Go put your garden hose in a bucket of chemicals and then go it the house and open up with kitchen sink spigot a few minutes later and drink the water. You'll learn real quick the purpose the the back-flow preventor. Having been in the pest control business for years, it was common to observe tech's filling up there spray rigs in the back of the work trucks. It only took once of someone having the end of the hose below the water level in the spray rig and then having the customers washer suck about 5 gal. of termiticide into her washer. It was not a good day. Most state Pest control industry now require a air-gap or back flow device on the spray rigs and if one is caught without it there is a heft fine. People have to realize yes they are a pain in the azz but they are designed to protect the health of the public.
You have been tricked you idiot...it saved you a massive repair build. Think of it as a shield that needs to be replaced every 5 to 10yrs or less. If you don't use it than guess what you will need to replace??? Guess where the leak will be? Most likely in the walls or under the ground.....can you fix stupid??? Who knows...
My subdivision has them but the old neighborhood next to ours doesn’t. Neither does any of my families in older neighborhoods. You clarified what I already believed, these are stupid and pointless! I only hook up water hoses to water my grass. And I have an outside water softener system in between the city’s main and my house lines. So I’m just removing mine permanently. Why even bother with a spigot master? Hook up the hose straight to the spigot like when we were kids.
My house is pretty new (2006) and 2 of the 3 exterior hose spigots have back flow preventers. One sprays on hose nozzle shut off, as expected, but it also leaks a lot during use. We have high calcium carbonate in the city water (183 ppm). With the help of this video I removed the back flow preventer by drilling out the set screw. I had to use 3 drill bits, #35, #22, #16 each progressively larger until it could be turned with channel locks. Then filed the damaged threads with a small "V" file. My hose washer was a little pitted, so I turned it over and magically, no leak, no spray. Luckily my set screw was on the side, my spigot threads were standard and it was only 102 degrees at noon here in the desert . My patio mister is a success! Thank you. Good job Mr Days.
I really hope you don't end up poisoning your family and your neighborhood now that you've left yourself unprotected from backflow/back-siphonage of anything at the other end of your hose. People should be replacing their vacuum breakers, not removing them. Do you remove your smoke detectors just because they run out of batteries?
I hope you replaced it!!! Seriously!!! It's an important and necessary device. I know someone that got a new one, and rather than use the "enclosed screw-which ends up breaking off, they used a 5mm set screw, for easy removal later.....
I think he meant "Dissimilar" rather than "Dielectric". Electrolysis is caused by a difference in electrochemical potential, thus If the joint was dielectric then you could not have electrolysis. Dielectric of course meaning something that for all intent and purpose is non conductive. Also there are some valid reasons for anti-siphon protections for potable water supplies, but I'm inclined to agree with the video poster that most of the point of use devices are rather horrible.. ether from poor engineering or possibly (most likely) planned obsolescence. If you desire anti-siphon protection but do not desire leaking faucets try installing a simple spring check valve on the inlet side (piped side) of your standard or frost-free sillcock (faucet) assembly. Very effective with no dripping or spraying. And thank you to the TrailerDayz.. you added a new fitting to my mental inventory!
OK, thanks for pointing out the Set Screw Location and how to remove it. One thing I do not understand is the Purpose of the 'Spigot Master'? --- I just attached my Hose directly to the Faucet. My Problem is fixed. So, can you please tell me why I need a 'Spigot Master'?
Dude you are a life saver.. well, at least a headache saver anyway.. if municipalities wanted these devices to be more well accepted by the public, they should have made them easier to be replaced. Threw mine straight into the trash.. good riddance.
If you do not have a vacuum breaker, and you leave your garden hose filling, or even sitting in a soapy bucket, a mud puddle, swimming pool etc, and the pressure drops even slightly in the city mainline for any reason, you will end up drinking whatever your garden hose is sitting in because it will suck up whatever is at the other end of your hose and it will enter the drinking water supply. It's the same exact principal as siphoning gas out of a car and the exact reason why these vacuum breakers were invented. If you want to get sick from water contamination, possibly poison your neighbors & possibly be fined by local authorities for willingly contaminating the potable water supply, then go ahead and leave your home unprotected against backflow/back siphonage. Google backflow or back-siphonage water contamination cases if you don't believe me. Thousands of people have gotten extremely sick & hundreds have died from not following proper backflow prevention measures, and your "paranoid city officials" are trying to prevent you ignorant people from getting sick or dying.
@@RioSyler2010 how many people leave a hose on, or put it in a soapy bucket, and walk away, or leave it in a mud puddle (no mud in AZ.) put it in a swimming pool, etc.? thats a crazy reasoning to put up with a technology that only makes you keep buying more hoses and more parts to fix it. so sue me.
I tried an easy-out at first but the set screw wouldn't budge. Luckily I found this video. It took almost an hour to drill out my screw but it finally worked. Thanks for posting this video.
@@philg6115 are you sure you watched it? It's so the dirty water from the hose doesn't corrupt the water on the pipes and potentially contaminate your drinking water.
I think the question is why is the spigot master needed. I believe the thread pitch is different. Fine in the tap, coarse on the hose. It's just an adapter.
These things only seem to run up the price of home ownership, and do nothing helpful. Why? Because if the valve we call a faucet keeps the water from leaving the house, doesn't it follow that the same valve prevents water from coming in? The pressure pushing OUT would surely over power any siphon condition bringing water IN.
EXACTLY! There are very few instances wherein the water pressure drops enough to suck water back into the house, and in most of those cases, it's a tiny bit of hose water (which we all drank as kids and is just vinyl}.
The garden hose does not have to be under pressure to contaminate the water supply. It can actually siphon back under certain circumstances. My problem is that the vacuum breakers often leak everywhere, make noise, or in the case of my new ones, have threads too short and the garden hose thread collar hits the housing before the rubber gasket seals. I'd be fine with any of these that work and have decent-length threads.
@@bobisonline It can't. The valve would have to be open. Engineers in society manage risk by a combination of severity and likelihood. The likelihood that you'd be filling your pesticide sprayer at the same time a water main breaks, allowing your pesticide to siphon back into the water system, then not drain out the break before they get it fixed, is astronomically low. But the severity of consequences are so high they want you to put vacuum breakers on the part of the system you might be careless in using (i.e. everything after the hose bib). If you never leave the hose down in anything and walk away, you'd technically never have a problem, but not everyone can be trusted to be diligent about it. Some pig farmer might permanently leave his garden hose stuck into a sewage tank with the water running slowly all the time. Imagine the scenarios.
@@Jeff_Engineer Thank you, I totally agree on your points. Interesting that the Spigotmaster is made though and costs 4-5 times what a vacuum breaker costs! Opportunism for certain!
I've always hated these things. We didn't have these on our house in the 70s as I was growing up. WTF? Were we poisoned by our neighbors? lol Only problem with changing these out, they will have to be brought up to code when selling the place. Not that its that expensive.
The vacuum breakers suck! Every time I turn off the water, even if I relieve pressure at the end of the hose, they spew what water was left under any pressure all over. And when your spigot is in the garage... well you get a mess!
Good video. But, you're using your channel locks backwards. Also, the spigotmaster sells for $16.00. A whole new hose bibb without the anti siphon valve is only $6 - $10 at Lowes. It's a little more involved to replace, but a lot cheaper.
Sorry, I can NOT give this a "thumbs up" rating. #1) NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use an impact drill on small screws that are DESIGNED to break off,,, and are probably rusted too. #2) "YOU" damaged the threads by not completely removing the set screw. You are lucky the threads still worked well enough when you screwed on the new unit. Take an extra few minutes and use a screw extracter after drilling the screw out. Actually, why did you drill out the screw anyway? The screw was still against the spigot threads. Seems like you missed an essential step there. #3) You need to be mindfull of the overspray when spraying oils. It's not really a big deal, but the customer may think it is when they see their a/c unit has oil sprayed on it. It's the little things that make a customer happy. Good video, but you should think of your audience that may not have done this before. If they take your recommendations and do them, they could really create more problems for themselves. That's my $0.02 opinion.
Hate those things. Turn them off and water sprays everywhere. And, you are right. Under what circumstances will your hose be connected to a contaminated source and under pressure enough to be go back into the system?
Could improve video and impression of professionalism by using some paper towels to clean hands after thread goop application by finger. Multiple issues seen of goop transfer to tools and work area. As a home owner, I would be really p...ed to see my property that I paid for with my hard earned money defaced in such a manner. Also, the careless use of the spray imparted a yellow color to the exterior of the house. Pretty good information in video otherwise. Sorry, no thumbs up or subscription.
First of all, the water pressure from the city is under high pressure, don't know the exact number but it is higher than what residental household use would require. That's why there is a pressure regulator installed in line for the line coming into the house. This regulates the pressure down to maybe 110PSI or so. So if the water pressure at the hose bib is at 110PSI, why would you need an anti-backflow valve on the hose bib to prevent back flow or syphoning??!!! It doesn't happen!!!
I run RV parks. Every year the health department rolls through and makes us spend a lot of money reinstalling these after tenants and guests have removed them. The whole thing is stupid.
