Fixing an old tap/mixer set

[Stephen]

The tap/mixer on my bathroom sink started dripping so i tried to remove the tap to see what the problem was.

Unfortrunately I could not find (at Homebase or B&Q) a basin wrench big enough to remove the backing nut on the tap. The taps have been there for a long time and I think the backing nut is corroded onto the tap body.

With all my pushing and shoving the pipe between the tap and the mixer outlet snapped at the point where the pipe from the tap joins the mixer. It appears that this end of the pipe was threaded and screwed into the mixer outlet.

I have taken some photos to illustrate the problem:

1 shows the sink and tap positioning

Photo 2 shows the underside of the left hand tap. The photograph is labeled to show the supply connector and the connector that should go to the mixer outlet.

Photo 3 shows the underside of the mixer outlet. You can see where the pipe from the tap has snapped off just proud of the connector. What is the best way of removing this 4mm of pipe that is still threaded into the connector?

Photo 4 shows the pipe that went from the tap to the mixer outlet. The left hand nut screwed over the connector on the tap and right hand end is where it snapped off from the mixer outlet connector. Somehow I have to replace this pipe and tap the end to give it a thread (is this possible?)

Photo 5 shows the backing nut of the tap. How can i unscrew this? Do I have to try and find a bigger basin wrench. Is there any way of freeing up he corrosion?

Can anyone offer any tips on how to fix this? Thanks for your help!

[Harry Bloomfield]

Stephen laid this down on his screen :

Is the pipe between tap and mixer a standard size?

I it is I might be inclined to suggest cleaning up the socket for it in the mixer - remove the short broken off pipe, clean the internal thread down to bare metal (brass?) and solder a new length of pipe in. Old nut and perhaps olive can then be transferred to the new.

[Stephen]

Hi Harry

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, the pipe appears to be 15mm.

How do I clean the socket (i.e. remove the 4 mm bit of pipe that is 'stuck' in it)?

Stephen

[Harry Bloomfield]

Stephen brought next idea :

Copper is very soft and from your photos it looks as if you should be able to push a very thin, sharp flat screwdriver down between socket and pipe - that might enable the pipe to be buckled into the centre of the diameter. Once buckled it should pull out. The other way would be to use a short bit of hacksaw blade to cut it.

I'm wonder if the thread might be a taper one, intended for the pipe to be screwed in cutting its own thread as it goes? I have never come across it but I suppose it might work with a bit of sealant around it. There is not really much pressure there.

[The Medway Handyman]

You need an adjustable basin wrench

some WD40 and blood, sweat & tears.

Its obviously corroded to hell & back. It will probably be a bugger to undo. Welcome to the wonderful world of plumbing. Liberal spraying with WD40 over a few days will help, other than that patience, brute force & ignorance.

Very helpful, wish more people would take the time & trouble to do this, makes diagnosis much easier.

Take my advice & don't even try to repair it, you will just cause yourself work, expense, pain, consternation, wailing & gnashing of teeth. Cut the supply pipes off about a foot above floor level & start again.

New basin mixer, new supply pipes.

Trust me. BTDTGTTS.

[john.sabine]

Looking at the pictures, is the hex on top of the basin (ie where the valve top attaches) a nut? I'd suggest getting some leverage on the parts below and a spanner on this - the few three-hole mixers I've seen have all worked like this.

In principle I agree, with the caveat that if the OP can get the valve body out so he can work on it more easily, and if Harry's suggestion of it being a self-cutting thread is right, then that's got to be worth a quick try.

Oh, and in terms of access, I'd be thinking at a pretty early stage of removing the basin and fettling the plumbing before refitting. Getting all the bits of a three hole mixer lined up right is a little easier when you're not working above your head in a confined space and can get more than a sixteenth of a turn on a spanner - the locknut may also respond better to a 12in adjustable than it does to a basin wrench.

John

[The Medway Handyman]

You've done this before haven't you? :-)

[Stephen]

Hi all

I'm going to remove the sink before I go any further. That way I can use a nice big spanner (as John suggests) on the back-nut instead of the basin wrench.

Then I'm going to make an attempt to fix the connection to the mixer outlet.

If it is a self cutting thread then do I just try and twist the pipe into the socket?

Thanks

[Pete C]

On Jun 16, 10:23=A0am,

It /might/ help to anneal (permanently soften) the pipe, just heat it to cherry red then let it cool naturally.

Try it on a few offcuts first though.

Also a tube of leak sealer like liquid PTFE or Fernox LS-X might come in handy.

cheers, Pete.

[Stephen]

Here is chapter 2 of the progress in pictures:

sink is now removed so that I can get at the connectors.

photo 3 shows the working part of the tap/mixer connection (to the cold tap)

photo 4 shows the pipe inserted into the cold tap. As the pipe is tightly screwed at the other end into the mixer assembly, removing it from the cold tap connection may be problematic... I'm going to have to loosen the cold tap so that i can lever it away from the pipe to the mixer assembly.

Onwards...

[dennis]

Looking at the pictures I would say it has been fitted as an assembly from the bottom. I would expect the top bits to unscrew and leave the bottom intact. But that's from looking at the pictures and not the actual thing.

I'm not one for antique looks myself so I would have chucked it.

[Stephen]

Hi all

Well its all off and laid out for you to see:

the questions is... do I refurbish or replace?

The tap/mixer are pretty solid, heavy and good quality. I think it would cost a fair amount to replace with something similar.

But then again it could be a real pain putting back together and I'm not sure it would be water-tight (especially the mixer 'column' as there are lots of bits where leaks could occur)

What do you think?

[Stephen]

Pete

That has worked like a charm.

Brilliant!!! Cheers!

It /might/ help to anneal (permanently soften) the pipe, just heat it to cherry red then let it cool naturally.

Try it on a few offcuts first though.

Also a tube of leak sealer like liquid PTFE or Fernox LS-X might come in handy.

cheers, Pete.

[Stephen]

Well, its done.

Cleaned, refurbished, parts replaced and reinstalled.

Thanks to all of you who gave me advice.

Cheers!