Mending a kitchen tap

[Murmansk]

I've been asked to mend this tap - anyone familiar with them?

The cold one is ok and turns about 3 full turns from on to off.

The hot one only turns about half a turn and apparently sometimes no water comes out.

I presume I remove the lid from the top of the tape and then find a screw which I remove to take the handle off - the cover bit below is circular rather than hexagonal so I guess it's just a case of unscrewing it if I can grip it.

What will I find inside? Is it the kind that has a replaceable cartridge or will there be a rubber washer I can replace?

[John Rumm]

Quite likely yes

If the working one does three full turns, then its probably a conventional tap rather than a ceramic cartridge.

Once the chrome cover is off, you should see the top nut of the mechanism that you can undo. That will get you to the body and the washer etc.

[F Murtz]

This is usually because the tap has only been turned on this far for a long time and the thread on the tap shaft and what it screws into have corroded, if you dismantle the tap and clean the threads (male with wire brush and female with tool made for job)you will have full travel again

[harryagain]

Not forgetting to turn the water off. It may be neccessary to drain any tanks feeding this tap if there are no isolating valves.

[The Medway Handyman]

Unscrew the knurled ring where the ceramic 'hot' label is. Below you will find a screw, undo that & the tap head should come off. Might need a little percussive maintenance.

You will almost certainly find a brass valve looking like this;

B&Q and Wilkinsons sell them, about £5.

Just replace the entire thing.

[DerbyBorn]

The Medway Handyman wrote in news:nK0gu.66405$ [e-mail]:

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A reminder:

[The Natural Philosopher]

This is twin to the one I did last week.

Except the taps are centrally mounted and mine were on each end of a bar, but the rest is identical.

Switch off water Remove caps on tap tops Unscrew retaining screw Pull/knock off/detonate a small tactical nuclear device to remove/ the tap handles. Somehow unscrew the circular decorative bodies without ripping the chrome off Then you have to unscrew the tap mechanism. In the end this was a question for me of removing the whole tap to get a purchase on it and using extreme prejudice on the big brass nut.. Spend the next ten minutes rooting in the box of 'assorted tap washers' to find one that fits. The washers are sprung over a sort of belled over shaft. You might want to grease bits of the mechanism for smooth operation - silicone is best I guess. Putting it back together is easy.

Oh. I absolutely doused mine in scale remover (chrome safe) to help disassembly. It did a bit

[Roland Perry]

In message , at

03:02:18 on Mon, 11 Nov 2013, John Rumm remarked:

Or not, as the case might be. I had to replace my whole tap because that nut was seized so solid nothing I did would shift it.

[F Murtz]

They make a food grade grease for the purpose (better than silicone)

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yes. On mine it was 'bad' and removal of the whole tap, generous applications of de-scaler and brute force finally did the trick.

[The Natural Philosopher]

[Roland Perry]

In message , at 14:10:25 on Mon, 11 Nov

2013, The Natural Philosopher remarked:

Having removed my tap, and still not been able to undo it, it seemed like a good idea to buy a whole new tap (to replace the ten-year-old one).

[The Natural Philosopher]

Given a vice and a socket set its actually possible to either remove the head or break the tap.

Then at least you can say you tried - those big double taps don't come cheap..

interesting that my taps in constant use are also all getting iffy after ten years.

[Roland Perry]

In message , at 15:08:16 on Mon, 11 Nov

2013, The Natural Philosopher remarked:

I have many vices, but not one of the sort you mean.

(Plenty of socket sets though).

[Murmansk]

Thanks for all those helpful replies everyone.

The tap in question is probably more than ten years old and in a soft water area miles from anywhere - particularly DIY sheds and plumbers merchants, so it should be fun!!

[The Natural Philosopher]

If it wont come apart, take it out and service it on the bench

it really is a LOT easier

take the opportunity to fit ball valves if not already fitted

[The Medway Handyman]

Propane torch does the job :-)

[The Medway Handyman]

Bought some tap valve assemblies in Wilkinson today at a ridiculous £2:39 each. Cleared them out :-)