# Brasscraft angle valve cracked



## Seemer (Dec 26, 2011)

Has anyone else experienced a cracked 1/4 turn Brasscraft angle valve in recent months? Mine is a 1/2" inlet X 3/8" outlet Mod. #G2R17X C1.  After a year of service, the inlet portion of the valve cracked and has sprung a leak.


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## isola96 (Dec 26, 2011)

Seemer said:
			
		

> Has anyone else experienced a cracked 1/4 turn Brasscraft angle valve in recent months? Mine is a 1/2" inlet X 3/8" outlet Mod. #G2R17X C1.  After a year of service, the inlet portion of the valve cracked and has sprung a leak.



I have had the compression rings go after only weeks it happens maybe tighten up too tight never seen the body crack though. still can't go wrong with those there so easy To put in love them!


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## joecaption (Dec 29, 2011)

Someone over tightened it. Buy a new one and use teflon pipe dope not tape this time.


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## robertgelling (Apr 22, 2012)

I installed two of these about a year and a half ago on a bath sink. I had to replace the hot supply about 9 months ago. Just replaced the cold supply today (Sunday!). Both cracked. Installed with teflon tape and never overtighten. I've replaced a bunch of valves in my time and it's extremely rare to incur a cracked valve, much less two. Must be the cheap material they are using in China.
These are rentals properties by the by.


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## Seemer (Apr 23, 2012)

Robert,

You are the first to respond to my post that incurred a similar problem with cracked Brasscraft angle valves.  Three of these cracked on me about 18 months after installation by a professional plumber causing leakage and damage.  Unknown to me, my remodel contractor installed 9 of these which have all been changed.  They were all stamped with TK09, which I believe is a Brasscraft date code.  I sent one cracked one and two uncracked ones back to Brasscraft in Dec. 2011 and they opened a claim number.  They promised me test results, but after repeated requests, they have reported nothing.  I sure would like to know more about these faulty valves, but Brasscraft has been less than forthcoming.  They really have caused me grief and my neighbor underneath too.


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## lostinwesttx (Jun 12, 2013)

Those valves may have been "no-lead" & because of the lack of lead the brass is now brittle.  I believe the manufacturers are addressing this on their web sites; about tightening the use of non-marring wrenches or pliers so as to not accidentally "score" the brass product.  The KT Brasscraft 1/4 turn valves have been snapping off the handles here in West Texas just from "hard water"


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## gottodo1 (Jun 13, 2013)

Please file it with the BBB. I use the BBB to screen companies for new electronics and when I'm making home purchases. If you post on there people will see it, and the company will need to give you a resolution. They may be awful and just mechanical failure but if you post it and others post it there's a record of it and you can see how bad it is. It's one of the only ways of keeping a company honest about faulty products.


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## Golden (Jan 16, 2015)

Yesterday, I replaced the 4th brass craft 1/4 turn angle stop that had developed the same crack in the 1/2 inch female pipe thread on the inlet side of the valve.  The valves worked well for at least 1 year, and I have many still in service after 2 1/2 plus years.  I am concerned that they are like a ticking time bomb, as they unexpectedly crack and cause flooding. So far, all 4 times the valves have cracked, there was only minor damage.  The body of the valve is very thin.  they should design them with more metal like in the olden days.  I will look up the number of the code on the valve.   I have used both 1/2 male thread on the output, and 3/8 compression on the output, and both have developed the same crack.        Golden


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## James147 (Mar 6, 2015)

I have had two Brasscraft KT series angle stops leak through the solid body where the FIP threads are.  I installed them in August 2014 on a new pex system and in the last month two have developed leaks.  One looked like it came in the area of the seam on the left side and the other on the right with no signs of reason.  I swapped them all out for $6 Proflo for now and will probably order Dahl valves at some point.  Im going to be calling Brasscraft today as this post feels like we are starting a club.  My only question I asked myself is "do I really want them replaced under warranty?".