Don't use an impact on the set screw. You will have better luck using a wrench and lightly tapping IF needed. An impact is much more likely to snap the head off because you can't control the force of the impact very precisely.
I asked myself that same question. I broke my pipe trying to take off the valve that was really old and my plumber installed everything and put on a that vacuum breaker. Every time I use my hose now that has a gun attachment water squirts out when I release and I hear a noise in my pipes. So I took off the vacuum breaker and just connected my hose to the spigot. Problem solved.........If you have your hose off the ground or have a gun attached to it how is it possible for water to get in.
go take a corse in Cross Connection, then you'll understand how things are possible. You drive everyday and don't crash, but you still wear seatbelt, right? shit happens, sometimes, and maybe even rarely, but it does happen sometimes. don't remove safeties.
Many people have a water hose connected, and leave the supply valve open, with a spray gun attached at the other end. Many hoses are not suitable for potable water. When water is used else-ware in the house, with no anti-back flow valve in place at the water spigot, and the pressure in the system becomes less than what is stored in the water hose, guess what happens?
The scenarios where a backflow preventer has been useful are so far fetched. They just don't happen! Just a move by somebody to make money by inventing a useless piece of crap that is now required under many plumbing codes.
@@dddhhh2612 When I turn on the water in my house I can see water spraying out of my faucet's protector outside. Useless is right! I want to drink that soiled chemicalled water for nutrients.
@@dddhhh2612 When I moved to a new house I had a nasty plastic taste to my water. At first I thought it was the PEX piping. Quickly figured out I needed one of these on my garden spigot, ever since I put it in the nasty taste is gone.
I got lucky. I decided to grind down the little screw with a round grinder so my drill could get a good footing, and about 5 seconds into grinding it, the screw came loose and sort of screwed itself out. I finished unscrewing it with my fingers it was so loose. I removed the vacuum break completely and now, for the first time since I bought the house (built brand new) there are 0 leaks from my faucet. Thanks for the tip.
15 years ago that black rtv tube was full. But, with the modern and helpful marvels of backflow preventers, you have all but used it up. Thanks big government!
+Marino Argenti I asked myself that same question. I broke my pipe trying to take off the valve that was really old and my plumber installed everything and put on a that vacuum breaker. Every time I use my hose now that has a gun attachment water squirts out when I release and I hear a noise in my pipes. So I took off the vacuum breaker and just connected my hose to the spigot. Problem solved.........If you have your hose off the ground or have a gun attached to it how is it possible for water to get in.
Thanks for the DIY. I was looking at replacing the two I have because of the leaking they do but heard they very short lifespans. Your video was exactly what I needed. Thanks a bunch!!!👍👍👍
If they are leaking, they need to be replaced, not removed. If you do not have a vacuum breaker, and you leave your garden hose filling, or even sitting in a soapy bucket, a mud puddle, swimming pool etc, and the pressure drops even slightly in the city mainline for any reason, you will end up drinking whatever your garden hose is sitting in because it will suck up whatever is at the other end of your hose and it will enter the drinking water supply. It's the same exact principal as siphoning gas out of a car and the exact reason why these vacuum breakers were invented. If you want to get sick from water contamination, possibly poison your neighbors & possibly be fined by local authorities for willingly contaminating the potable water supply, then go ahead and leave your home unprotected against backflow/back siphonage. Google backflow or back-siphonage water contamination cases if you don't believe me. Thousands of people have gotten extremely sick & hundreds have died from not following proper backflow prevention measures, and your "paranoid city officials" are trying to prevent people from getting sick or dying.
I have one that is leaking and of course the set screw is behind the spigot on the house side, how would you attack the screw when it is in this position? The preventer will not turn at all. Thx.
@@TrailerDayz Thanks, that did work although I was a little leery but I was able to cut it on both sides of the screw and tap it away from the spigot to loosen the tension enough to turn it off. And the threads on the spigot match my hose....win-win!
Thanks for the video. I googled to see what contractors had to say about this anti siphon valve. One guy put it best when the owner asked him why he needed this $300 installation. He told them "if a crack house down the street blows up and catches the two houses next to them on fire.....and if they send out 5 fire trucks to put the fire out your water will lose pressure and run backwards.....plus if I don't install it I will lose my license." Ok, and if the water line feeding your neighborhood breaks. But who has a hose turned on and sitting in hazardous waste water? My faucets are always off. When I connect the hose to it I have a nozzle that is shut off. I turn on the faucet and squeeze the handle on the nozzle and water shoots out. No way I am going to contaminate the public water supply. Stupid! My house is two years old and one of the anti siphons is not working properly. These babies are toast as soon as my Spigotmaster shows up.
it seems to me we've all been testing the beta model. lets see how Spigotmaster performs. they are not going to be popular if they continue leaking and breaking every few years. my house was brand new plumbing, new pipes, etc, and these breakers leaked in just one years of use.
I appreciated the information; however, for 35 years I have served proudly on the board of the Disability Action Center NW. DAC is an center for independent living (CIL). Some of our consumers have limited degrees of intellectual ability; however, they are not “Retarded.” The term is very demeaning and dated.
Thank you! No visible set screw, but it was SET. A large channel lock and BRUTE FORCE unscrewed the SOB while grinding the brass as I unscrewed it. Was able to attach the hose to the slightly ground off threads. NO MORE LEAKS!!!
Drilling out the setscrew is a rookie move. Over drill and you will be calling a plumber. Simply use a cut off wheel on a dremel to cut a slot in the set screw. Then use a screwdriver to back it out. It works because I've done it.
It was sooo hard to find a regular hose bib without the stupid silcock or anti siphon components. Mine just stopped working completely and I had to order a standard bib online and I put a shutoff valve at the connection to main water supply so if it gets extremely cold I’m fine it’s not going to freeze the line 10 inches into the house. Pain in my ass I freaking hate the damn anti siphon or silcock bibs at least it’s out of my life 🙌🏽
My method, grab a hack saw and make a cut down eacb side of the back flow preventer until you hit the thread cuts, then take a flat blade screwdriver and open the cut, the brass will give, at this point the valve will comer off easily. Take you time and pay attention to what you are doing and you won’t damage the threads. At this point I’ll dress the threads with a thread die made for hose bibs.
Everything in this video is wrong, this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If you’re watching, please don’t take this guy’s advice, what he is doing here is a serious health hazard. Plumbing trade schools are actively using this video as an example of what NOT to do.
Are you the same guy that puts a 1" plug into the water heater relief valve when it leaks too? After watching your video spewing the nonsense like this, I kind of hope that you do, then murphys law will hopefully correct the problem one day and restore the balance to common and not-so common sense. I really shudder when I see things like this, it concerns me. Yes, I am a plumber, and I have taken the Cross Connection Prevention program training. I know what you are doing, but I have to wonder if you even took the time to consider maybe just replacing the back flow device. They are not expensive and readily available.
Its illegal here ,state ,local and federal. If you're caught the water company will pull the water meter , but caveat emptor . This is the internet after all.
When you started unscrewing the backflow preventer without dealing with the setscrew I cringed. I knew what was going to happen and it did. Either carefully drill the setscrew out or use a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel to notch the setscrew so you can use a flat screwdriver to remove it. I also use pipe dope instead of RTV to reinstall the preventer.
I essentially achieved the same thing. I took it apart, removed the rubber bladder then filled the tiny holes liberally with JB Weld. Works like a champ!
Preventer is literally fossilized on my porch spigot won’t even turn by hand now so just gonna hit it with penetrating catalyst and hope rust/paint gets eaten away😢
My question is why the fuck are they vented.. i got a hot and cold line outside hooked together with a Y like for a washer for washin my dogs. If one line gets turned off the valve closes and the other line puts full flow out the vents of the off line. I just bought these cuz if they both get left on without it backflows hot or cold into the opposite line. Gotta have someone braze the vents all shut on them abd theyll work great
That’s brass. There is no issue with dissimilar metals lol. Brass fittings and nipples are also commonly used as a great alternative to dielectric unions.
Although I did learn some I find that you failed to mention that some plumbers drilled a hole through the threads before installing the break-away screw. If you take this thing off there is no way to seal it, forcing the replacement of the faucet. Also, putting RTV on wet threads does no good, it won’t stick.
The sealing mechanism of both the vacuum breaker and the Spigotmaster adapter is a rubber washer which seals the end, not the threads. As long as you can clean up the threads a bit and screw the adapter on, it will seal. I no longer recommend RTV. I would use loctite now personally.
TrailerDayz as I said before some plumbers drilled the spigot through the threads before installing the break-away screw. When this happens you can either replace the spigot or fill the hole with epoxy then shape the threads on the part.
@@TrailerDayz Any comment on what version of loctite to use? I'm super ignorant on this whole topic, but I googled and arrived at probably Loctite 545? Says it's for "for locking and sealing metal pipes and small fittings with fine threads" which seems accurate. I thoughtlessly bought Loctite Blue 242 because it was recommended by Amazon when buying the SpigotMaster but then I looked at the packaging and it seemed like it was for a different purpose.
I had no idea this was a thing. The house I bought has these things on all the spigots. I tried turning on a hose to spray the gutters. I'd say i got maybe 50% of the pressure at the end of the hose... the rest just spewed from the valve.
