"Disc" Pull Type Shut Off Valve - OK to Keep Half Way Pulled?

Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

boba8523

Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2020
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Location
USA
Hi Everyone,

My home has these plastic disc type shut off valves where you turn off water flow by pulling on them. I've attached a photo below.

I'm wondering if I can pull them just half way to slow the flow and conserve water? Will this cause any leaks?

First time seeing this type of shut off valve. Typically I have the multi-turn valvds.

Thank you!
 

Attachments

  • 20200620_104714.jpg
    20200620_104714.jpg
    1.7 MB · Views: 22
Hi Everyone,

My home has these plastic disc type shut off valves where you turn off water flow by pulling on them. I've attached a photo below.

I'm wondering if I can pull them just half way to slow the flow and conserve water? Will this cause any leaks?

First time seeing this type of shut off valve. Typically I have the multi-turn valvds.

Thank you!
Your fixture is what conserves the water aerators, shower heads have flow rates stamped on them
 
Think about it. "Shut off Valve". It's in the name. They are basically designed for "on" or "off" and not in between. The same for lever style ball valves, or older style gate valves, though you will sometimes see them used in a semi-open or closed position.

A valve for regulating flow would be a GLOBE valve. You don't find these in applications such as shutoff for a fixture.
 
IMHO, if you leave in whatever position you like, it would not cause leaks.
However, the valve design is not designed for your proposed use, and cavatation erosion is possible from what you describe. I've never seen one of those valves. Where are you?
 
I'm in Irvine, California. It's a new construction too and I heard these are el cheapo shut off valves.

The builder gave us high flow faucets and the 5 year old is very rough with it, so water always get onto the mirrors. Was trying to see if I could use this to slow the water flow but seems like it's not the ideal solution.

Any other solutions that does not require me to change out the faucets?
 
I thought your walls looked like walls in California...that spatter coat painting. Goodness knows how anyone makes a drywall repair there.

Anyway, unscrew the aerator off the faucet, and replace it with a lower GPM. If you check Home Depot or Lowe's or any other home center, you'll find a number of aerators in varying flow rates.

https://www.homedepot.com/s/faucet%20aerators?NCNI-5
 
Thank you, will change out the aerators! They seem cost efficient enough :)

It's the first time I've seen this type of shut off valve. Surprised that they're built using this for new construction. Must have a reason they used this. I mean, this only saves the builders maybe $200.......
 
I had the opposite problem as you Boba. I had lo-flow aerators and when I finally found some high ones, my life got much better; pressure was bad enough on my last home with a well/septic that lo flow was useless. I didn't need to save any water, what went down the drain eventually ended up back in the aquifer.

Surprised that they're built using this for new construction. Must have a reason they used this. I mean, this only saves the builders maybe $200.......

Builders will do ANYTHING to save a few pennies. In my new home built in Michigan in 1992, one of the typical things they did, for example, is run the outside electrical outlets downstream of the GFCI outlets located in bathrooms. So, they ran dozens upon dozens of extra feet of cable--with the associated labor--to save what amounted to maybe $30 on two dedicated GFCI outlets located outside. It was a joke amongst the neighbors that if they popped the GFCI while doing something outdoors, "Find which bathroom had the popped GFCI".

Here in NC, when the code was eliminated to require drip edges on roofing, they stopped using it...despite the fact that ALL roofing manufacturers recommend it, all associations recommend it, most codes require it, and some manufacturers require it for warranty. So you see new homes with broken shingles on the edges. Go figure. On a roofing system, the drip edge is the least costly component.

Given half an opportunity, builders here will put tank type water heaters IN THE ATTIC. Good luck replacing that in the future, or dealing with your insurance company when it leaks.

I was looking to build a new home here, and while homes in that subdivision were well past the $500K range, some near $1M, and natural gas available, one builder was installing ELECTRIC water heaters! Many homeowners or soon to be homeowners wouldn't even think to ask what kind of fuel is used. The bottom line is if you have natural gas available on your lot, USE IT FOR EVERYTHING that uses it. You don't put in an electric water heater, unless of course you are the builder wanting to save $500. My home built in 1992 had a power vent water heater, so the venting was simple PVC. Here, they "saved" all of $200 but spent it right back on a long vent run and another potentially troublesome roof penetration. Makes not a whit of sense.