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## nealtw (Mar 6, 2015)

Welcome to all the new members that have entered here, James147, Golden, lostinwesttx, robertgelling and Seemer


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## slownsteady (Mar 7, 2015)

This thread was started in 2011. Seems that it's still a problem. Sad when a company like Brasscraft cheaps out.


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## Cabin (Jul 26, 2015)

Hello I'm new to this forum. So I built a cabin about 2 and a half years ago. My plumber put the brass craft 1/4 turn valves in 1/2 by 3/8 sounds like a standard size. Long story short I had two crack and leak within six months. When I called the plumber he told me I was the third house that had these crack that week. He later told me he was told by manufacturer that there was a " bad batch " and said he would replace all the brass craft valves. Well he missed one under my sink and this weekend we went to cabin at the floor is toast the ceiling in the basement is toast and the pergo floor. Has anyone had a similar problem? Who is responsible the plumber or brass craft.  I'm so pissed I can't see straight. I should add I personally replaced three other leaky cracked valves in the last two months and the plumber told me it's out of his one year warranty grrrrrrrrr any thoughts on who pays for this it's over ten grand in damag? Thanks in advance.


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## slownsteady (Jul 26, 2015)

Wow Cabin, bad break. You are going to have to dig deep and fight hard to get any resolution to this. Document everything; take pictures and videos. record conversations if/when you can. We were just posting in another thread about worthless warrantees. Take names of every person you talk to about this. "Bad batch" that goes back past 2011?????


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## nealtw (Jul 26, 2015)

Cabin said:


> Hello I'm new to this forum. So I built a cabin about 2 and a half years ago. My plumber put the brass craft 1/4 turn valves in 1/2 by 3/8 sounds like a standard size. Long story short I had two crack and leak within six months. When I called the plumber he told me I was the third house that had these crack that week. He later told me he was told by manufacturer that there was a " bad batch " and said he would replace all the brass craft valves. Well he missed one under my sink and this weekend we went to cabin at the floor is toast the ceiling in the basement is toast and the pergo floor. Has anyone had a similar problem? Who is responsible the plumber or brass craft.  I'm so pissed I can't see straight. I should add I personally replaced three other leaky cracked valves in the last two months and the plumber told me it's out of his one year warranty grrrrrrrrr any thoughts on who pays for this it's over ten grand in damag? Thanks in advance.



Do you have insurane on the building.


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## James147 (Jul 27, 2015)

After almost 4 months(and multiple emails and calls) I was finally sent new valves by Brasscraft.  I was CLEARLY told that it was a lead free problem that has been corrected(they can check the numbers on the valve).  They were going to have a plumber install them, but I declined.  They also began asking what kind of damage we had and I had the feeling they may have paid for it, thankfully we caught the problem(s) before more than a gallon or two leaked in both spots.  They only thing that really ticks me off is I went out and bought an acid neutralizer as they suggested my slightly acidic water(I chose to test my water in my area, another $250) may have caused it.  I will admit that the " lead free" switched has really just half destroyed the industry and cut years off the life of copper/brass plumbing.  As a note, I had to be an organized "really" mean in the last few called to get a higher up to call me and I had the valves in a few days.


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## frodo (Jul 27, 2015)

you need a lawyer who specializes in Consumer Product 

i used one 20 years ago,,hope you did not get rid of the old valves,,he will want lots of pictures

sorry to say,  but the only way they will pay your damages is to hire a lawyer to get them.

he ill require you to have everything repaired, so that he can put a value on the damage

or,,he may just require a insurance guesstament.

going with the guesstament could cost you with unforseen damage

good luck, keep us posted


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## kok328 (Jul 27, 2015)

Let the homeowners insurance fight the battle for you while paying your claim. Have everything done by a licensed plumber so there's no out on having them say they were incorrectly installed.


