Yard Hydrant Packing ???

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BearKiller
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Yard Hydrant Packing ???

Post by BearKiller »

I have several Campbell freeze-proof yard hydrants.

If you are familiar with yard hydrants, then you already know that just in the top of the housing, underneath that brass packing adjuster nut, and around the stem/rod, is a tiny round pasteboard tube that is the "packing"

This packing is supposed to prevent water spraying out around the stem/rod.

In my experience, you can tighten the packing nut and stop the spraying for a short while, and maybe this will work for two or three tightenings, until the nut bottoms out and no more adjustment is available.

At present, there is more water spraying into the air than is going down the hose; not good in this sub-freezing weather.

The only way that I can find the replacement packing locally is to buy a $20 repair kit that has a bunch of things that never wear out and one packing.

I did find the packings sold individually for $4 plus another $3.69 S/H; not a long way from the $20 kit.

https://www.amazon.com/Campbell-HP-10-Y ... P6FD5K1JB1

So, I thought I would put it before you experts; what are you guys using for a replacement packing?

Has anyone found a source to buy packings in quantity for a reasonable price ?

Would it work to use a stack of O-Rings instead ?

I just hate to pay nearly $8 for a little cardboard tube that isn't going to last six months.

Thanks for reading.

BearKiller
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Re: Yard Hydrant Packing ???

Post by BearKiller »

A bit of Google searching and I found this :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5qKQnQugxE

It appears that Simmons has been using O-rings instead of that silly pasteboard all along; I can see no reason why O-rings should not work in our Campbell hydrants as the design is exactly the same.

It looks like they are using a stack of two; I will give the O-rings a try and post back with the results.


Okay, on another yard hydrant issue, one of our hydrants no longer "snaps" all the way up/open and does not have the delivery pressure/volume that it is capable of.

I can physically hold the handle all the way up and get full pressure/volume, but as soon as I turn loose, the handle and pressure falls to about half throttle.

I am thinking/hoping that this is a linkage issue and not a plunger issue.

What are your thoughts on this ?

Thanks for reading.

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dag1450
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Re: Yard Hydrant Packing ???

Post by dag1450 »

While I don't have a hydrant I do get around plumbing now and then. Sounds like you r on the right track with the o rings. I just wanted to add...use lots of grease. Use some of your savings and get some plumbing grease. I believe it's a silicone base. Don't use petroleum products as they will hurt most rubber. You will notice a huge difference in operation and longevity.
Your last issue sounds like a spring to me.
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JMotuzick
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Re: Yard Hydrant Packing ???

Post by JMotuzick »

While we only have one here and it’s new this summer. It’s been my experience that they should be turned on in April and left on until November! That’s right save the wear and tear, put a in line garden hose shut off first at the hydrant. Your that as your shit off all summer, never leave them half on as this will cause more wear! Like I told the guy at the supply house they stink and are just a good excuse to use the backhoe!

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SWilliams
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Re: Yard Hydrant Packing ???

Post by SWilliams »

In any of the ones I deal with I use common graphite string packing. Apply silicone grease tighten the packing. They get used quite a bit to wash off the fire trucks. Usually I tighten the packing maybe once a year. Most go 3-4 years without being repacked.
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BearKiller
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Re: Yard Hydrant Packing ???

Post by BearKiller »

dag1450 wrote:Use some of your savings and get some plumbing grease.
It has been so long since I used up the last of my savings that I can't even remember how good it was to have savings; sadly, you honestly have no idea just how true that statement is.

Thanks for the silicone grease advice.

BearKiller
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Re: Yard Hydrant Packing ???

Post by BearKiller »

SWilliams wrote:In any of the ones I deal with I use common graphite string packing.
I never heard of graphite string packing before; I will have to check that out. Thanks.

BearKiller
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Re: Yard Hydrant Packing ???

Post by BearKiller »

JMotuzick wrote:While we only have one here and it’s new this summer. It’s been my experience that they should be turned on in April and left on until November! That’s right save the wear and tear, put a in line garden hose shut off first at the hydrant. YourUse that as your shit off shut-offall summer, never leave them half on as this will cause more wear! Like I told the guy at the supply house they stink and are just a good excuse to use the backhoe!
Actually, you are right about them not being the most durable things around, at least the poor-man's versions that I have only ever been able to afford.

I have observed that the heavy-duty $180 ones do last a lot better than the $70 ones that I have to use.

Your comment about using the garden-hose shut-off put the gears in my head to turning and gave me a bright idea; --- if one screws off the garden-hose connection from the hydrant, a standard hose-bib can be screwed in; providing the rest of the hydrant is leak-free; like you said, just leave the hydrant turned ON and then use the common hose-bib for turning ON and OFF and for controlling water flow.

In the winter, the hose would be left off and the hose-bib left wide open; or, just remove the hose-bib until next summer.

Thanks for the idea.

BearKiller
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Re: Yard Hydrant Packing ???

Post by BearKiller »

SO FAR ------ SO GOOD !

This being the first time in ages that it was above freezing, and supposed to get super-cold tonight and for days in the foreseeable future, I decided to undertake the task of stopping that hydrant from spraying everywhere.

I took the handle and linkage off, removed the packing-nut, dug out as many of the remnants of the little pasteboard packing tube as I could, and used two of my Harbor Freight O-rings and a glob of generic Vaseline in place of the pasteboard.

With plenty of Teflon tape on the threads of the packing-nut, and plenty of anti-seize on everything else, I put it all back together.

It took several adjustment attempts to get it to shut off without any drips and still turn on plenty.

With the packing-nut tightened about two hexes more than finger-snug, and a mile of adjustment left, at the present moment, it is drip-free; no more spraying me in the face whenever it is on.

I think I paid $2.99 about twenty years ago for that assortment of O-rings and only used two of them; there are still more than a dozen of that size left in the box; so, mission accomplished in poor man style.

Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions.


Now, I just need to figure out what makes these things quit snapping into wide-open position.

When they are new, you can feel them cam-over and the handle snap into full ON position.

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