We have a crain kitchen faucet single lever with swinging spout for two sink operation. The spout is hard to turn and I don't know if it can be lubed without turning off the water supply and taking the unit apart. Any one familiar with this problem? Frank
Somewhat depends on the design. With any luck, there should be a couple of shut off valves (hot and cold) under the sink. Turn these off. Typically, the faucet that moves is held with a retaining ring that screws on. There might be a set screw or two as well.
Under this should be a couple of "O" rings. Get a small tube of silicon grease (any good hardware or plumbing store). Clean things up with a tooth brush, lube the "O" rings, and the threads of the retaining ring. Put it back together. That's it. Watch out, things may be a trifle corroded, which might be adding to your woes, and you might not be able to get things apart. In that event, replace the whole faucet assembly, especially if you are in a hard water area. If you do replace it, grease all the threaded fittings. Makes it MUCH easier to take apart in the future. Home Depot or Lowes is your friend here. I have found that it is not worth the effort to try to service these things, but simply easier to replace them.
Let us know what the outcome is. Especially what make. What I said applies to Delta, IIRC.
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