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## Seemer (Jul 27, 2015)

I was the one who first reported this problem here - see above.  I had 3 of 9 valves fail and have since replaced them all.  Brasscraft asked to test one of my faulty valves and, since I had three, I sent them one along with two good ones from the same installation (all had same manuf. lot nos.).  They said they would have results in a couple of weeks. After many months of correspondence with BrassCraft, they were horribly uncooperative.  I kept following up asking for the results, and they kept stalling telling me that they had not tested them yet. Then they claimed that they lost the test results. Sure. They likely determined that it was a manuf. defect and didn't want me to spread the word.  The leak was under a kitchen sink in a 3rd floor rental flat of a 4 story condo bldg. where the tenant had been gone for a month.  We discovered leak by noticing a pool of water in the subterranean garage on Christmas Eve. It had leaked probably for day or so, causing little damage to the rental unit, but the unit below it sustained a lot of damage (those resident owners were out of town too about 300 miles away for the holidays).  I was able to get in and stop the leak in the rental unit by shutting down the supply to the unit and had to call the plumber for emergency repair.  I immediately notified the resident owners by telephone and they were not pleased nor are they pleasant people to deal with in any situation. The resident owners did not come home until 10 days later and their windows were closed the entire time.  They moved out for months while they negotiated with our insurance company for the brand new $85K kitchen they always wanted. They worked it. It was a dilemma for them though. If we did not have insurance, they would have asked us to pay and I would have pointed the finger at BrassCraft.  Thus, unless BrassCraft paid, it would have turned into a case where they sued us and BrassCraft and prove that BrassCraft valves were defectively made - which may have been a very expensive legal case with experts, etc. A good lawyer may be able to get enough evidence in discovery to prove the defect, with help in part from the info. on this thread.  I happen to be a lawyer myself and was hoping by starting it, others would come forward with their evidence of defective valves too. Hopefully, others will benefit from this thread.  BrassCraft was not forthcoming with any information.  Sadly, if insurance won't cover the damage, you may have to sue them to get it in discovery. They did offer to pay for the 9 valves.  Big of them.


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## bud16415 (Jul 27, 2015)

I am not a lawyer and I have had several very similar experiences with other products. In the old day it was extremely difficult to get the ear of some corporation that is spitting out a defective gizmo and at best they would placate you with a stipend of something like a few new valves in your case. Like you would even want them put in after that. 

Fortunately or unfortunately if you are a lawyer we live in a different time now and internet and social media connect the masses. I start out with my first contact to a company telling them my dissatisfaction with their product and explain the issue quite clearly and add my own explanation of what the failure mode of their product was. I ask for assistance and show my losses. Of course that leads nowhere and my second email points out my dissatisfaction now with their product and their customer service response as well. I then ask to have my letter elevated to someone important before I take further measures legal or otherwise. I go on to explain I have been doing research and say in your case I have found X number maybe 200 profesional and other web forums and rating sites that people in the field deal with their product daily and purchase in volume. Then I would point out all the major retailer of their product and each have a service to receive feedback on products and I plan on flooding the entire internet with truthful backed by independent testing by a qualified 3rd party lab of the poor quality of their product. Pointing out I might only reach 5% of their customer base but who knows what word of mouth will do at that point. Pointing out that they may not feel my problem is that important the CEO of granger might want to take a look at my lab results, you just never know because a retailers reputation is in great part the quality of his suppliers. 

The average guy will waste a hundred times his loss dealing with lawyers (no offence to your profession) it is just the way it is. But the average guy can be a Ralph Nader today without publishing a book. 

One of two things will happen you will get their ear and have some resolution or you will get the pleasure of knowing you will cut into their bottom line and in the process save a lot of others the headache you had went thru. 

I work for a very major multinational company and I can tell you first hand well thought out and persistent customer complaints make it to the very top or very close to the very top. And you do not want to be the obstruction in the process once it does, and you really don&#8217;t want to be the one responsible for the process let alone covering something up when it comes back down from the top.


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## slownsteady (Jul 27, 2015)

Good point. I know that I have already stopped buying Brasscraft.