The more you look, the more you'll find "best practices" and even common sense being shoved aside. As long as it lasts through the 1 year warranty, that's all most care about I'm afraid.
 
Last edited:
Omg what a horrible design for a shutoff valve.

You are relying on a plastic golf tee for control.

If it snaps off during a leak or fixture flood situation, you will have to turn off all the water in the house.

I would get some quotes to have them all changed out to 1/4 turn shutoffs, and not recessed into the wall, which makes it difficult to attach to them.

I can’t believe that a POS like that is even approved by your local plumbing or building code.
 
The ONLY thing I can think of--and I'm not making excuses for the plumber who installed this or the builder who told him to install it, is the current trend for things to be "neat and tidy" and recessed.

How many of you have seen bare copper pipes with boiler drains on them used for washing machine supply? Yeah, and now they recess it into a nice tidy box, and even have purposed designed and dedicated valves.

How many of you have a ¼" or ⅜" water supply line coming up through a hole in the floor for the refrigerator ice maker? Yeah, now they recess it into a nice tidy box in the wall.

How many of you have seen a ½" or ¾" black iron stub-off coming through a wall or floor, for the gas line for your dryer? Yeah, now they recess it into wall with a nice tidy box...

Get it? Someone is trying to "improve" the look of those shutoffs for toilets or sinks...with a nice, tidy recessed fitting...
 
At least with a typical exposed valve, if the valve starts to drip or the water line connection starts to drip, it will leak where you can see it.

With this recessed setup, everything would drip inside the wall until maybe you might see it coming out from a ceiling below, or you smell the mold and rot, or the carpenter ants or termites give you a clue that you have a problem.
 
It looks like, if the golf tee handle broke off, you could pop off the escutcheon and operate the valve with the short threaded rod which the golf tee screws onto.

The valve body itself looks ok, it is brass 1/4 turn.
 
Pricier and a lot more inconvenient for future repairs. I guess it makes sense that builders are using these to provide a more minimalistic look to the home. *Crossing fingers it'll last a few decades without leaks!*
 
The manufacturer’s main claim is that this valve saves the need to create a stub out.
So it saves money and time, they say, which justifies the price of the hardware.

Meanwhile, I am picturing the usual horrible access and tight conditions under a sink, vanity, or toilet.

Having to work inside that tiny recessed box would not be on my happy list.
 
I’m still examining and getting used to all sorts of cringe-worthy new building practices, (in my new home) some just new and some related to North Carolina, most trying to save a buck or time or both only for the plumber or builder in the initial build.

Lo and behold I have the push-pull disc stops as toilet shut offs. Thankfully however they are not recessed; they are push-on SharkBite style that use a stub. 😡
 
I’m still examining and getting used to all sorts of cringe-worthy new building practices, (in my new home) some just new and some related to North Carolina, most trying to save a buck or time or both only for the plumber or builder in the initial build.

Lo and behold I have the push-pull disc stops as toilet shut offs. Thankfully however they are not recessed; they are push-on SharkBite style that use a stub. 😡
Not recessed, but you have to shut the whole house down if a component leaks.
 
and note carefully, @Jeff Handy and others, that this box is $17. That's nearly twice the price of a good, solid old school quarter turn shut off valve.

That $17.00 is retail You can but your last stale 2 day old doughnut that a plumbing co is only paying 1/2 that price if not less if he buys in bulk
Then he is also saving money on man hours.
He saves 15 minutes per valve installed , In a 2 bath house that is 14 valve that is 3 man hours saved per building. if you do 200 buildings a year 600 man hours.
 
Not recessed, but you have to shut the whole house down if a component leaks.

In my present house, the main shutoff for all water is in a panel in the laundry room. There are no shutoffs in a basement since there isn't one; the water main comes right from the meter into the crawl space and directly to this access panel. So if one of mine starts to leak, well, yeah I have to shut the water off in order to replace it. The only other shutoff (aside from the fixture shutoffs under the sinks, at the toilets, and water heater) I've found is one that shuts off all of the outdoor faucets; this is in that same access panel.

In my former house, done with copper, and with a basement, I knew where the "risers" were in the basement and I did have more control over shutting off water JUST to the upstairs, for example. All of the first floor fixtures generally had some kind of shutoff in the basement that you could use without shutting off the entire house.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top