# Outside Faucet Vacuum Breaker - defeat or remove?



## tjtv (Sep 27, 2011)

Hi,

I have two outdoor faucets on my house. Each one is about 2 feet above ground level, and each one has a built in vacuum breaker onit. I've lived in this house for 6 months, and this has never been a problem up until now. Recently I have overseeded my entire lawn. I want to hook up water timers to the outdoor faucets so that my lawn gets watered automatically by sprinklers every 12 hours. However, when the water timer has the water shutoff downstream from the vacuum breaker on the faucet, water constantly leaks out of the vacuum breakers.

I've been reading up on these vacuum breakers, and the general opinion I've found on the internet is that they tend to create more problems than they've actually solved. Is there anything I can do to temporarily defeat or remove the vacuum breaker mechanism, so that I can use my water timers for the next month or so without worry about a water leak out of the vacuum breakers?


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## AllanJ (Nov 24, 2007)

If you can unscrew the vacuum breaker then just do that. But sometimes these vacuum breakers are screwed on in a fashion that they can't be removed easily.

In some cities outside faucets must have vacuum breakers to reduce the chance of water in garden hoses from being sucked back into the plumbing system. With this in mind some manufacturers intended that a separately purchased vacuum breaker, once installed, be permanently in place. 

One version has a side screw whose head breaks off when tightened. YOu would have to carefully drill it out (without damaging the threads of the end of the faucet).


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## downunder (Jun 13, 2008)

Define what you mean by "constantly." 

Is this a hose unit or an installed irrigation system?

If I am reading correctly, is this a unit which was installed as part of the house plumbing or an add-on adapter for the hose?

The units I am familiar with are designed to drain more so than "leak" and as such will discharge for a moment. It is possible that the pressure and volume in the irrigation line (or hose) is causing an extended amount of drainage.

Is there any difference in the operation if you disconnect the water line?


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