Plumbing question - toilet shutoff valve

[AUinAustin]

I wa looking at mine today and haven;t seen anything like it. I thought it was a newer type (house is only 3 years old) since it was push/pull instead of a turning knob to control the flow. However I noticed that the hose coming out of it is sealed to the valve. No compressions fitting or any way to replace the hose without removing the valve. I looked some more and cannot figure out how I would remove the valve. It doesn't look like it is threaded onto the copper supply line. There's no way to sweat a plastic valve to copper. Anyone have any idea how to get it off so I can "upgrade" the connection?

 

[jmatt]

A picture would help. Is it a pressure fitting?

 

[AUinAustin]

Not sure I can get a camera behind my toilet.. IThe best description I can give it that the valve that you would normally turn a knob on to turn off the water is located behind the toilet. Mine is attached to the copper feed line in some strange fashion. I cannot tell if it is screwed onto the copper since there are no threads coming out the back. It is was a copper calve I would say it was sweated on with solder but you cannot do that with plastic. Home Depot didn;t have anything like it. Before I try to replace it with a real twist type valve I have to figure out how to remove it.

 

[alden]

I just did a complete bathroom plumbing redo, and I've been in that home depot aisle 100 times. I have no idea what you're looking at. They make pieces that transition from one material to another (copper to pvc, etc). Or does it look like maybe they just glued the plastic fitting over the copper?

 

[GhostOfTomJoad]

I think I know what AU is talking about. It sounds like the supply line is actually part of the shutoff valve. I had these in our house when we bought it & one of the first things I did was replace all of the supply lines because they are absolute junk & I was warned about them by several plumbers.

It's basically a cheap way for builders to install supply lines. Each valve comes w/ the supply line (a flexible coil about 3/8" diameter) attached & they just attach the valve to the stub & then cut to length the coiled tubing, install a rubber gasket, & then attach to the toilet/faucet fixture w/ a compression fitting.

It sounds like you have a newer version of this. I've never seen a plastic shutoff valve (that would make me nervous as hell). I can't imagine that the valve is anything but a compression fitting. You'll end up replacing both the valve and the supply line which isn't a big deal.

If you're nervous about removing the old valve/line attachment yourself then you might want to call someone like ARS to come do it for you. But first go & buy the replacement valve & supply line from Lowe's or Home Depot since the markup on hardware from repair companies is astronomical. Get what you need, place a call to say you need a shutoff valve replaced & then watch the service tech as he does the work. Most will give you some good tips which you can put to use later. It will probably cost you about $100 or so for the service call which is pretty steep to replace a valve, but if you're unsure about it the peace of mind can be worth it. Plus, in the unlikely event that the stub pipe is broken while the tech's working on it it's on him. If you break it, then you've really got a mess on your hands.

 

[AUinAustin]

It's not that II am uncomftorable replacing it. I have to figure out how the thing is attached to the copper before I replace it. I cannot see any threads to hold the valve to copper. My best guess is that it is glued on which makes me nervous. I am heading to a plumbing supply store to see if they have any idea how the attachment works

 

[01 grad]

What difference does it make how it's attached? Turn off your water and cut the copper supply line as close to the suspect connection as possible. Attach a new shutoff valve.

 

[ADMIRALSTOCKDALE]

could be a "shark bite" fitting. no threads, no glue. just a push on.
ARS is horrible, btw.

 

[AUinAustin]

What difference does it make how it's attached? Turn off your water and cut the copper supply line as close to the suspect connection as possible. Attach a new shutoff valve.

It makes a lot of difference. There isn't much stubbed out from the wall and cutting off the old valve leaves very little for a compression fitting