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## nealtw (Jul 27, 2015)

Seemer said:


> I was the one who first reported this problem here - see above.  I had 3 of 9 valves fail and have since replaced them all.  Brasscraft asked to test one of my faulty valves and, since I had three, I sent them one along with two good ones from the same installation (all had same manuf. lot nos.).  They said they would have results in a couple of weeks. After many months of correspondence with BrassCraft, they were horribly uncooperative.  I kept following up asking for the results, and they kept stalling telling me that they had not tested them yet. Then they claimed that they lost the test results. Sure. They likely determined that it was a manuf. defect and didn't want me to spread the word.  The leak was under a kitchen sink in a 3rd floor rental flat of a 4 story condo bldg. where the tenant had been gone for a month.  We discovered leak by noticing a pool of water in the subterranean garage on Christmas Eve. It had leaked probably for day or so, causing little damage to the rental unit, but the unit below it sustained a lot of damage (those resident owners were out of town too about 300 miles away for the holidays).  I was able to get in and stop the leak in the rental unit by shutting down the supply to the unit and had to call the plumber for emergency repair.  I immediately notified the resident owners by telephone and they were not pleased nor are they pleasant people to deal with in any situation. The resident owners did not come home until 10 days later and their windows were closed the entire time.  They moved out for months while they negotiated with our insurance company for the brand new $85K kitchen they always wanted. They worked it. It was a dilemma for them though. If we did not have insurance, they would have asked us to pay and I would have pointed the finger at BrassCraft.  Thus, unless BrassCraft paid, it would have turned into a case where they sued us and BrassCraft and prove that BrassCraft valves were defectively made - which may have been a very expensive legal case with experts, etc. A good lawyer may be able to get enough evidence in discovery to prove the defect, with help in part from the info. on this thread.  I happen to be a lawyer myself and was hoping by starting it, others would come forward with their evidence of defective valves too. Hopefully, others will benefit from this thread.  BrassCraft was not forthcoming with any information.  Sadly, if insurance won't cover the damage, you may have to sue them to get it in discovery. They did offer to pay for the 9 valves.  Big of them.



You might be interested in this.
http://www.contractortalk.com/f9/pinhole-leaks-brasscraft-angle-stops-144568/


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## slownsteady (Jul 27, 2015)

might as well pull anything we can find into this. Sort of a central depository of Brasscraft defects.

http://www.prlog.org/12008932-class...-potentially-bad-brass-plumbing-fittings.html


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## James147 (Jul 27, 2015)

Here is the second to last person we dealt with that facilitated the end to my Brasscraft saga.  There was a woman(seemed to be a higher up) that he connected me to and that finished the issue quick, he then did the paperwork. 

Trevor McClain
Risk Management Specialist
BrassCraft Manufacturing
Novi, Mich.
Phone: 248-374-3854
Fax: 248-374-3868
[email protected]


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## Cabin (Jul 27, 2015)

Thanks for all the advice all. Just an update I spoke to insurance today they don't cover workmanship, manufacture defects and some other bs excuse. I talked with plumber who I could hear him oozing slime from his mouth as he lied to me about changing out all my valves, which he didn't do. He did tell me ( in a recorded conversation ) that he stopped using that valve after my house because he didn't trust them. I laughed and thanked him for allegedly replacing all my valves with the ones he didn't trust. Just short of telling him what I think of him he gave me his " rep " from brass craft. I am waiting to hear back from them. I will update their response.


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## James147 (Jul 28, 2015)

I don't think you'll have much luck with the plumber, your best bet is to keep him on your side and maybe he can verify they were indeed bad valves to BrassCraft.  Try giving that guy a call and get things started.  I'm surprised the insurance won't cover a plumbing leak.


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## James147 (Jul 29, 2015)

Don't look at this as a device failure or install failure, this is a "sudden and unexpected" water leak.  If it had been leaking for decades, you'd easily get denied by a low end insurance company.  It doesn't matter if your washing machine leaked or pipe burst, they should repair the damage.  Get your policy booklet, the people on the phone are paid to discourage you and  strategically cause you to give up.  Say only as much as you need to, best to write down exactly what your going to say and then brainstorm their reactions for a solid rebuttal.  Take names and detailed notes.

P.S.  Reps are overworked and usually no help as the are pretty low on the responsibility chain.


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