Homeowner Forum / Plumbing / October 2006

When my wife and I go away for a few days we always shut off the hot and
cold taps to the high pressure hoses on our washing machine.  When we return
and open them up again, the hot water tap leaks from just under the handle
for a few days. Is there an easy way to fix this or do ...

I have a GE fridge that is about 4 years old.  I started not cooling well and
then just stopped cycling.  The compressor nor the cooling fan are coming on.
Any ideas of where to start looking?

Recently I replaced the hot/cold water stems in both our tubs and the shower
diverters as well and both took the exact same parts. No brand name anywhere
so I haven't a clue who the MFG is. In one tub all went well. In the other,
the shower, after installng the new parts, now splits ...

Home water pressure increases when water heater is used.
Installed the following new parts.
  * water heater
  * pressure regulator on the main supply line

The house I bought this summer has an electric water heater that
accounts for half of my monthly electric bill.
Now that the colder weather is here (at least in the north) I have been
using the wood stove in the basement.  Its not really a "stove" like

I was trying to replumb some part of the hot water pipe leading to the
washing machine. I tried to shut off the hot water by closing the valve
on the cold water feed to the hot water tank. It is stuck solid. It has
a red round disc like thing on it which is very difficult to ...

I recently had a home inspected and was told the sump pump and the washing
machine should not be draining into  the main wast line.  The washing machine
also had a running trap with no vent. Why and how is this a problem and how
can it be resolved?

I am in the UK, South west.
I am replumbing my garden tap since the nonreturn valve integrated
inside the tap is no longer working and the current regulations require
the valve to be inside the building anyways.

Why does it always seem that whenever you touch a sloan valve in
anyway, it always seems to require parts?  Either an O-ring, handle
kit, or vacuum breaker, toilet spud....  Something else always seems to
leak or stick than whatever the original problem was.

In los angeles county, what type of drain is required in a churches
kitchen.

I have a 2 3/4 inch copper pipes that were capped off when originally
installed. I now want to add on to them.  I have heated the caps with a
torch until the solder was bobbling, but I cant get the caps off. On one I
crushed the pipe end and cap wrestling it off. I don't want to ...