I have an interesting winter problem. The Orbit sprinkler controller, which has a brass screw-on fitting, has seized on its faucet (a zinc or nickel coated recessed stopcock — a winterized outdoor faucet if you will).
The two appear to have bonded chemically – I tried to remove with a wrench and I almost sheared the faucet off the wall. I tried seeping in some WD-40 for starters, but it does not seem to have done any good.
Any suggestions? Am I the only doofus with a sprinkler controller seized atop its faucet? It needs to come off for the winter, there can be no water beyond the stopcock's valve in the system, or the winter will freeze it.
Best Answer
Both times I have encountered hose faucets with devices seemingly fused onto the hose threads were when somebody (not me) assembled them without a hose washer.
Whether or not this is the case in your situation, you will definitely need to back up your attempts to disconnect the fitting with a substantial wrench on the faucet itself, to prevent twisting the supply pipe or breaking something. Depending on how important this is to you, you may even need to purchase a special wrench due to the recessed configuration of your faucet; maybe something like this:
In the end, you may need to use destructive methods to remove it, which hopefully would preserve the hose faucet but sacrifice the controller. You could use a small extending hacksaw to cut the attachment nut...