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Hydrant in tractor shed leaking

R

rossow (mn)

Member
I have a frost-proof water hydrant in my tractor shed that has developed an underground leak.The crushed rock all around the hydrant became squishy, so I shut the water supply off. Nothing is leaking above ground or a foot or so down. I'm hoping I don't have to dig down to the bottom of the hydrant, because it's about 6 feet down (gets cold in Minnesota). Have you had luck using a kit to replace leaky gaskets in these types of hydrants? Difficult job? I'm hoping that might be a fix. FWIW, the supply is regular underground flexible water tubing. I appreciate advice.
 
(quoted from post at 11:42:02 02/13/21) I have a frost-proof water hydrant in my tractor shed that has developed an underground leak.The crushed rock all around the hydrant became squishy, so I shut the water supply off. Nothing is leaking above ground or a foot or so down. I'm hoping I don't have to dig down to the bottom of the hydrant, because it's about 6 feet down (gets cold in Minnesota). Have you had luck using a kit to replace leaky gaskets in these types of hydrants? Difficult job? I'm hoping that might be a fix. FWIW, the supply is regular underground flexible water tubing. I appreciate advice.
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You might try adjusting it so that it shuts off a little harder.
 
If there was a problem with the valve of the hydrant it would be leaking at the hose connection fitting, So if it is leaking down below, betting on the water line up to the hydrant itself is leaking. Either clamp broke or fitting between the hydrant and supply line failed. sorry chris my 2 cents
 
(quoted from post at 09:42:02 02/13/21) I have a frost-proof water hydrant in my tractor shed that has developed an underground leak.The crushed rock all around the hydrant became squishy, so I shut the water supply off. Nothing is leaking above ground or a foot or so down. I'm hoping I don't have to dig down to the bottom of the hydrant, because it's about 6 feet down (gets cold in Minnesota). Have you had luck using a kit to replace leaky gaskets in these types of hydrants? Difficult job? I'm hoping that might be a fix. FWIW, the supply is regular underground flexible water tubing. I appreciate advice.
Click to expand...

As the other guy said, first adjust it move the rod DOWN a bit more to seat the valve more snuggly.

If that doesn't work, shut off the water, note the brand name and have a kit on hand, unscrew the top casting, withdraw the rod and valve and rebuild it. Unless the seat is damaged or the leak is external to the hydrant that should fix it.
 
I agree with Matthies, if the valve seat was leaking, I would think it would be trickling out the spout, however if it had been leaking, guess it could have froze above the valve too !
 
Enjoy digging, the pipe at the bottom has probably developed a crack. We had one do that last year. Put in a new hydrant and was very careful about burying it. It started leaking within a week. Dug it up and one of the plastic pipe fittings had cracked.
 
(quoted from post at 09:56:10 02/13/21) If there was a problem with the valve of the hydrant it would be leaking at the hose connection fitting, So if it is leaking down below, betting on the water line up to the hydrant itself is leaking. Either clamp broke or fitting between the hydrant and supply line failed. sorry chris my 2 cents
Click to expand...

There very well may be a piping problem, and the other hand, when the valve leaks at little while shut off it leaks out the hydrant drain constantly and saturates the ground around the hydrant.
 
I have put kits in two different hydrants, a Woodford Iowa hydrant and a Merrill Anyflow. I continued to lose water through the line to the Woodford, so apparently my leak isn't in the hydrant itself. (Digging up the line is on my to-do list.) The Merrill had a leaky packing, but after I replaced the packing the hydrant wouldn't shut off because the plunger got twisted to a different position. Putting a kit in the Merrill fixed it.

The biggest challenge to working on either of the hydrants was getting the head off. You need REALLY big wrenches; a large pipe wrench and a large Crescent, plus two six foot lengths of pipe for cheater bars. Once you get the head loose it's a piece of cake.

Make sure you have the RIGHT kit for your hydrant model before you start; they're all different, even different models by the same manufacturer.
 
It sounds like from the replies there's misunderstanding about how a hydrant works. There's a little weep/drain hole down below which lets the stand pipe drain off after use. Which is the whole idea of the hydrant. Otherwise, it would just be a piece of pipe sticking up out of the ground, with a shut off down below. And it wouldn't drain, and therefore it would be frozen, and useless! Certainly a slight leak at the shut off could all be escaping through the drain, soaking everything up. As already stated, adjust and/or replace. I have a replacement stopper for mine I never used, as the whole underground system developed leaks, and was abandoned.
 
