Frost free faucet and timer - OK?

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myrmidon

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I have a new home (4 years old) with frost free faucets on the outside of the house. I'd like to connect a water timer to one of them to control a sprinkler. However, I noticed a sticker with a disclaimer on the faucet that states that it shouldn't be under constant pressure for more than 12 hours. I have two questions concerning this...

1. What are the potential issues with keeping it under pressure for more than 12 hours? I can live with increased wear-and-tear, but not major water damage...

2. Is setting the system to run 20 minutes every 8 or 12 hours enough to prevent problems?

Thanks in advance! I'm having a very time finding any reasoning for this disclaimer.
 

Murphy625

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I'm certainly no faucet expert, but the 12 hour thing doesn't seem right.. I'm thinking that they are referring to 12 hours in a cold climate because maybe that's how long it takes for the water to freeze inside it or something.. Then again, that seems silly too because the water is going to freeze much quicker in cold Alaska than it would in cold Kentucky or something.

My "guess" is that the 12 hour thing doesn't apply to summer use. That would just be stupid..
 

Wet_Boots

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The time limit may refer to the vacuum breaker section of a common frostproof faucet. Said vacuum breakers are considered by design and by codes to fail to function after being under pressure for an extended time period. The failure is one of protection, and not to be taken lightly, but not one of impending catastrophic damage to the plumbing.

As soon as you connect a timer device to the faucet, you have defeated the built-in backflow preventer.
 

Murphy625

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The time limit may refer to the vacuum breaker section of a common frostproof faucet. Said vacuum breakers are considered by design and by codes to fail to function after being under pressure for an extended time period. The failure is one of protection, and not to be taken lightly, but not one of impending catastrophic damage to the plumbing.

As soon as you connect a timer device to the faucet, you have defeated the built-in backflow preventer.

Oh.. I need to question your response because I am confused.
To date, I have always understood frost proof faucets (those on a house), to be nothing more than a normal faucet with the valve body recessed down an extended pipe into the home. Its basically just a "remote valve" where the valve handle is outside the home and the valve body is a few inches inside the home so its not exposed to the cold. I have never seen a back flow preventer on one but I have seen anti-siphon devices.

The 12 hour thing still has me puzzled.
 

Wet_Boots

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Murphy625 said:
I have never seen a back flow preventer on one but I have seen anti-siphon devices.
An anti-syphon device IS a backflow preventer. Just like an atmospheric vacuum breaker, there is a float in an anti-syphon frostproof faucet, that is not intended to be under pressure 24/7, because the float can stick in place, and fail to provide anti-syphon protection.

The "12 hour thing" refers to the underlined words above.
 
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Murphy625

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An anti-syphon device IS a backflow preventer. Just like an atmospheric vacuum breaker, there is a float in an anti-syphon frostproof faucet, that is not intended to be under pressure 24/7, because the float can stick in place, and fail to provide anti-syphon protection.

The "12 hour thing" refers to the underlined words above.

Now that makes more sense....

Thanks for clearing that up...
 

myrmidon

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An anti-syphon device IS a backflow preventer. Just like an atmospheric vacuum breaker, there is a float in an anti-syphon frostproof faucet, that is not intended to be under pressure 24/7, because the float can stick in place, and fail to provide anti-syphon protection.

The "12 hour thing" refers to the underlined words above.

Thanks Wet_Boots. This is very helpful. I have a follow-up question that I'm hoping you may know the answer to... Is having the timer open up every 8-12 hours for about 20 minutes enough to give the valve a workout? I realize that you don't know that specifics of my hardware, so just looking for general guidance.
 

Wet_Boots

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No. That does nothing. Your timer-valve can't function unless it is threaded onto the faucet, and the faucet turned on, where it will remain on 24/7.

There are separate hose-thread backflow preventers you can thread onto the outlet(s) of the timer/valve
 

mfer

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I need to bump this old thread b/c I'm having this exact issue.

I have a pool and have faucet timer that runs for like 10min a day during the summer. I need this it is HOT in my area during the summer and if I'm gone for a vacation lets say, the pool will get to low and the pumps will have issues. So I need a timer.

I was called out of town recently and kept my hose connected and my faucet burst due to the deep freeze the US got lately. Luckily the water was off, but the pipe is burst on the faucet. It is an Arrowhead faucet and it is 5.5" long from the flange to the end of the 1/2" threaded pipe. I tried to get a replacement Woodford Model 19, but it is exactly 5.25" long and not long enough to reach the threads in the wall. That pesky 1/4" length is messing with me. So then I found a Arrowhead that is 5.5" long and the sticker says, do not use for 12 hours. I googled it and it brought me here.

What can I do? I want a freeze proof faucet that I can hook up the timer to in the summer. The Woodford Model 19 claims it can be hooked up year round without breaking. Here is their website statement.
http://wcmind.com/woodford/Wall_Faucet_Pages/Model-19.html

It looks like if I hook up my Arrowhead (the 5.5" one), I could never use the faucet timer. The Woodford Model 19 claims to be for year round irrigation use so it would seem like it is meant to be on 100% of the time (in the summer at least).

Any help?

Thanks.
 
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