My kitchen faucet is dripping. It is a single lever Delta faucet. Sometimes it drips faster sometimes slower, if I push the lever down and hard sometimes it will stop the drip - until I have to use it again.
Is this something that will require a replacement of the faucet, or replacement of some parts? I plan to shut off the water supply, there is a bolt at the base of the lever that I will open up and see. But not sure what I am looking for. I tried to remove the entire faucet unit but the "ring" at the base under the counter top is real tight and nothing I have will free it, I have a wrench large enough but not at the angle where I can apply any leverage and no room to have any "bite". Is there something I can do to fix this from the top?
A single handle faucet will typically use a "cartridge" inside that is cheaply and easily replaced. Normally you would be unscrewing a ring under the handle (not under the sink) to get at the cartridge.
woah there big fella. No need to boar hog the entire faucet. The only thing you need is new O rings. Less than a buck at your local hardware store.
Most single handle faucets have a cap of some sort covering the handle. They are usually held on by a small screw or just snap on.
Carefully determine how it's held in place and remove the cap.
Turn off the hot and cold water from underneath the sink.
Cover your drain hole so you don't have anything fall into the drain.
Unscrew the bolt holding the faucet handle in place.
Remove the assembly containing the rubber O rings and take to your local hardware store, or even simpler, just remove the O ring and take it to your local hardware store and buy a replacement. They come in kits with varying sizes or can be purchased individually for about 10 cents.
Bring home, install O ring an review installation procedure.
Briefly: Take handle off. Loosen big chrome nut under the handle (may be corroded on). Inside you will find the Delta "ball". Under the ball are 2 sets of "springs and washers". Replace ball and spring/washer with Genuine Delta parts; forget about generic parts. Get the seal kit too which has the parts on top of the ball. There is another kit with the O-rings for the spout.
Although you can get Delta parts individually, your first repair is best done with a rebuild kit, which most home centers sell. Less than ten bucks, comes with a couple of special little tools you'll need. Put a large towel over the drain. There's a hex screw you have to remove from the faucet handle. Gremlins will make it want to go down the drain. Did I mention you should put a towel over the drain?
Don't forget to put a towel over the drain, by the way.
I've had good luck with Delta in my old house. When Imoved here, I had to replace the rubber parts and cartridges every six month. I cursed Delta and swore I'd never buy another. After a couple of years I put in a whole house water filter with a sediment cartridge. I've not had to repair a faucet since (10 years now). I do replace the filter cartridge every few weeks and it has a lot of rust in it that was abrading my faucets.
And, if there's a hose sprayer involved, spend a couple of bucks more and replace the "diverter valve" while you've the faucet open, they usually "go" about the same time as the seals. (Lift the faucet spout straight up and off after you've got the top cap off to get at the diverter valve).
Oh, and those top caps on the Delta faucets can sometimes be bears to unscrew. Slip joint pliers work, If you don't care about marring the nice knurling on them. I've never had any luck wrapping them with adhesive tape first either, the plier's teeth cut right through the tape. Much better to use one of those "boa" strap wrenches for that part of the job. If you don't have one already, they really are the cat's ass for jobs like that.
One thing I've noticed is that it seems that Delta for the most part has gone to plastic whereas you can still (if you look hard) find metal replacements...these seem to last longer still...
Hard water such as we have is definitely a contributor, too...
You then followed up and told him the same thing I did except my luck w/ the Delta parts has not been as good as w/ some of the generics recently... :(
If you call Delta about the leak and ask for some directions about replacing parts, in many cases they will send out the necessary kit at no charge. MLD
I doubt this one does. If it's like the single lever Delta I have in my kitchen, it's easy to fix. There's a 1/8" allen screw at the base of the handle in the front that you remove first (after turning off the water either under the sink or the whole house valve and then bleeding off what's left in the line). Wrap a rag around the chrome that's revealed when the handle is lifted off and use a large set of channel lock pliers to uncrew the mechanism intact. Do not mess with the white nylon adjustment nut at the top or any adjustment mechanism for that matter; it isn't necessary.
What you're looking for is under the brass ball with the short shaft. Inside the faucet itself you'll see two black rubber seats resting inside two detents. The seats are sitting on a couple of little springs: note the position so you can put it back together.
The leak is most likely caused by a nick in one or both of the rubber seats. Go ahead and replace them both while you're there. Reassemble everything in reverse order and turn on the water. You're good to go. There's no need for further disassembly / reassembly. A parts kit from the borg should be under $10.
If water leaks when you swing the faucet to one side or the other then you need to go ahead and lift off the large chrome spicket and replace the two large rubber orings underneath. If it's not leaking, then don't bother.
Those little rubber seats are easy to replace, but I should note that the ball that connects to the handle often wears too, and will require replacement. While you're at it you may as well replace the thing under the cap where that ball rides against.
In other words, replace the rubber seats, and if it still drips, get a complete kit. Or just get the whole kit right away so you dont have to fix it twice. I am just dealing with a delta two handle tub faucet. I replaced the rubber seats and it still drips on the cold side. So now I have to replace the cartridge.
This is just my opinion, but when they came out with these so called "washerless" faucets, the advertising made it sound like this was a big improvement in faucets. What it really was, was a way for manufacturers to make more money. The old washer faucets would require new washers every 3 to 5 years (50 cents) for average use, and new brass seats every 10 years or so ($5 for two of them). Now we got cartridges and rebuild kits, and every brand is different, and they all cost from $8 up to $30, and some are much harder to work on then the old washer/seat faucets. I have also found that they last no longer than washers, and in many cases last shorter.
Plumbers used to be able to carry a box of washers for which there were about a dozen common sizes, and carry a few dozen of the most common seats. Now they got to spend a fortune to keep all these different cartridges in stock. This washerless thing is nothing but a joke, designed to make more money for themselves.
By the way, Moen has the reputation for quality faucets. I do tend to agree they are one of the better brands, but when it comes time to buy a new cartridge, prepare to spend well over half the cost of a new faucet for the cartridge.
I personally wish they would go back to washer faucets.
Or you can call Moen's toll free number and get a free rebuild kit, or maybe even a free cartridge, assuming you are the original owner and you have a lifetime warranty.
What other posters said about the ball and the two rubber pieces with springs under them is pretty accurate. You can go to Delta's website and they have detailed instructions for this with illustrations. If you don't know your model number, find one by using the pictures. If it looks like yours, chances are it's built the same way.
The only other thing I would add is that is that if you have a spray hose, and the water from the faucet does not go off completely when you use it, or it has little pressure, you might want to replace the diverter too once you have everything apart. It's cheap and you've already done the labor by taking everything else apart. Once the faucet itself is lifted up, the diverter just pulls out from the front.
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