@@r99pinball24 They are designed to be non-removeable with a set screw that is broken off. They are also $35 each compared to the ones you can get for normal garden hose threads which are $5 and readily available.
Hi I just saw this video and I think this may help. I have a question for you though. My house is 3 years old new and the pressure on my outside spickets is terrible. Both spickets have the vacuum breakers on them. If I remove them will this increase the pressure so that I can at least wash my cars properly? I can pee harder than what I have now. The pressure inside the home is perfect. All of my neighbors have the same problem I do. Any advice would be helpful. PS. the Plummer's must have broken off the set screw too. So I'm sure I'll have to drill it out; however, I want to check with you to see if the pressure will improve by removing the vacuum breaker. Thank you, Nick
The vacuum breaker does restrict flow. Replacing with a SpigotMaster will be a straight-through connection allowing all of the flow available to the spigot.
@@SpaDayz , thank you for your fast response. So the breaker doesn't restrict flow? This is the first house that I have had one of those breakers on it and the pressure is not great but I'll buy the Spigotmaster and give it a shot. Also last question, my breaker does unscrew like yours in the video with the broken screw in it. Do you think I should just unscrew it or should I take the next step and drill it out? Thanks again. Nick
Will the spigot master still make that humming noise?? We just replaced a breaker that hasn't worked since we moved in so this obnoxious humming is a new and dreadful experience!
Please don't delete your vacuum breakers . There is a near constant pressure drop (albeit slight) from different volume demand 24/7 . I have seen hoses with spray handles left on and laying in compost / manure . The water in the hose was disgusting . Also ppl connect grubex , fertilizer etc to thier sprayers . Its very easy to remove and replace vacuum breakers . Just cut at an angle with a hacksaw and pop it apart with a flat head screwdriver .
Funny how upset people get over things. For the record, You should in fact use a food grade silicone for this repair, not Ultra-Black as I show in the video. You should only do this in situations that require a constant water feed using a drinking water safe hose (Such as feeding an RV from a house supply line in which case the RV becomes an extension of the house water system). To set things straight: Yes these backflow preventers do serve a valid purpose if on a city water system. If you are on well or your own supply, they are less likely to serve any purpose at all because there is not much on the system like a fire hydrant that can create enough backflow to suck water in through the hose. The spigots demonstrated on are on a house fed by a well. Only perform this modification if you understand the above. Now relax everyone and take a deep breath!
Hi TrailerDayz Love the video. I have a cool update for you: Arrowhead makes 2 different sizes of spigots and there are now TWO different sizes of Spigot Master to fit each size: SM01 for the 1" size and the SM01.125 for the slightly larger size Arrowhead Spigot. Interestingly, if you cannot remove that top piece of the vacuum breaker with the set screw, you can remove the larger bottom piece of the vacuum breaker and directly attach the SM01.125 Spigot Master to the remaining piece: it is a perfect fit!
It's as simple as this; If the end of your attached hose has fluid in it,while the spigot valve is open, it will siphon back into the house if the pressure drops lower than that of the hose. For instance, you're using the mist setting on your sprayer and the pressure drops from the city, the hose will shrink back a bit and force water back in the house. The most likely event is a hose left out that is then driven over by a vehicle, this will dramatically increase the pressure in the hose forcing the water back into the house piping. Worst case scenario someone is filling their pool when the power goes out and the water pressure drops, the pool water can siphon back if the end of the hose is submerged. These events have occurred before and do represent a threat large enough to warrant some cheap backflow preventers, regardless of how annoying they are to you. Now if you have a well and only risk harming your family, then sure go ahead and remove them. But don't risk poisoning others in a community.
@@jackstraw5940 My backflow preventer(one) works great. I have a single, full size backflow preventer feeding all of my hose spigots. But I am a plumber and not some child who has no idea what he's talking about.
It doesn't take the pressure of a fire hydrant to cause backflow/back siphonage. Yes, an open hydrant and water main shut-offs are the main causes in a home, but all it takes is the pressure in the water main to drop even slightly lower than the pressure in your tap, and backflow/back-siphonage can occur. Look at siphoning gas. That doesn't take a lot of pressure, but that gas will siphon & keep on flowing. Same as your hose...it will suck up anything your hose end is sitting in, including pesticides, fertilizers, animal urine, and insects from puddles in your yard, soapy water, pool water, you name it! It's the whole reason these vacuum breakers were invented.
There are reasons why backflows are required. People have pumped chemicals into the municipal water systems before. In many cities, commercial backflow preventers are required to be registered, tested/certified yearly. Residential settings are lower risk but it doesn't mean it won't happen. All it takes is someone using something like a faulty pressure washer with chemicals to pump poison into other peoples water supply.
Indeed. They serve a purpose. The design is faulty and expensive to replace for the average homeowner. If removed, it is always recommended to add an inexpensive one from the hardware store downstream.
Go put your garden hose in a bucket of chemicals and then go it the house and open up with kitchen sink spigot a few minutes later and drink the water. You'll learn real quick the purpose the the back-flow preventor. Having been in the pest control business for years, it was common to observe tech's filling up there spray rigs in the back of the work trucks. It only took once of someone having the end of the hose below the water level in the spray rig and then having the customers washer suck about 5 gal. of termiticide into her washer. It was not a good day. Most state Pest control industry now require a air-gap or back flow device on the spray rigs and if one is caught without it there is a heft fine. People have to realize yes they are a pain in the azz but they are designed to protect the health of the public.
@@thebubbacontinuum2645 Try improving your Google skills. Like I already said, most cities consider backflow prevention to be serious business. You're lucky most cities allow residents to get away with a single check valve on the hose bibb. In commercial applications, it's a minimum double check valve or an RP backflow preventer. Both usually require registration and annual certification that costs way more money.
I recently got a new hose and I leave the hose pressure on and have a ball valve on the far end. I started tasting vinyl in my water and now I want to prevent backflow.
You should turn off your water tap & empty your hose every time you're finished using it because it's a breeding ground for bacteria. You are the first person here besides me to be aware of backflow! People don't realize that if you do not have a vacuum breaker at the spigot, and you leave your garden hose filling, or even sitting in a soapy bucket, a mud puddle, swimming pool etc, and the pressure drops even slightly in the city mainline for any reason, you will end up drinking whatever your garden hose is sitting in because it will suck up whatever is at the other end of your hose and it will enter the drinking water supply. It's the same exact principal as siphoning gas out of a car and the exact reason why these vacuum breakers were invented. If they want to get sick from water contamination, possibly poison their neighbors & possibly be fined by local authorities for willingly contaminating the potable water supply, they should go ahead and leave their homes unprotected against backflow/back-siphonage like this guy wants everyone to do. Google backflow or back-siphonage water contamination cases if you don't believe me. Thousands of people have gotten extremely sick & hundreds have died from not following proper backflow prevention measures, and "paranoid city officials" are trying to prevent people from getting sick or dying.
@@RioSyler2010 I just installed a vacuum break and the problem went away. BTW, all those houses with plastic pipes are not getting the benefit of copper's antibacterial action.
you should not be drinking pipe tap water. it has flouride in it and it's not safe. get a water purifier for your sink or buy your drinking water is my advice. and also there are other suggestions here to consider, such as the $5 replacement, because if you're going to use one of these they have to be replaced now and then. thats why we don't want to fool with them.
@@laughingRain Not necessarily true. Most cities have gone away from fluoride in the water. My city of approx 200,000 doesn't use fluoride anymore. Besides, people drank fluorinated water for years with less issues than one will get from the bacteria that grows in garden hoses or the contamination that occurs from backflow/back-siphonage.
My parents house has one that has utterly failed before they called me. Apparently it's been leaking for years and they don't know how it got on there in the first place. My questions are why make a break off set screw making it impossible to replace, seems to me it waste water as most won't know how to replace it when it fails, and finally whoever installed it only did one spigot.
Why you ask? I would say it's to keep the plumbers paid 😂. Seriously, though, there is probably a building code in California that requires the device to be non remove able.
Thanx for posting. But I have to admit...I hate Hate HATE you guys that have all of the tools that you need ready and within easy reach for a project! I am so unorganized!!!!
won't fit. these Arrowhead spigots are designed to be a different size than what hoses/timers fit, so that you can't put a hose on it, only their vacuum breaker.
Why even use the spigot master and why not connect the hose straight to the spigot? My back flow preventers are both faulty in front and back of my house. I want to get rid of them and your video is helpful. I just don’t get the purpose of the spigot master is for?
Well, the sealing on this type of connection happens between the bottom seat of the threads and the rubber washer, not in the threads themselves like NPT Fittings. But yes, the idea is to have a leak-free connection when you're done.
Because if your garden hose gets left in a soapy bucket, a mud puddle, or swimming pool and the pressure drops, you will end up drinking whatever your garden hose is sitting in. go ahead & follow this tool if you want to get sick from water contamination & probably fined by local authorities for contaminating the potable water supply. Google backflow or back siphonage water contamination.
thanks for the Vid. I wouldn't mind these things so much if they would last longer than the two years they've been on, and if I didn't feel tricked into using them with a broken off screw I have to drill out, which means I must buy a drill bit just to get if off. I can't believe anyone actually drinks any city water from pipes, but thats another issue. More hoses break with this contraption than I care to mention. It leaks continually when on. I have a bucket to catch the drip, as I attached a hose to my swamp cooler. There are problems that were not considered before making these things standard fittings. It would be healthier to make water filters for all new housing rather than something you have to drill off in order to replace, and that every few years. The risk is not worth the hassle in this case. It's a case of capitalism and overkill. We're good at that. $300 for this piece of shit, right.