Take it apart first , put a pipe wrench on the shaft and then unscrew the top part with the handle pull it out , on the end of the rod is a rubber stopper that is replaceable when it gets old they leak out the drain port in the bottom , I have replace 6 of mine ,also with the water on put your ear up to the hydrant hose bib you will probley hear the water leaking
 
If your pipe riser didn’t freeze it’s likely that the connection to the hydrant is bad. In my experience bad leathers won’t allow the hydrant to shut off and drain which causes freezing. If the leathers are good and you hear hissing or notice spongy ground, even in cold weather, it’s the connection and the hydrant may still fully drain. I’ve experienced both.
 

Was the hydrant hole dug extra
Deep and back filled with drainage stone ?
When the hydrant is used . Is the valve always 100% open or throttled part way ?
 
I vote that it is a cracked fitting in the supply line or if the hose clamp is not a stainless steel screw worm in it that rusted off and let the clamp loose so it leaks. If the valve in the hydrant was leaking it would probably fill up the pipe and then freeze and break it. They will freeze down to the bottom if they leak.
We use a short section of steel pipe at the hydrant to help with holding solid and then put a short hose/line on the hydrant to run the water from the drain back away from the hydrant. Then put some gravel on top of the lines to keep it draining so the water doesn't build up and freeze the hydrant from the water in the dirt. Had that happen one time. We also use a section of PVC pipe in 4 inch over the hydrant so if it needs service it can be unscrewed without digging. Then a cap in the PVC with a hole to fit the hydrant in 2 pieces to slip into the PVC. This keeps dirt and debris out of the hole and holds the hydrant solid at the top. Heavy Clay soil holds the water the reason for the hose/line on the hydrant drain.
 
The suggestion to adjust the rod is a good one. If the handle is left slightly up the valve down below can cause water to go out the drain instead of coming up the hydrant. Hopefully adjusting so the rod is pushed a little farther down will solve the problem. If that does not work, unscrewing the top, pulling the rod and replacing the innards is next. If that does not do it and you have to dig up the hydrant at least the valve will be new when you get it back together. I use a long brass barb, not a little stubby plastic one when I run plastic pipe to a hydrant. That way I can double clamp it. I heat the plastic pipe just a bit with a torch so the clamps can squeeze it to the barb tighter.
 
Bob, I too was going to chime in with a comment similar to yours. The question I have is what is the temperature of the area the hydrant is in? If it is or was cold enough to freeze the ground around it before shutting it off did the hydrant still work? My thought is that if the leak was such that the drain back hole kept up with it, at some point the soil saturation basically would raise the water level around the hydrant to the point it would have a water level high enough in the stand pipe to freeze it? I would also recommend trying adjusting or replacing the internal shut off valve components first. From my above explanation I can see why others are leaning towards it being a supply leak. Not sure if this will make any sense to others.
 
I agree with everyone's advice on try adjusting it first. I worked for the county parks and had 150 of those hydrants. We had experienced high water usage for a few years and really couldn't put our finger on it. We found a hydrant that was leaking buy the rubber seal. It was a hydrant that was sort of hidden and no one ever used it. A mechanics stethoscope works real good on detecting water flowing past the stop.
 
My experience is. Dig it up and put a new hydrant in. Also We put a real good hose and a stainless 3/4 nipple and elbow. Then drive a steel post next to new hydrant and hose clamp it. Sorry.
 
Local well digger here slides a pvc pipe over the hydrant before he fastens it to the supply line. This way it keeps the dirt off of the hydrant pipe, then allows you a chance to just unscrew the hydrant if you have problems and then thread a new one on, and helps it from freezing with the under ground heat coming up around the pipe. He slits some different plastic black water line and shims the hydrant to the white pvc to keep dirt or you dropping junk down the pipe.
 
A little different here than matthies. Our old plumber may he RIP, didn't put anything around the hydrant he just requested that the water be left on to keep the hole clear. He told me once that he'd only had to dig 1 due to a rock falling over the pipe. With rock around your hydrant you will probably have to dig it out.
 
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