What is this boiler/plumbing part and where can I get one?

[Rob_B]

I was turning off the stopcock (ebay listing linked below) and the black plastic grippy bit cracked so now I can't turn the thing, didn't want to use pliers as I might strip the lines that hold it onto the 'cap'
Vokera are useless and I only need the plastic but but a whole new stopcock is £18 so I'm trying to avoid that.

Any ideas on what to search for or where to get one from? Seems it might be a standard sort of fitting maybe?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404014970476

Cheers folks!

[DanceswithUnix]

I have to wonder if the plastic bit broke because the insides were seized up, and another new plastic bit would also just break.

But then I never got on with plumbing. At this point I would probably just pay someone to replace the whole thing with some big old solid brass handle that I know I can rely on working when I need it to.

Edit: Otherwise, if you take the old handle off you might be able to count the splines and measure the diameter of the bit the handle slides onto, and perhaps a generic tap handle will fit.

[Rob_B]

Counting the splines (didn't know that word) might be the best option, I dont think it's seized

[jimbouk]

Or pliers / grips with some cardboard to save damage as an interim?

If you have another of the same then you could borrow it from elsewhere? The non-thermostat valve turners on radiators are forever rounding at the bottom for me so I just find the one still working and pop it on.

[Saracen999]

Any idea when the stopcock was last turned off?

Round here, we have VERY hard water and they do indeed tend to cae u wth calcium if not used regularly. It's part of my spring/autumn schedue to turn it off and on again, not quite all the way. That little bit of wiggle helps break the seal of the build-up.

I found out about that a few years after buying this place when the boiler was changed. The (British Gas) plumber/heating engineer just said he'd leave the frozen one alne and fit a new one a little further up (turning off water outside first). Which he did. He advised that "twice a year" routine, for all stopcocks.

As for style, I prefer the big brass hande type for the same reason .... less likely to strip the plastic, 'cos there ain't any plastic. Also, get decent ones, not (in the words of the plumber) "cheaply made sh&^&. They're false economy if you end up calling out a plumber, 'cos it broke. "

My frozen one wasn't like that, though.

[Rob_B]

It's been used a few times probably in the last year, also the water here is as soft as can be