Vaccum breakers have absolutely nothing to do with drinking water from the spigot. If you do not have a vacuum breaker, and you leave your garden hose filling, or even sitting in a soapy bucket, a mud puddle, swimming pool etc, and the pressure drops even slightly in the city mainline for any reason, you will end up drinking whatever your garden hose is sitting in because it will suck up whatever is at the other end of your hose and it will enter the drinking water supply. It's the same exact principal as siphoning gas out of a car and the exact reason why these vacuum breakers were invented. If you want to get sick from water contamination, possibly poison your neighbors & possibly be fined by local authorities for willingly contaminating the potable water supply, then go ahead and leave your home unprotected against backflow/back siphonage. Google backflow or back-siphonage water contamination cases if you don't believe me. Thousands of people have gotten extremely sick & hundreds have died from not following proper backflow prevention measures, and your "paranoid city officials" are trying to prevent you ignorant people from getting sick or dying.
The human race did indeed survive the past 200 years without backflow preventers. Lots of people certainly got sick from contaminated water and many died...which is why we now have all these "silly" building codes. And because people being people and thinking they know better we will have even more laws and more expense to try and stop people from contaminating the water supply like you're doing. All these laws are trying to protect us from people who think they know better than everyone else in the world. Backflow can also be cause by pressuring dropping inside the house which is common. It sucks water back into the home's system. The Ultra Black won't stop galvanic corrosion since the threads will squeeze it away and here will still be metal to metal contact. Just the way threads work. But on the up side Ultra Black is considered hazardous by OSHA (another "dumb" government thing) and so you and your family get to drink that. But don't worry, it probably won't kill anyone, you will survive...that seems to be your standard. You or a family member may have gotten sick but that can be blamed on the flu, bad food, etc... And also a little damage to internal organs that you probably won't even know or care about. But then that tube looked pretty empty..so maybe you'll have some health problem years from now and will of course never even consider it was from drinking Ultra Black. I assume if you or your family gets sick and it's traced back to the water supply that you'll be mad at the government for not protecting you. I think Ultra Black kills brain cells too.
yeah but the thing is, he doesn't leave pressurized hoses connected to always-on hose bibs :) The lack of mold in the walls caused by lesser moisture exposure from the constant spraying of this shitty valve causes a greater health benefit than all of the benefits he reaps from low flow rates and some RTV silicone residue emanating from the dirt and the area past the valve. Because face it: that's what we're really comparing here. The stress induced by having to keep buying pressure washers that have failing pumps due to the air introduced through these valves is far more of a health detriment than...oh yeah, nothing. Remember: that government that keeps me from installing a 16 gauge stainless roof on my home because it's not ISO2007 certified, is ALWAYS the wisest.
I am 66 years old and I have lived many years without drinking tainted water before the building codes required these devices on faucets. These devices are as worthless as the new gasoline can spouts that have caused me to spill more gasoline on the ground then before the gas can spouts came along. This guy is correct ... a bunch of paranoid government officials require devices like this because it makes them feel good.
Ok but if the Gov insists on having these things then they need to maintain them also if your worried about contaminated water being sucked back in buy a whole home filter system. Another thing to ponder for the fear makers how come we are putting flouride in the water when there is No real truth that it prohibits tooth decay. And how many of us have pipes soldered with lead My point is we really need to start living our lives rather than fearing for it all the time
I get the point of these backflow valves... in theory... but unless you have a habit of leaving your garden hose in your swimming pool, what exactly are you preventing? Even then, you take a drink of water and think “hmm. That tastes a little funny. Kinda like chlorine. You know, there was a fire a few miles from here today. Must have been a bit of backflow.” Then you go turn all your faucets on for about 15 min and your entire house will be filled with clean water again. Pretty simple. We had to go and create this stupid “anti-backflow faucet adapter” because we haven’t figured out a way to fix stupid people yet. The product is simply faulty. It doesn’t last long, leaks like crazy, and after it ages, when a vacuum is out on the line, they fail half the time anyways. Like all things, it requires maintenance, but it’s really still inferior to just using a little common sense when it comes to the old fashioned (and better) water spigots. Lastly, all of this is to keep the water in your house safe to drink, right? How many of you have done a litmus test on the water in your homes? Most city water supplies are disgusting. It’s water pulled from local and often polluted water supplies and then purified by chemicals. If you’re drinking that shit without at least filtering it through a Brita or Pūr water filter first, you’re crazy and a “anti-backflow adapter” is the least of your worries.
Hose bibb have garden hose thread... The spigot master.. Lmao.. Whats the poupose. I have been doing plumbing.... For 20 years plus... Enlighten me please..
Sure: Some hose bib don't have garden thread. They have new fangled special threads so you have to buy a $35 replacement vacuum breaker. These are seen in most big cities or anywhere a vacuum breaker is required by building codes.
I don’t have a set screw, it’s completely smooth and leaks like crazy. How do I remove it?! I have little hands, I’m not strong, I don’t have someone else to help and I can’t afford to hire someone. Also, did you somehow turn off the water somewhere else before you started this? If I unscrew the handle, water comes out
I used a dremel and slowly cut a V into it until I could break off a chuck with pliers and then took a wrench and unscrewed it. I did cut into the spigot thread a bit so be very careful.
People poison their neighbors this way
Go put your garden hose in a bucket of chemicals and then go it the house and open up with kitchen sink spigot a few minutes later and drink the water. You'll learn real quick the purpose the the back-flow preventor. Having been in the pest control business for years, it was common to observe tech's filling up there spray rigs in the back of the work trucks. It only took once of someone having the end of the hose below the water level in the spray rig and then having the customers washer suck about 5 gal. of termiticide into her washer. It was not a good day. Most state Pest control industry now require a air-gap or back flow device on the spray rigs and if one is caught without it there is a heft fine. People have to realize yes they are a pain in the azz but they are designed to protect the health of the public.
Thank you from 10 years in the future. Got that piece of crap off my faucet and now I'm running leak free.
You have been tricked you idiot...it saved you a massive repair build. Think of it as a shield that needs to be replaced every 5 to 10yrs or less. If you don't use it than guess what you will need to replace??? Guess where the leak will be? Most likely in the walls or under the ground.....can you fix stupid??? Who knows...
Good vid. Some people might need to make sure they aren't violating code by removing it.
I didn’t go through all the comments. The back flow preventer is a “code” requirement. Does the Spigot Master prevent back flow?
My subdivision has them but the old neighborhood next to ours doesn’t. Neither does any of my families in older neighborhoods. You clarified what I already believed, these are stupid and pointless! I only hook up water hoses to water my grass. And I have an outside water softener system in between the city’s main and my house lines. So I’m just removing mine permanently. Why even bother with a spigot master? Hook up the hose straight to the spigot like when we were kids.
If your spigot has normal threads, go for it.
My house is pretty new (2006) and 2 of the 3 exterior hose spigots have back flow preventers. One sprays on hose nozzle shut off, as expected, but it also leaks a lot during use. We have high calcium carbonate in the city water (183 ppm). With the help of this video I removed the back flow preventer by drilling out the set screw. I had to use 3 drill bits, #35, #22, #16 each progressively larger until it could be turned with channel locks. Then filed the damaged threads with a small "V" file. My hose washer was a little pitted, so I turned it over and magically, no leak, no spray. Luckily my set screw was on the side, my spigot threads were standard and it was only 102 degrees at noon here in the desert . My patio mister is a success! Thank you. Good job Mr Days.
Awesome! Glad I could help! :)
I really hope you don't end up poisoning your family and your neighborhood now that you've left yourself unprotected from backflow/back-siphonage of anything at the other end of your hose. People should be replacing their vacuum breakers, not removing them. Do you remove your smoke detectors just because they run out of batteries?
@@RioSyler2010 Waah
I hope you replaced it!!! Seriously!!! It's an important and necessary device. I know someone that got a new one, and rather than use the "enclosed screw-which ends up breaking off, they used a 5mm set screw, for easy removal later.....
I think he meant "Dissimilar" rather than "Dielectric". Electrolysis is caused by a difference in electrochemical potential, thus If the joint was dielectric then you could not have electrolysis. Dielectric of course meaning something that for all intent and purpose is non conductive. Also there are some valid reasons for anti-siphon protections for potable water supplies, but I'm inclined to agree with the video poster that most of the point of use devices are rather horrible.. ether from poor engineering or possibly (most likely) planned obsolescence. If you desire anti-siphon protection but do not desire leaking faucets try installing a simple spring check valve on the inlet side (piped side) of your standard or frost-free sillcock (faucet) assembly. Very effective with no dripping or spraying. And thank you to the TrailerDayz.. you added a new fitting to my mental inventory!
