Plumber's trick. Street ball valve will no longer burst in the cold

Hello, friends.

Once during a conversation with a plumber, I complained to him that the street watering tap often breaks down. He laughed and gave advice on how to avoid it. The advice is ingeniously simple, but I think it is unrealistic to reach this trick with your mind.

It seemed to me that the watering tap was made in my mind. The house has a crane. From him the branch down. Then the pipe goes through the wall with a slight outward slope. A water tap is installed on the street.

Before the onset of cold weather, I turn off the tap in the house and open it on the street. The water drains off completely and the pipe remains “dry”. It would seem, what else is needed? However, this does not completely solve the problem.

A couple of winter quarters and the crane starts to dig in. We have to change it. Several years ago there was a frost in the region of -35 for a week. In the spring after that I start the water supply system, and the tap is kind of "pot-bellied". Not bursting, but swollen. I immediately thought: maybe I didn't drain the water after the first frost... It turned out that the reason is different.

Let's see what the inside of the ball valves looks like.

There is always a gap between the body and the shut-off ball (if not obvious, see the second photo - shaded). During operation, water naturally enters it. When it freezes, due to expansion, the seals of the sphere become "cancer", and the crane begins to undermine. Or the body inflates, as in my case.

It turns out that this design feature can be combated. My mistake was that the street tap was always open during the winter. Accordingly, the water cavity was closed. It was at this jamb that the plumber immediately pointed out.

So, the trick is extremely simple. To make the tap last longer, it is enough to leave it closed (or half-closed) for the winter. In this case, the water has where to leave this ill-fated cavity.

This winter, I must close the taps. Let's see the result. Traditionally, if the material was useful to you, do not forget about the "thumbs up".Subscribe to the channel here.

You may also be interested in:

Cellar ventilation. 5 simple rules for a dry basement