Auxiliary fuel valve

[Lt.Mike]

My Lo-boy has a slow drip in storage from the carb and had a auxiliary inline shutoff valve installed by the PO . There’s an inline filter and an elbow at the tank instead of a sediment bowl.
The tank isn’t pristine and though there’s very little rust there’s still paint chips that pass thru the elbow that a sediment bowl would get clogged by and the inline filter catches, it’s all worked up until now. Problem I have now is the shutoff valve started leaking so I replaced it with a new plastic one that seem to be prevalent in All the auto parts stores now. Well, their junk. In only a couple weeks it’s leaking too. Is their anyone that sells an old school brass shutoff valve that will hold up to gasoline and maybe the ethanol they put in it these days?
Wondering if a small Home Depot ball valve will work or will the nylon plastic inside get melted by the fuel?

[Eugene]

I use brass ball valves from the hardware store.

Been using them on my tractors and garden tractors for 20 years with no problems.

Edit. Thinking the ball valve and fittings from the hardware store came to about $15-. That's less expensive than the gasoline that leaked out over a long weekend.

[tinnerjohn]

McMaster Carr lists ball valves for gasoline, they ain't cheap! It should be a once in a lifetime purchase though. My quick google research seems to show that you need a valve with a PTFE seal. I don't know how long a standard valve would last in this service, I do know they are used on fuel oil lines for furnaces and boilers.

Let us know what you come up with.
John

[Frozenstate]

Fix the slow drip. Mine was an incorrect float bowl setting.

[Lt.Mike]

I ended up installing a small brass ball valve from Home Depot as Eugene did. Wasn’t sure if it’d hold up to the gas but if yours lasted that’s good.
The leak doesn’t happen while it’s running just when it’s stored. With a really low drip it’s crazy how much gas you’ll lose.