OK, thanks for pointing out the Set Screw Location and how to remove it. One thing I do not understand is the Purpose of the 'Spigot Master'? --- I just attached my Hose directly to the Faucet. My Problem is fixed. So, can you please tell me why I need a 'Spigot Master'?
If you're spigot doesn't have special threads then you're good to go.
Dude you are a life saver.. well, at least a headache saver anyway.. if municipalities wanted these devices to be more well accepted by the public, they should have made them easier to be replaced. Threw mine straight into the trash.. good riddance.
If you do not have a vacuum breaker, and you leave your garden hose filling, or even sitting in a soapy bucket, a mud puddle, swimming pool etc, and the pressure drops even slightly in the city mainline for any reason, you will end up drinking whatever your garden hose is sitting in because it will suck up whatever is at the other end of your hose and it will enter the drinking water supply. It's the same exact principal as siphoning gas out of a car and the exact reason why these vacuum breakers were invented. If you want to get sick from water contamination, possibly poison your neighbors & possibly be fined by local authorities for willingly contaminating the potable water supply, then go ahead and leave your home unprotected against backflow/back siphonage. Google backflow or back-siphonage water contamination cases if you don't believe me. Thousands of people have gotten extremely sick & hundreds have died from not following proper backflow prevention measures, and your "paranoid city officials" are trying to prevent you ignorant people from getting sick or dying.
@@RioSyler2010 We understand the principle behind it.. but if they want the general population to follow through with it, this isn't the way to do it.
@@RioSyler2010 how many people leave a hose on, or put it in a soapy bucket, and walk away, or leave it in a mud puddle (no mud in AZ.) put it in a swimming pool, etc.? thats a crazy reasoning to put up with a technology that only makes you keep buying more hoses and more parts to fix it. so sue me.
I tried an easy-out at first but the set screw wouldn't budge. Luckily I found this video. It took almost an hour to drill out my screw but it finally worked. Thanks for posting this video.
Why is a spigot master required? Why can't you attach the garden hose directly to the spigot? Ty
Good question. Did I miss the answer somewhere?
Mentions in the first minute
@@blaskotron no mention
@@philg6115 are you sure you watched it? It's so the dirty water from the hose doesn't corrupt the water on the pipes and potentially contaminate your drinking water.
I think the question is why is the spigot master needed. I believe the thread pitch is different. Fine in the tap, coarse on the hose. It's just an adapter.
Do I really need the spigot master? Wouldn’t I be able to screw the hose onto the threads that you screwed the spigot master onto?
It depends on your Spigot. Many have special threads.
I had the exact same question.
The thread on the spigot is pipe thread (not hose thread) so you will need the adaptor in order for your hose to be able to connect
These things only seem to run up the price of home ownership, and do nothing helpful. Why? Because if the valve we call a faucet keeps the water from leaving the house, doesn't it follow that the same valve prevents water from coming in? The pressure pushing OUT would surely over power any siphon condition bringing water IN.
EXACTLY!
There are very few instances wherein the water pressure drops enough to suck water back into the house, and in most of those cases, it's a tiny bit of hose water (which we all drank as kids and is just vinyl}.
The garden hose does not have to be under pressure to contaminate the water supply. It can actually siphon back under certain circumstances. My problem is that the vacuum breakers often leak everywhere, make noise, or in the case of my new ones, have threads too short and the garden hose thread collar hits the housing before the rubber gasket seals. I'd be fine with any of these that work and have decent-length threads.
In all seriousness, can you give me a quick physics lesson on how water that is in the hose can siphon back through a closed gate or ball valve?
@@bobisonline It can't. The valve would have to be open. Engineers in society manage risk by a combination of severity and likelihood. The likelihood that you'd be filling your pesticide sprayer at the same time a water main breaks, allowing your pesticide to siphon back into the water system, then not drain out the break before they get it fixed, is astronomically low. But the severity of consequences are so high they want you to put vacuum breakers on the part of the system you might be careless in using (i.e. everything after the hose bib). If you never leave the hose down in anything and walk away, you'd technically never have a problem, but not everyone can be trusted to be diligent about it. Some pig farmer might permanently leave his garden hose stuck into a sewage tank with the water running slowly all the time. Imagine the scenarios.
@@Jeff_Engineer Thank you, I totally agree on your points. Interesting that the Spigotmaster is made though and costs 4-5 times what a vacuum breaker costs! Opportunism for certain!
@@Jeff_EngineerI do have a check valve on my houses water supply line! The city is safe!!! I refuse to put vacuum breakers on my stuff
I've always hated these things. We didn't have these on our house in the 70s as I was growing up. WTF? Were we poisoned by our neighbors? lol Only problem with changing these out, they will have to be brought up to code when selling the place. Not that its that expensive.
have you ever tried to hook up a pressure washer to one of these? talk about misery...
...Or a soaker hose....or ANYTHING.
The vacuum breakers suck! Every time I turn off the water, even if I relieve pressure at the end of the hose, they spew what water was left under any pressure all over. And when your spigot is in the garage... well you get a mess!
Good video. But, you're using your channel locks backwards. Also, the spigotmaster sells for $16.00. A whole new hose bibb without the anti siphon valve is only $6 - $10 at Lowes. It's a little more involved to replace, but a lot cheaper.
Often homes with these types of spigot have PEX or soldered copper pipes which require tearing into the wall to replace.
Sorry, I can NOT give this a "thumbs up" rating.
#1) NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use an impact drill on small screws that are DESIGNED to break off,,, and are probably rusted too.
#2) "YOU" damaged the threads by not completely removing the set screw. You are lucky the threads still worked well enough when you screwed on the new unit. Take an extra few minutes and use a screw extracter after drilling the screw out.
Actually, why did you drill out the screw anyway? The screw was still against the spigot threads. Seems like you missed an essential step there.
#3) You need to be mindfull of the overspray when spraying oils. It's not really a big deal, but the customer may think it is when they see their a/c unit has oil sprayed on it.
It's the little things that make a customer happy.
Good video, but you should think of your audience that may not have done this before. If they take your recommendations and do them, they could really create more problems for themselves.
That's my $0.02 opinion.
Hate those things. Turn them off and water sprays everywhere. And, you are right. Under what circumstances will your hose be connected to a contaminated source and under pressure enough to be go back into the system?
Could improve video and impression of professionalism by using some paper towels to clean hands after thread goop application by finger. Multiple issues seen of goop transfer to tools and work area. As a home owner, I would be really p...ed to see my property that I paid for with my hard earned money defaced in such a manner. Also, the careless use of the spray imparted a yellow color to the exterior of the house. Pretty good information in video otherwise. Sorry, no thumbs up or subscription.
You are the person everyone fucking hates..
Very good job!
Saved me 600 bucks. No joke- thanks for the video.
Appreciate your video! Very helpful. I removed mine and measured the diameter to get correct size Spigotmaster. Worked perfect
First of all, the water pressure from the city is under high pressure, don't know the exact number but it is higher than what residental household use would require. That's why there is a pressure regulator installed in line for the line coming into the house. This regulates the pressure down to maybe 110PSI or so.
So if the water pressure at the hose bib is at 110PSI, why would you need an anti-backflow valve on the hose bib to prevent back flow or syphoning??!!! It doesn't happen!!!
I run RV parks. Every year the health department rolls through and makes us spend a lot of money reinstalling these after tenants and guests have removed them. The whole thing is stupid.
Don't use an impact on the set screw. You will have better luck using a wrench and lightly tapping IF needed. An impact is much more likely to snap the head off because you can't control the force of the impact very precisely.
I asked myself that same question. I broke my pipe trying to take off the valve that was really old and my plumber installed everything and put on a that vacuum breaker. Every time I use my hose now that has a gun attachment water squirts out when I release and I hear a noise in my pipes. So I took off the vacuum breaker and just connected my hose to the spigot. Problem solved.........If you have your hose off the ground or have a gun attached to it how is it possible for water to get in.
go take a corse in Cross Connection, then you'll understand how things are possible.
You drive everyday and don't crash, but you still wear seatbelt, right? shit happens, sometimes, and maybe even rarely, but it does happen sometimes. don't remove safeties.
Daddy Michael ... Please protect me ..
@@TheFiscallySound I'll help you Lassie! Bringing my channel locks over.
Many people have a water hose connected, and leave the supply valve open, with a spray gun attached at the other end. Many hoses are not suitable for potable water. When water is used else-ware in the house, with no anti-back flow valve in place at the water spigot, and the pressure in the system becomes less than what is stored in the water hose, guess what happens?
The scenarios where a backflow preventer has been useful are so far fetched. They just don't happen! Just a move by somebody to make money by inventing a useless piece of crap that is now required under many plumbing codes.
@@dddhhh2612 When I turn on the water in my house I can see water spraying out of my faucet's protector outside. Useless is right! I want to drink that soiled chemicalled water for nutrients.
@@dddhhh2612 When I moved to a new house I had a nasty plastic taste to my water. At first I thought it was the PEX piping. Quickly figured out I needed one of these on my garden spigot, ever since I put it in the nasty taste is gone.
