mixer tap problem

[oopsie]

The tap's hot water side has stopped working , there is very little or no flow. It normally needs about a couple of full turns for full off to full on. Is it a new one or can I fix it ?? cold side is working fine. thanks

[Handy]

Is your boiler a combi type that heats the water when you run the hot water, or does your boiler heat the water then store it in a hot water cylinder in an airing cupboard? The tap sounds like it has a rubber washer on a jumper (not a ceramic cartridge), in which case the washer could be worn or the tap faulty. But if you have a combi then it could be a boiler issue and nowt to do with the tap. The fact that the cold side is OK is neither here nor there.

[Roger Mills]

It sounds as if the washer has become detached and is blocking the waterway.

You'll need to turn off the water supply to the tap (you *do* have service valves, don't you?) and unscrew the brass barrel on the hot side of the tap to get at the washer. [Depending on the tap design, you may have to remove the handle and unscrew a chrome dome in order to get at the barrel]. When you have got it apart, fish out the old rubber washer, fit a new one, and put it all together again and turn the water back on.

[The Medway Handyman]

Common problem with hot taps, I've seen it half a dozen times. Take a look at

item

80267 & enlarge the picture. The circlip has probably come loose and so the tap always remains partly closed.

Best to change the whole assembley, they don't cost much from your local DIY store.

[oopsie]

[oopsie]

thanks I'll look at those points

Handy wrote:

[oopsie]

thanks to you all for your help.

o> ah.. No service valves. I will have to drain the water tank probably.

[Roger Mills]

You shouldn't have to drain the cylinder. Hopefully there is a tap or gate valve in the supply pipe which goes from the cold header tank into the bottom of the hot cylinder. If you turn that off and then run a hot tap, the water will stop running fairly quickly because there's nothing pushing it out of the hot cylinder. You can then take your tap to bits.

[The Medway Handyman]

Sadly Roger whilst that's how it should be, it is rarely the case in the real world. Generally there isn't said valve, or if there is it won't shut properly.

Wheel type valves occur occassionally, but they rarely shut off completely. In fact, stopcocks are also mainly useless for turning off the mains and rarely occur on pipes feeding cold water or CH tanks.

Bain of my life. But a good earner as I work on hourly rates.

[Roger Mills]

Even so, all is not lost - because you can reach down into the cold tank and stuff a cork in the outlet.

[The Medway Handyman]

I'm a pro - I have the proper rubber bungs :-)

These don't always work either, crud & scale ruin the watertight fit.