Six hours at the mobile home yesterday. I'd like to say that the drain in the bathroom sink is fixed, but I kept tightening and tightening the threaded part on the new trap, and it kept leaking less and less, but it STILL leaks JUST A TINY BIT. So little in fact, it might almost evaporate before it hits the floor, but technically it's a leak. I think I'd rather keep a dish under it than risk breaking it by tightening it more. I hate plumbing. It took hours, including frequent breaks to regain my cool, just to detach the supply lines and remove the old kitchen faucet. I had to chop off one of those plastic nuts that holds the faucet down, with a hammer and screwdriver. Next time I'll take the heat gun. Inside of the end of the hot and cold supply lines. Not good, I think.
Not to add to your troubles (or your expenses), but a preemptive replacement of the water heater before the pressure valve goes and it dumps into the living space might be a good idea. I don't think the ones in trailers are that expensive since they're so small. In the meantime, I'd kill the breaker to it.
Just because it's old, or because of the rust build up in the lines? The water heater was replaced once, maybe 10-15 years ago.
Because of all that rust. If it's in the supply line, it's in the heater. The may not be a problem, but if the iron issue wasn't remediated when the heater was replaced, it's continued to flow into it. Of course, you'd know better as to how long the thing was in use before the first failure. Since you're thinking of selling, you may not want to sink money into it. When I bought my place, I think the only required well water test was for bacteria.
The plumber that installed the water holding tank (pressure tank with a bladder) said we should flush the system periodically. I forget how often, maybe once a month? It is a time-consuming process. 1. Flip the breaker off to the pump 2. Open outdoor hose and wait for all the water to drain out of the water tank 3. Close the hose 4. Flip the breaker on to the pump 5. Wait for the tank to fill up Repeat 1-5 until the water coming out of the hose after the first time has no rust. I remember it took many times. Maybe 10-20. Needless to say, neither my parents nor I followed through on this after the first few times. I expected that water tank to die years ago. It was 29 years old this month. This mobile home is on a 7 mile stretch of road between 2 major north/south highways. City water from one town comes within 2 miles on one end, and from another town within 5 miles on the other end. I suppose after it's sold they will extend the water to this road. The folks that lived out there when my parents moved there would probably never have gone for city water anyway, and fussed about it even crossing their yards. lol
I went on the web and read a little bit. I know someone who also has a rust issue with his well water. I think he goes through (5) 40# bags of salt per month in his softener to remediate it...but it's he, his wife and 2 daughters in the home. Info on the web says that folks do exactly as your parents were instructed to do, although there are filtering options, depending on the type of rust it is. I can understand folks not wanting the public water systems to cross their land. Once the government system is accessible, government will eventually make the use of well water illegal, forcing you to hook up to city water [of marginal quality] and capping your wells "for safety."
This belongs in the Conspiracy and Paranormal Forum. We had a different kind of iron in our water where I grew up. Iced tea would look blue, Clothes would never wash white even with bleach. My mother put up with it for 30 years. Then she moved here and the same thing for 25 more years. We had a water softener when I was a kid that required, I believe, potassium permanganate. Purple stuff. Poison. You had to put it in then flush it all out. I think they finally gave up and just hauled in water from my grandmother's house to drink. That house gets city water now.
I was reading of the various treatments for iron, and some folks referenced the poison and said "You can drink it, just flush your lines out real good." I discovered that there are 3 types of iron that might be in your water (including the blue stuff you mentioned.) That stinks that your mother could not escape it. And back in the days before Perrier and Aquafina, folks were limited in their options to get drinking water. I've had my water here tested a few times through a university extension office, and in each group of folks who tested their water that cycle, I've always been the only one with hard water. Everyone else's is soft, which is the norm for this part of the state. The public water that serves the main town in the county has had quality issues for several successive years. When I lived outside of DC, a steamy shower meant breathing in chlorine fumes. As long as my well does not run dry, I'm happy with it. And if it does, there's a spring-fed creek on my property that my neighbors used as their water source when they were kids, before they finally had a well drilled.
(9/18/23) Monday Lowes showed up at 7:00 AM with the materials for the fence. Work was supposed to start this week. When I first asked GC to do this job, I sent him the photograph (post #3180) of what I wanted. Then things got put on the back burner by both of us, and I didn't think much more about it. I found out Friday he planned to use 10' long rails to save money. I'd rather the fence look good, not twist and warp, and be easy to repair in case a neighbor backs their car into it. He said he could change to 8' rails with no problem. The lumber delivered is 10 feet long. The fence will be 4 feet tall. I tried to draw both options to scale to see how they look. The 10' rails would look nice around a large level pasture, but not so much on a sloped yard in town. I'll tell him to just cut the 10' boards off. What would be wrong with 9 feet? I suppose if I wanted to tear down the fence one day and use the existing posts for ready-made panels, it would matter. I'll let the next owner worry about that.
Very possibly all that's wrong with the sink cut off valve in town is the washer (it's completely gone). Chunks of it are probably stuck in the water line above it. They make replacement kits that MIGHT fit, in stock for $2.98 at Home Depot. Certainly worth a try. Just need the washer. Maybe this whole kit could work at the mobile home too.
Home Depot sells faucet washer kits: Spares are handy to have around. You'll also need to reseat (grind) the inside of that faucet where the washer seats. It will need a new, smooth face so the washer completely seals and so it does not get torn up. You can see how that burr at the end will put a new surface where the washer mates. I could not find one of these on the Home Depot site, but I would be shocked if they don't carry them. If not, maybe you got an ACE Hardware or True Value or something like that in town. They are likely part of a kit that comes with common sized washers.
I didn't think of that. Good idea. Tool not in stock anywhere here, including ACE and Harbor Freight.
I don't understand businesses these days. Not everyone has gone "washerless." I could not find it under any name I tried on H.D. or Lowes websites. Amazon carries them. Since it's a shutoff valve and not a Constant Use faucet (hot/cold water at the sink), it may be fine without re-seating it. I guess you know about putting fresh packing cord (or maybe a packing nut) in it. This stops the water from leaking around the stem. I should have mentioned it before...it just came to me.
These old stop valves are brass Teledyne brand. Very little corrosion (city water). The washer on the tip of the new plastic kit fit perfectly on the old valve stem. The other washer must not be needed with the old stem. It's so thick the packing nut won't even reach the threads with it in. I put the white one (seat?) in just for the heck of it. On a dry run (no pun intended) the cold stop valve didn't leak one bit and cuts off the water perfectly now. I need to do the hot water cut off while I'm at it. Famous last words. No I've never heard of rope packing before. And it seems to work fine without it. Scraped around with a brush to make sure there wasn't remnants of the old washer stuck in the hole. I'll do better on the final run, once I get the cold line unclogged. One rather large chunk of old deteriorated washer came out of the cold supply line, but it didn't make a difference. I'll have to take the faucet apart and check for clogs in that cartridge thing that's below the handle. Anxious to try the kit on the mobile home.