I got lucky. I decided to grind down the little screw with a round grinder so my drill could get a good footing, and about 5 seconds into grinding it, the screw came loose and sort of screwed itself out. I finished unscrewing it with my fingers it was so loose. I removed the vacuum break completely and now, for the first time since I bought the house (built brand new) there are 0 leaks from my faucet. Thanks for the tip.
Awesome!
You're welcome!
15 years ago that black rtv tube was full. But, with the modern and helpful marvels of backflow preventers, you have all but used it up. Thanks big government!
Just ordered these. Brand new house....both faucets leak.
Great Video !!!
These backflow preventors are horrible design
i fucking hate these things. They just hum and make a fuck ton of noise when I have a nozzle connected.
It would be easier to use a cut off wheel on that - then spread it apart and remove.
Thank you for the helpful video. Why would I need the Spigotmaster? Why can't I just connect the hose to the valve?
You can try.
These Arrowhead spigots have a special proprietary thread on them.
Why would you put an adaptor on an the existing outlet thread connection, and end up with exact similar thread connection?
+Marino Argenti I asked myself that same question. I broke my pipe trying to take off the valve that was really old and my plumber installed everything and put on a that vacuum breaker. Every time I use my hose now that has a gun attachment water squirts out when I release and I hear a noise in my pipes. So I took off the vacuum breaker and just connected my hose to the spigot. Problem solved.........If you have your hose off the ground or have a gun attached to it how is it possible for water to get in.
the thread pattern is different.
@@JustinCrediblename, it's not on mine. I can connect my hose directly.
Thank you so much. These stupid thing is wasting water and having a big explosion of water every time I turn off my garden hose.
Yes I’m tired of that! 15 years of the valve spraying me when I turn off the faucet while I have a nozzle on the hose in the closed position.
Mine has no screws, it's like soldered on
What is purpose of spigot master?
Thanks for the DIY. I was looking at replacing the two I have because of the leaking they do but heard they very short lifespans. Your video was exactly what I needed. Thanks a bunch!!!👍👍👍
Glad to help!
If they are leaking, they need to be replaced, not removed. If you do not have a vacuum breaker, and you leave your garden hose filling, or even sitting in a soapy bucket, a mud puddle, swimming pool etc, and the pressure drops even slightly in the city mainline for any reason, you will end up drinking whatever your garden hose is sitting in because it will suck up whatever is at the other end of your hose and it will enter the drinking water supply. It's the same exact principal as siphoning gas out of a car and the exact reason why these vacuum breakers were invented. If you want to get sick from water contamination, possibly poison your neighbors & possibly be fined by local authorities for willingly contaminating the potable water supply, then go ahead and leave your home unprotected against backflow/back siphonage. Google backflow or back-siphonage water contamination cases if you don't believe me. Thousands of people have gotten extremely sick & hundreds have died from not following proper backflow prevention measures, and your "paranoid city officials" are trying to prevent people from getting sick or dying.
Don't need the additional fitting.
It's galvanic corrosion not dialectric reaction. Use the impact driver not a hammer drill.
You're awesome
Thanks!
I have one that is leaking and of course the set screw is behind the spigot on the house side, how would you attack the screw when it is in this position? The preventer will not turn at all. Thx.
See if you can get a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel back there and cut a slit into it.
@@TrailerDayz Thanks, that did work although I was a little leery but I was able to cut it on both sides of the screw and tap it away from the spigot to loosen the tension enough to turn it off. And the threads on the spigot match my hose....win-win!
Thanks for the video. I googled to see what contractors had to say about this anti siphon valve. One guy put it best when the owner asked him why he needed this $300 installation. He told them "if a crack house down the street blows up and catches the two houses next to them on fire.....and if they send out 5 fire trucks to put the fire out your water will lose pressure and run backwards.....plus if I don't install it I will lose my license." Ok, and if the water line feeding your neighborhood breaks. But who has a hose turned on and sitting in hazardous waste water? My faucets are always off. When I connect the hose to it I have a nozzle that is shut off. I turn on the faucet and squeeze the handle on the nozzle and water shoots out. No way I am going to contaminate the public water supply. Stupid! My house is two years old and one of the anti siphons is not working properly. These babies are toast as soon as my Spigotmaster shows up.
exactly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stupid is as stupid does.
it seems to me we've all been testing the beta model. lets see how Spigotmaster performs. they are not going to be popular if they continue leaking and breaking every few years. my house was brand new plumbing, new pipes, etc, and these breakers leaked in just one years of use.
I appreciated the information; however, for 35 years I have served proudly on the board of the Disability Action Center NW. DAC is an center for independent living (CIL). Some of our consumers have limited degrees of intellectual ability; however, they are not “Retarded.” The term is very demeaning and dated.
Mine does not have any screw on it!
Just followed your instructions. Thank you.
Glad I could help!
Thank you! No visible set screw, but it was SET. A large channel lock and BRUTE FORCE unscrewed the SOB while grinding the brass as I unscrewed it. Was able to attach the hose to the slightly ground off threads. NO MORE LEAKS!!!
Nice!
Drilling out the setscrew is a rookie move. Over drill and you will be calling a plumber. Simply use a cut off wheel on a dremel to cut a slot in the set screw. Then use a screwdriver to back it out. It works because I've done it.
It was sooo hard to find a regular hose bib without the stupid silcock or anti siphon components. Mine just stopped working completely and I had to order a standard bib online and I put a shutoff valve at the connection to main water supply so if it gets extremely cold I’m fine it’s not going to freeze the line 10 inches into the house. Pain in my ass I freaking hate the damn anti siphon or silcock bibs at least it’s out of my life 🙌🏽
My method, grab a hack saw and make a cut down eacb side of the back flow preventer until you hit the thread cuts, then take a flat blade screwdriver and open the cut, the brass will give, at this point the valve will comer off easily. Take you time and pay attention to what you are doing and you won’t damage the threads. At this point I’ll dress the threads with a thread die made for hose bibs.
Everything in this video is wrong, this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If you’re watching, please don’t take this guy’s advice, what he is doing here is a serious health hazard.
Plumbing trade schools are actively using this video as an example of what NOT to do.
Can I just attach my garden hose directly onto the faucet thread? Why do I need a spigot master???😅
In most cases, it's not garden hose thread.
Oh I didn’t know that. Thank you 😊
Are you the same guy that puts a 1" plug into the water heater relief valve when it leaks too? After watching your video spewing the nonsense like this, I kind of hope that you do, then murphys law will hopefully correct the problem one day and restore the balance to common and not-so common sense.
I really shudder when I see things like this, it concerns me. Yes, I am a plumber, and I have taken the Cross Connection Prevention program training. I know what you are doing, but I have to wonder if you even took the time to consider maybe just replacing the back flow device. They are not expensive and readily available.
Its illegal here ,state ,local and federal. If you're caught the water company will pull the water meter , but caveat emptor . This is the internet after all.
When you started unscrewing the backflow preventer without dealing with the setscrew I cringed. I knew what was going to happen and it did. Either carefully drill the setscrew out or use a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel to notch the setscrew so you can use a flat screwdriver to remove it. I also use pipe dope instead of RTV to reinstall the preventer.
I essentially achieved the same thing. I took it apart, removed the rubber bladder then filled the tiny holes liberally with JB Weld. Works like a champ!
Preventer is literally fossilized on my porch spigot won’t even turn by hand now so just gonna hit it with penetrating catalyst and hope rust/paint gets eaten away😢
My question is why the fuck are they vented.. i got a hot and cold line outside hooked together with a Y like for a washer for washin my dogs. If one line gets turned off the valve closes and the other line puts full flow out the vents of the off line. I just bought these cuz if they both get left on without it backflows hot or cold into the opposite line. Gotta have someone braze the vents all shut on them abd theyll work great
That’s brass. There is no issue with dissimilar metals lol. Brass fittings and nipples are also commonly used as a great alternative to dielectric unions.
Although I did learn some I find that you failed to mention that some plumbers drilled a hole through the threads before installing the break-away screw. If you take this thing off there is no way to seal it, forcing the replacement of the faucet. Also, putting RTV on wet threads does no good, it won’t stick.
The sealing mechanism of both the vacuum breaker and the Spigotmaster adapter is a rubber washer which seals the end, not the threads. As long as you can clean up the threads a bit and screw the adapter on, it will seal.
I no longer recommend RTV. I would use loctite now personally.
TrailerDayz as I said before some plumbers drilled the spigot through the threads before installing the break-away screw. When this happens you can either replace the spigot or fill the hole with epoxy then shape the threads on the part.
Jb weld will fix that, I had that exact situation.
@@TrailerDayz Any comment on what version of loctite to use? I'm super ignorant on this whole topic, but I googled and arrived at probably Loctite 545? Says it's for "for locking and sealing metal pipes and small fittings with fine threads" which seems accurate. I thoughtlessly bought Loctite Blue 242 because it was recommended by Amazon when buying the SpigotMaster but then I looked at the packaging and it seemed like it was for a different purpose.
@@Lessen0 Pretty much either one will work. If you already have it, go ahead and use it.
Can this be causing the horribly loud noise forcing me to turn the pressure up all the way?
I had no idea this was a thing. The house I bought has these things on all the spigots. I tried turning on a hose to spray the gutters. I'd say i got maybe 50% of the pressure at the end of the hose... the rest just spewed from the valve.
