbing Problem.

[N80]

So my wife went to the local plumbing supply place (Ferguson). She showed them the part and they acted like she had brought in a flux capacitor. Said they did not have any such parts, washers or supplies. They referred her to some sort of rubber supply place in a nearby industrial park. They said they did not stock anything like that but that they could make her a few of them and made 3 of them for her and did not charge her. She said they were extremely nice. Unfortunately one of them was too small, the one that fit has a nick in it and one of them the hole is not centered.

I'm going to give it a shot with the one with the nick in it since it fits the best and the nick is probably not in the contact area. The washer is a bit thin though.

If that does not work I'll check the big box stores for washer kits or order some from McMaster-Carr. I probably need to do a search and find out if there is a better plumbing supply place but I'm pretty sure there isn't. If that fails it will be time for a whole new system which I will put together with PEX parts. I'll leave it up to my wife to find new but period correct escutcheons and knobs. Original knobs might fit current splined valve stems.

 

[bcp]

In my experience, hardware stores (older is better) are more likely to have repair parts than plumbing supply stores. The plumbing supply wants to sell you a whole new item.

Bruce

 

[N80]

In my experience, hardware stores (older is better) are more likely to have repair parts than plumbing supply stores. The plumbing supply wants to sell you a whole new item.

Bruce

We have a couple of pretty decent locally owned ACE hardware stores. I'll check there too.

 

[Ford850]

Ace will have a whole wall of washers (slight exaggeration).

 

[N80]

Ace will have a whole wall of washers (slight exaggeration).

I will go just to see it! ;-)

 

[/pine]

Any chance you have removed one of the other valve stems to see if it is in better condition?...I do not see what/how the washer is supposed to be attached to the stem without a screw etc...??

 

[quicksandfarmer]

OK, I found the kind of washer you have. It's called a "no-rotate washer." Imagine that. Here's a link:
ASSORTED NO ROTATE WASHERS - Faucet And Valve Washers - Amazon.com
and here:
3/8L No-Rotate Washes (4 per card) - Danco

Looks like they just push into the threaded hole where normally the screw goes.

These are not original equipment.

 

[/pine]

OK, I found the kind of washer you have. It's called a "no-rotate washer." Imagine that. Here's a link:
ASSORTED NO ROTATE WASHERS - Faucet And Valve Washers - Amazon.com
and here:
3/8L No-Rotate Washes (4 per card) - Danco

Looks like they just push into the threaded hole where normally the screw goes.

These are not original equipment.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Ford850]

I will go just to see it! ;-)

I know our local Ace has a ton of washers, seats, etc. It's an old store though, and some of the Ace stores I've been in have limited supplies.

 

[N80]

OK, I found the kind of washer you have. It's called a "no-rotate washer." Imagine that. Here's a link:
ASSORTED NO ROTATE WASHERS - Faucet And Valve Washers - Amazon.com
and here:
3/8L No-Rotate Washes (4 per card) - Danco

Looks like they just push into the threaded hole where normally the screw goes.

These are not original equipment.

That's AWESOME! That is exactly what is on the end of my valve.

Not sure how I would go about removing the rotating assembly on mine though. The ones you linked to were made for converting valves that came without them. Maybe just pry hard enough.

Anyway, before I saw your post I cleaned everything up and used one of the valves that the guys made for my wife. It fits snugly in the rotating assembly cup but just for an extra measure I put a little gasket sealer in the cup before pushing the washer in. I put it all back in place and as of now it does not leak at all. I've turned it on and off several times and it is still good. However, I'm not confident that the washer will not eventually come free. I will probably order some of these rotating ones just in case.

Huge thanks to all of you guys who helped out. TBN has the most knowledgeable people anywhere on the internet in my opinion.