Hydrant Assist Kit Introduction
This blog is the first of the brand-new series, Hydrant Assist Kit Explained. We will be covering a wide range of topics, including explaining what a Hydrant Assist Kit is, what are the major pieces of the kit, and how it can help you save time, money and headaches. We hope you enjoy learning about all things HAK!
A topic we will be discussing today is what important pieces are in the kit. But first, we will explain what exactly a Hydrant Assist Kit does.
A Hydrant Assist Kit (HAK) attaches a yard hydrant to a waterline. Once your hydrant has a HAK there is no need for costly and dangerous digging. You can replace your hydrant in minutes from the surface. Our products save time, money, and the mess that comes with digging! In today’s blog post we are going to take a closer look at the component pieces that make this possible.
Brass Bottom
The brass housing at the bottom of our hydrant assist kit is the most important piece. It’s made from a lead-free brass. The waterline hooks into the 1’’ female thread. Water then flows up through an internal elbow that the hydrant screws onto. The Larger 3’’ female threads accommodate a PVC adapter that you glue 3’’ sch 40 PVC into which creates a sleeve for the hydrant. The combination of a sturdy thread centered in the base of the kit with the 3’’ sleeve allows a hydrant to be removed and replaced without digging.
We use 3’’ because the hydrant fits with room to spare, but there isn’t enough space at the base for the hydrant to miss the threads. When you slowly turn the hydrant like you are screwing it in, you’ll feel it align itself on the threads and you are good to go.
Stainless Steel Staple
The staple in the hydrant assist kit is about 10’’ long and it’s made from ⅜’’ stainless steel rods. We cut and bend all of these in house, and the reason we include them with our kit is simple. We want to make sure that you don’t need to dig up your kit under any circumstances.
The staple works on any size waterline 2” or smaller. We recommend bringing a brass nipple out of the base housing before converting to an adapter. With the extra nipple you have two sturdy contact points for the staple to touch. These contact points work like an extra set of hands holding that connection in place underground. If you accidentally screw your hydrant too tight it may take a little effort to unscrew years later when it fails. We want to make sure that you don’t twist off the connection below the surface, as you would then need to dig it up to repair it.
Green Cap and Collar
The cap and collar serve a few purposes. The biggest one is to keep debris from getting down into the drain back hole. But it also centers the hydrant and keeps it from wobbling around in the sleeve. The collar screws onto the PVC adapter and has flat sides that the cap clamps down on. This holds everything in place.
The cap also has slots in it to accommodate a heat tape. Heat tape is not necessary on standard hydrants. However, if you live in an area where the groundwater table is high, you may find yourself in a situation where your hydrant will not drain due to the water table being above the drain hole.
Equipping your hydrant with a heat tape will get you through the cold months without experiencing freeze ups. We have also seen customers install our kits as a water supply for a building with no basement. Instead of installing a hydrant, they use a rigid pipe with a heat tape on it and plumb the rest of the building from there. The notches in the cap are essential so that the heat tape stays in contact with the pipes and isn’t pinched off when you bolt the cap together. We use stainless steel nuts and bolts to hold the pieces together. They last for a very long time in any weather condition. If lost, they can easily be replaced as well.
Made in the USA
One of the most important values of our family-owned business is buying local. We are proud to say that all of our materials are sourced right here in the USA. We work with a foundry in Madison, WI for the raw castings of our products. Our parts are precision machined right here in southern Minnesota near our office. We only use Spears brand PVC adapters which are made in the USA. The caps for our economy line are manufactured in Oklahoma. The stainless-steel staples are made at our shop in southern Minnesota. We partner with a local company to have our caps powder coat painted.
It’s very important to us to be supporting manufacturers that have kept their production in the US. The quality and consistency of our products is unmatched.
Upgrade Your Hydrant with a Hydrant Assist Kit
If you are thinking about installing a hydrant, or are simply repairing or replacing your old hydrant, check out our “All About the HAK” page to find out more about how to upgrade your hydrant!
If you enjoyed this blog, we will be posting one every other Friday so check back in two weeks to find out more about picking the correct Hydrant Assist Kit for your hydrant.