Yeah. It is a horrible design and expensive to replace.
What's makes them expensive to replace? The parts or does a plumber have to be super nonsensically certified to use a pipe wrench?
@@r99pinball24 They are designed to be non-removeable with a set screw that is broken off. They are also $35 each compared to the ones you can get for normal garden hose threads which are $5 and readily available.
Do I need this if I have above ground impact sprinklers connect garden hoses to water timers.
In trying to connect my hose there and doesn't work right it leaks all over. Any ideas?
Hi I just saw this video and I think this may help. I have a question for you though. My house is 3 years old new and the pressure on my outside spickets is terrible. Both spickets have the vacuum breakers on them. If I remove them will this increase the pressure so that I can at least wash my cars properly? I can pee harder than what I have now. The pressure inside the home is perfect. All of my neighbors have the same problem I do. Any advice would be helpful. PS. the Plummer's must have broken off the set screw too. So I'm sure I'll have to drill it out; however, I want to check with you to see if the pressure will improve by removing the vacuum breaker. Thank you, Nick
The vacuum breaker does restrict flow. Replacing with a SpigotMaster will be a straight-through connection allowing all of the flow available to the spigot.
@@SpaDayz , thank you for your fast response. So the breaker doesn't restrict flow? This is the first house that I have had one of those breakers on it and the pressure is not great but I'll buy the Spigotmaster and give it a shot. Also last question, my breaker does unscrew like yours in the video with the broken screw in it. Do you think I should just unscrew it or should I take the next step and drill it out? Thanks again. Nick
@@nickorlando8261 The breaker Does restrict flow.
If your breaker Does unscrew then you don't need to worry about the set screw.
@@SpaDayz great thank you. I must have read your first comment incorrectly. Thx
Will the spigot master still make that humming noise?? We just replaced a breaker that hasn't worked since we moved in so this obnoxious humming is a new and dreadful experience!
Yes. The humming is a result of a failing stage in the 2 stage breaker setup.
@@TrailerDayz oh boy. Is there a reason for the failure ? I JUST replaced it with a new one yesterday!
@@heatherj00788 I had that happen once. Maybe it was defective. I got rid of it after that.
@@heatherj00788 Just to clarify, the SpigotMaster will not hum because it is a straight through connection.
@@TrailerDayz thank you so much for the info!
The back flow device should be upstream from the meter.
Its needed if you hook a sprinkler system. Just like the ground wire, not needed until you really need it
Please don't delete your vacuum breakers . There is a near constant pressure drop (albeit slight) from different volume demand 24/7 . I have seen hoses with spray handles left on and laying in compost / manure . The water in the hose was disgusting . Also ppl connect grubex , fertilizer etc to thier sprayers . Its very easy to remove and replace vacuum breakers . Just cut at an angle with a hacksaw and pop it apart with a flat head screwdriver .
Is there a reason to even tighten & snap off the set screw?
What kind of angle?
@@SaudaraLink 45-60 degree on both sides of the set screw .
Thanks for the video. I bought a house with these things on the bibs. They leak water all over the place and can finally remove them.
Funny how upset people get over things. For the record, You should in fact use a food grade silicone for this repair, not Ultra-Black as I show in the video. You should only do this in situations that require a constant water feed using a drinking water safe hose (Such as feeding an RV from a house supply line in which case the RV becomes an extension of the house water system).
To set things straight:
Yes these backflow preventers do serve a valid purpose if on a city water system. If you are on well or your own supply, they are less likely to serve any purpose at all because there is not much on the system like a fire hydrant that can create enough backflow to suck water in through the hose. The spigots demonstrated on are on a house fed by a well.
Only perform this modification if you understand the above.
Now relax everyone and take a deep breath!
Hi TrailerDayz Love the video. I have a cool update for you: Arrowhead makes 2 different sizes of spigots and there are now TWO different sizes of Spigot Master to fit each size: SM01 for the 1" size and the SM01.125 for the slightly larger size Arrowhead Spigot. Interestingly, if you cannot remove that top piece of the vacuum breaker with the set screw, you can remove the larger bottom piece of the vacuum breaker and directly attach the SM01.125 Spigot Master to the remaining piece: it is a perfect fit!
It's as simple as this; If the end of your attached hose has fluid in it,while the spigot valve is open, it will siphon back into the house if the pressure drops lower than that of the hose. For instance, you're using the mist setting on your sprayer and the pressure drops from the city, the hose will shrink back a bit and force water back in the house. The most likely event is a hose left out that is then driven over by a vehicle, this will dramatically increase the pressure in the hose forcing the water back into the house piping. Worst case scenario someone is filling their pool when the power goes out and the water pressure drops, the pool water can siphon back if the end of the hose is submerged. These events have occurred before and do represent a threat large enough to warrant some cheap backflow preventers, regardless of how annoying they are to you. Now if you have a well and only risk harming your family, then sure go ahead and remove them. But don't risk poisoning others in a community.
@@skoronesa1 Screw your backflow preventers. They SUCK.
@@jackstraw5940 My backflow preventer(one) works great. I have a single, full size backflow preventer feeding all of my hose spigots.
But I am a plumber and not some child who has no idea what he's talking about.
It doesn't take the pressure of a fire hydrant to cause backflow/back siphonage. Yes, an open hydrant and water main shut-offs are the main causes in a home, but all it takes is the pressure in the water main to drop even slightly lower than the pressure in your tap, and backflow/back-siphonage can occur. Look at siphoning gas. That doesn't take a lot of pressure, but that gas will siphon & keep on flowing. Same as your hose...it will suck up anything your hose end is sitting in, including pesticides, fertilizers, animal urine, and insects from puddles in your yard, soapy water, pool water, you name it! It's the whole reason these vacuum breakers were invented.
There are reasons why backflows are required. People have pumped chemicals into the municipal water systems before. In many cities, commercial backflow preventers are required to be registered, tested/certified yearly. Residential settings are lower risk but it doesn't mean it won't happen. All it takes is someone using something like a faulty pressure washer with chemicals to pump poison into other peoples water supply.
Indeed. They serve a purpose. The design is faulty and expensive to replace for the average homeowner. If removed, it is always recommended to add an inexpensive one from the hardware store downstream.
I Googled and was not able to find an example of chemicals or anything else backflowing into a public water system.
Go put your garden hose in a bucket of chemicals and then go it the house and open up with kitchen sink spigot a few minutes later and drink the water. You'll learn real quick the purpose the the back-flow preventor. Having been in the pest control business for years, it was common to observe tech's filling up there spray rigs in the back of the work trucks. It only took once of someone having the end of the hose below the water level in the spray rig and then having the customers washer suck about 5 gal. of termiticide into her washer. It was not a good day. Most state Pest control industry now require a air-gap or back flow device on the spray rigs and if one is caught without it there is a heft fine. People have to realize yes they are a pain in the azz but they are designed to protect the health of the public.
@@thebubbacontinuum2645 Try improving your Google skills. Like I already said, most cities consider backflow prevention to be serious business. You're lucky most cities allow residents to get away with a single check valve on the hose bibb. In commercial applications, it's a minimum double check valve or an RP backflow preventer. Both usually require registration and annual certification that costs way more money.
@@thebubbacontinuum2645 that’s because vacuum breakers are working.
I recently got a new hose and I leave the hose pressure on and have a ball valve on the far end.
I started tasting vinyl in my water and now I want to prevent backflow.
Pat McBride OK. Use a backflow preventer.... Or, you could just not leave your hose on.
You should turn off your water tap & empty your hose every time you're finished using it because it's a breeding ground for bacteria. You are the first person here besides me to be aware of backflow! People don't realize that if you do not have a vacuum breaker at the spigot, and you leave your garden hose filling, or even sitting in a soapy bucket, a mud puddle, swimming pool etc, and the pressure drops even slightly in the city mainline for any reason, you will end up drinking whatever your garden hose is sitting in because it will suck up whatever is at the other end of your hose and it will enter the drinking water supply. It's the same exact principal as siphoning gas out of a car and the exact reason why these vacuum breakers were invented. If they want to get sick from water contamination, possibly poison their neighbors & possibly be fined by local authorities for willingly contaminating the potable water supply, they should go ahead and leave their homes unprotected against backflow/back-siphonage like this guy wants everyone to do. Google backflow or back-siphonage water contamination cases if you don't believe me. Thousands of people have gotten extremely sick & hundreds have died from not following proper backflow prevention measures, and "paranoid city officials" are trying to prevent people from getting sick or dying.
@@RioSyler2010 I just installed a vacuum break and the problem went away.
BTW, all those houses with plastic pipes are not getting the benefit of copper's antibacterial action.
you should not be drinking pipe tap water. it has flouride in it and it's not safe. get a water purifier for your sink or buy your drinking water is my advice. and also there are other suggestions here to consider, such as the $5 replacement, because if you're going to use one of these they have to be replaced now and then. thats why we don't want to fool with them.
@@laughingRain Not necessarily true. Most cities have gone away from fluoride in the water. My city of approx 200,000 doesn't use fluoride anymore. Besides, people drank fluorinated water for years with less issues than one will get from the bacteria that grows in garden hoses or the contamination that occurs from backflow/back-siphonage.
