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Wheeler rex emergency water shutoff for copper pipe, crimping tool permits shut off and then restoration of water flow - at InspectApedia.comEmergency Water Pipe Shutoffs
Tools & methods to shut off water pipes for repairs

Emergency water shut-off methods & devices:

How to turn off water in an emergency if the shutoff valve doesn't work. These tools, methods, tricks and approaches allow you or your plumber to stop water flow through a water supply pipe in order to make an emergency repair. Often repairs can be made with the tool in place and some shutoffs can be made without cutting the pipes involved, by using crimping or freezing or plug tools.

Page top illustration: Wheeler-Rex water pipe crimping tool that can stop and then restore water flow.

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How to Turn Off Water if the Valve Does Not Work - Emergency Shutoffs

Jomar's Add-A-Valve emergency shutoff valve that can be installed without turning off the water supply - at InspectApedia.comQuestion: how can we turn off water to our cattle waterer when the valve won't work?

2018/02/15 Joyce said:

We live in the country and have an outside cattle waterer that is leaking. We thought we had it shut off several years ago, but now it is leaking by inside the waterer.

We're using 4000 gal. of water a day and we normally use half that much. How can
I shut off the water to the waterer. Thanks.

This question and reply were posted originally at WATER PUMP ELECTRICAL SWITCHES

Illustration: installing a JoMar Add-A-Valve water valve on a copper plumbing line - we discuss this product in the text below.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Reply: close main water valve or crimp pipe, freeze pipe, or install an emergency water shutoff add-on valve on copper water line

Joyce,

Follow the waterer supply pipes back to the source.

If there is only one shutoff valve and that one is not closing off the water supply then follow further back to find where turn off ALL of your water supply.

You'll have to turn off all water, then repair or replace the bad shutoff valve to the waterer.

You can do that by turning off your main water system shutoff valve.

See WATER SHUTOFF VALVE LOCATION, USE or for well and pump systems

see WATER SHUTOFF VALVE, WELL PUMP.

If your water supply is by a well pump, you can also simply turn off the pump.

See WATER PUMP ELECTRICAL SWITCHES if you don't know how to do that.

Or if there is no service switch at the water pump, find the pump circuit in the electrical panel and turn that off. Or just switch breakers off one by one until the pump stops.

[Click to enlarge any image]

I've seen other tricks that work in an emergency, depending on the type of piping, such as cutting, crimping over, and bending shut copper water pipes, or sawing through a pipe and hammering in a wooden cork as a temporary emergency measure.

Some plumbers also use freon and actually freeze a water line long enough to permit installation of a shutoff valve or cap. We describe pipe freezing kits below along with special crimping tools or quick stop tools that can stop water flowing in an active iron or copper water supply line.

Add-On Water Shutoff Valves Without Cutting Water Pipe

If you can find one locally, there are add-on emergency shutoff valves that can be added to a water line whose water you can't otherwise shut off, such as the Jomar Add-A-Valve that I illustrated above. This valve clamps onto an existing water line, seals to it, then pierces it to function as an emergency shutoff.

This add-on emergency shutoff valve works on types M, L, and K copper tubing (not on galvanized steel nor plastic) and can be installed in about half an hour on hot or cold water piping.

Crimping Devices Form an Emergency Shutoffs for Iron or Copper Pipe

Reed Pipe Tools & Vises, Iron Pipe Crimping Tool for Emergency Water Shutoff - at InspectApedia.com

Wheeler rex emergency water shutoff for copper pipe, crimping tool permits shut off and then restoration of water flow - at InspectApedia.comIllustration: Wheeler-Rex water pipe crimping tool (discussed below) can stop and then restore water flow. [Click to enlarge any image]

Crimping tools made by Wheeler-Rex will crimp can close off water flow to shut off water through copper pipes.

Water flow can be restored at the crimped pipe without cutting, by re-forming the pipe to open it again - illustrated above.

Quick-Stop Plugs & Expanders to Shut Off Water Supply Pipes for Repairs

Other types of Water Pipe Stoppers are used to permit quick repairs or to permit installation of a water valve without turning off the water supply.

Repair procedure for a leaky water supply pipe with no shutoff and connected to a municipal water supply main (C) Daniel Friedman

Above, a home-made expanding-plug quick-stop valve that is inserted through the new valve and thence into an active water pipe to shut off water flow while the new valve is installed.

Quick Sweat water stopping tool for copper pipe repair of active water pipes, available from plumbingsupply.com

The tool above is distributed by PlumbingSupply.com and is described at https://www.plumbingsupply.com/waterstopperforsoldering.html

Jet Sweat dissolvable pipe plugs permit repair of active water supply pipes - at ;InspectApeida.com, produced by Jones Stephens

Pipe Freezing Kits for Temporary Stoppage of Water Supply Pipes to Permit Repair

Cold Shot pipe freezing fitting used to freeze liquid filled pipe or water pipe to permit repairs if there is no water shutoff valve - cited & discussed at InspectApedia.com

Illustration: Using a Cold-Shot pipe freeze fitting (cited below) to freeze a section of water or heating pipe to permit pipe repair work when there is no working shutoff valve.

A long-used method of stopping water supply in a water piping system to permit emergency repair or emergency installation of a new shutoff valve is to freeze the water pipe on the supply side or on both sides of a point at which the pipe is to be cut to have a stop valve or gate valve installed.

Freezing of the water pipe may be accomplished using liquid CO2. We no longer use HVAC refrigerants or Freon because of prohibitions against further contaminating the environment with those gases.

The pipe is frozen, cut, a valve or other fittings installed, and then the pipe is permitted to thaw. Freezing typically takes five minutes or less. For a homeowner or consumer it will be smarter to hire a plumber to provide this service since buying the kit is not likely to be economical to make a single water pipe repair.

Where it's necessary to work on a section of piping that may feed water from either direction, two freeze points are required, and must be (typically) about 4" or more apart.


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If your water supply is by private pump and well and you need to turn off the water, details are at WATER SHUTOFF VALVE, WELL PUMP.

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EMERGENCY WATER SHUTOFF VALVE at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.


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