# Washing Machine Faucet



## handy man88 (Jan 23, 2007)

It seems kind of tricky to remove/replace one of these if necessary.

Tricky in that if you have a washing machine in a finished area, your faucets are likely located in a plastic box inside drywall. 

So, if you ever have to replace a faucet, you have almost zero access to the pipe that the faucet is secured to, so when you try to twist the faucet off, that means the pipe inside is twisting also and it's possible to break a weld because you can't secure the pipe down when trying to remove the faucet.

If there is ever a leak in the valve stem/packing nut of a faucet, and tightening down on this nut doesn't eliminate the problem, you are better off replacing the seal under the packing nut instead of trying to twist the entire faucet off.

I was at HD today and disassembled a faucet and noticed that the "packing" is just a cone shaped seal. That's contrary to what I've read on this blog not long ago that "packing" was some sort of thing you wrap around the stem.

HD had many sizes of cone shaped seals, so it seems like if you ever have a leak in the packing nut/valve stem, just do the following:

1. Shut the valve off.
2. Remove the handle.
3. Remove the packing nut.
4. Check the seal for an ID#.
5. Go to HD and buy the replacement packing nut seal. I saw a 5 pack selling for roughly around $1.50 while an entire faucet would cost like $7.

Thoughts?


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## Wethead (Oct 30, 2008)

Yes, That is a fine way to save money and also do it yourself.

"Packing" is what they used to use back in the day, now in more recent times you will see "seals"

and yes, that is a great way to fix the valve.


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## handy man88 (Jan 23, 2007)

Wethead said:


> Yes, That is a fine way to save money and also do it yourself.
> 
> "Packing" is what they used to use back in the day, now in more recent times you will see "seals"
> 
> and yes, that is a great way to fix the valve.


Thanks for confirming this.


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## Wethead (Oct 30, 2008)

No problem, glad to be of help!:thumbup:


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## AllanJ (Nov 24, 2007)

Whenever possible, replace the stem packing if needed before trying to replace the faucet.

Occasionally a "seal" is too big to fit so the the packing nut won't go on far enough to catch back on the threads. Here you have to buy old fashioned packing string as picture above.

Washing machine faucets should be turned off each time you are finished using the machine. Unfortunately this means the faucets may need service more often thay you may expect. For this you can not tighten them so much and thus prolong the life of the faucet washers. Floods from burst washing machine hoses rank high in the categories of claims insurance companies deal most with.


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## porchmonkey (Mar 20, 2009)

Wethead said:


>


These are two totally different items for two totally different uses.
A faucet (or bibb) washer is designed to go on the end of the stem
where it bottoms out against the seat.
As AlanJ said, it's too big to be used as stem packing.


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