What? I'm a paranoid city official and I take offense to that comment! How dare you?!?!?!
My parents house has one that has utterly failed before they called me. Apparently it's been leaking for years and they don't know how it got on there in the first place. My questions are why make a break off set screw making it impossible to replace, seems to me it waste water as most won't know how to replace it when it fails, and finally whoever installed it only did one spigot.
Why you ask? I would say it's to keep the plumbers paid 😂.
Seriously, though, there is probably a building code in California that requires the device to be non remove able.
Thanx for posting. But I have to admit...I hate Hate HATE you guys that have all of the tools that you need ready and within easy reach for a project! I am so unorganized!!!!
😂 I'm not always so organized. Lol
Hello. Thanks for the video. Why can’t you just connect the hose directly to the spigot? Why need the spigotmaster piece?
won't fit. these Arrowhead spigots are designed to be a different size than what hoses/timers fit, so that you can't put a hose on it, only their vacuum breaker.
Great information. I thought I was the only one who was having trouble with these back-flow preventers. Thanks!
What causes the humming noises? Defective backflow preventer?
Yes, defective and even cheap replacement vacuum Breakers can hum even if they don't leak.
Why even use the spigot master and why not connect the hose straight to the spigot? My back flow preventers are both faulty in front and back of my house. I want to get rid of them and your video is helpful. I just don’t get the purpose of the spigot master is for?
The spigot has special, proprietary threads. Take your old ones off and see if your do as well
Your hand blocked the drills
Used a grinder but this is prolly better
and hopefully water won't gush out around the trashed threads.
Well, the sealing on this type of connection happens between the bottom seat of the threads and the rubber washer, not in the threads themselves like NPT Fittings. But yes, the idea is to have a leak-free connection when you're done.
Why not just put the hose right on the spigot, or is the spigot a pipe thread?
Because if your garden hose gets left in a soapy bucket, a mud puddle, or swimming pool and the pressure drops, you will end up drinking whatever your garden hose is sitting in. go ahead & follow this tool if you want to get sick from water contamination & probably fined by local authorities for contaminating the potable water supply. Google backflow or back siphonage water contamination.
thanks for the Vid. I wouldn't mind these things so much if they would last longer than the two years they've been on, and if I didn't feel tricked into using them with a broken off screw I have to drill out, which means I must buy a drill bit just to get if off. I can't believe anyone actually drinks any city water from pipes, but thats another issue. More hoses break with this contraption than I care to mention. It leaks continually when on. I have a bucket to catch the drip, as I attached a hose to my swamp cooler. There are problems that were not considered before making these things standard fittings. It would be healthier to make water filters for all new housing rather than something you have to drill off in order to replace, and that every few years. The risk is not worth the hassle in this case. It's a case of capitalism and overkill. We're good at that. $300 for this piece of shit, right.
Vaccum breakers have absolutely nothing to do with drinking water from the spigot. If you do not have a vacuum breaker, and you leave your garden hose filling, or even sitting in a soapy bucket, a mud puddle, swimming pool etc, and the pressure drops even slightly in the city mainline for any reason, you will end up drinking whatever your garden hose is sitting in because it will suck up whatever is at the other end of your hose and it will enter the drinking water supply. It's the same exact principal as siphoning gas out of a car and the exact reason why these vacuum breakers were invented. If you want to get sick from water contamination, possibly poison your neighbors & possibly be fined by local authorities for willingly contaminating the potable water supply, then go ahead and leave your home unprotected against backflow/back siphonage. Google backflow or back-siphonage water contamination cases if you don't believe me. Thousands of people have gotten extremely sick & hundreds have died from not following proper backflow prevention measures, and your "paranoid city officials" are trying to prevent you ignorant people from getting sick or dying.
@@RioSyler2010 you must have links to stories about people harmed by hoses without vacuum breakers. After all, there were thousands of them.
The human race did indeed survive the past 200 years without backflow preventers. Lots of people certainly got sick from contaminated water and many died...which is why we now have all these "silly" building codes. And because people being people and thinking they know better we will have even more laws and more expense to try and stop people from contaminating the water supply like you're doing. All these laws are trying to protect us from people who think they know better than everyone else in the world.
Backflow can also be cause by pressuring dropping inside the house which is common. It sucks water back into the home's system.
The Ultra Black won't stop galvanic corrosion since the threads will squeeze it away and here will still be metal to metal contact. Just the way threads work. But on the up side Ultra Black is considered hazardous by OSHA (another "dumb" government thing) and so you and your family get to drink that. But don't worry, it probably won't kill anyone, you will survive...that seems to be your standard. You or a family member may have gotten sick but that can be blamed on the flu, bad food, etc... And also a little damage to internal organs that you probably won't even know or care about. But then that tube looked pretty empty..so maybe you'll have some health problem years from now and will of course never even consider it was from drinking Ultra Black.
I assume if you or your family gets sick and it's traced back to the water supply that you'll be mad at the government for not protecting you. I think Ultra Black kills brain cells too.
yeah but the thing is, he doesn't leave pressurized hoses connected to always-on hose bibs :)
The lack of mold in the walls caused by lesser moisture exposure from the constant spraying of this shitty valve causes a greater health benefit than all of the benefits he reaps from low flow rates and some RTV silicone residue emanating from the dirt and the area past the valve.
Because face it: that's what we're really comparing here.
The stress induced by having to keep buying pressure washers that have failing pumps due to the air introduced through these valves is far more of a health detriment than...oh yeah, nothing.
Remember: that government that keeps me from installing a 16 gauge stainless roof on my home because it's not ISO2007 certified, is ALWAYS the wisest.
I am 66 years old and I have lived many years without drinking tainted water before the building codes required these devices on faucets. These devices are as worthless as the new gasoline can spouts that have caused me to spill more gasoline on the ground then before the gas can spouts came along. This guy is correct ... a bunch of paranoid government officials require devices like this because it makes them feel good.
Thank you for the video. This saved us a plumber visit.
You're welcome!
Ok but if the Gov insists on having these things then they need to maintain them also if your worried about contaminated water being sucked back in buy a whole home filter system. Another thing to ponder for the fear makers how come we are putting flouride in the water when there is No real truth that it prohibits tooth decay. And how many of us have pipes soldered with lead My point is we really need to start living our lives rather than fearing for it all the time
Anyone that still wants a vacuum breaker can just install a $5 after the spigot rather than throwing $30 away every time the Arrowhead one breaks.
when use gasket sealer never use a rag
I get the point of these backflow valves... in theory... but unless you have a habit of leaving your garden hose in your swimming pool, what exactly are you preventing? Even then, you take a drink of water and think “hmm. That tastes a little funny. Kinda like chlorine. You know, there was a fire a few miles from here today. Must have been a bit of backflow.” Then you go turn all your faucets on for about 15 min and your entire house will be filled with clean water again. Pretty simple. We had to go and create this stupid “anti-backflow faucet adapter” because we haven’t figured out a way to fix stupid people yet. The product is simply faulty. It doesn’t last long, leaks like crazy, and after it ages, when a vacuum is out on the line, they fail half the time anyways. Like all things, it requires maintenance, but it’s really still inferior to just using a little common sense when it comes to the old fashioned (and better) water spigots.
Lastly, all of this is to keep the water in your house safe to drink, right? How many of you have done a litmus test on the water in your homes? Most city water supplies are disgusting. It’s water pulled from local and often polluted water supplies and then purified by chemicals. If you’re drinking that shit without at least filtering it through a Brita or Pūr water filter first, you’re crazy and a “anti-backflow adapter” is the least of your worries.
Hose bibb have garden hose thread... The spigot master.. Lmao.. Whats the poupose. I have been doing plumbing.... For 20 years plus... Enlighten me please..
Sure:
Some hose bib don't have garden thread. They have new fangled special threads so you have to buy a $35 replacement vacuum breaker. These are seen in most big cities or anywhere a vacuum breaker is required by building codes.
@@TrailerDayz wow.. 35 dollar vacuum breaker kinda expensive. I normally get mind for under $4 and hose bibb under $4 under with tax. But interesting👍
I don’t have a set screw, it’s completely smooth and leaks like crazy. How do I remove it?! I have little hands, I’m not strong, I don’t have someone else to help and I can’t afford to hire someone. Also, did you somehow turn off the water somewhere else before you started this? If I unscrew the handle, water comes out
I used a dremel and slowly cut a V into it until I could break off a chuck with pliers and then took a wrench and unscrewed it. I did cut into the spigot thread a bit so be very careful.
@@Hair4Thought Thanks :). I eventually got it with more torque
Can't you just remove the anti-siphon and then use the hose bibb as it is? why install the Spigotmaster at all?
The bib has proprietary threads unfortunately.
My little grand child can make that 😂😂😂😂
TrailerDayz, thank you for such a detailed video to show the fix. I have the exactly same issue as your video shows.
You're welcome!
I got mine off without much problem, but it seems to have F'ed up the threading. Now I can't get the spigot master threaded on the spigot! Ideas??
You might be able to cut a slit in the threads of the old adapter and use it to help cut and true the threads on the spigot.