Mixer tap problem - no cold flow

[borntorun75]

Hi,

I have a mixer tap in the kitchen which now won't send any cold through. Hot gives a strong flow, but cold gives nothing. Been very weak the last couple of weeks and finally stopped yesterday.

Would this be a washer problem ? There's a good water flow to all other taps in the house.

With it being a mixer tap, I wasn't sure whether they shared a single washer. If they did, that shouldn't give the problem I'm experiencing.

Thoughts on how best to proceed are welcomed - just getting into this (!).

Mike.

[Roger Mills]

It could well be a washer problem. What type of mixer tap is it - does it have separate knobs for hot and cold, or is it a single lever jobby?

[The Medway Handyman]

Does it look like this?

[borntorun75]

Roger/Dave,

Yes it does like the photo - I guess it's somewhere about 10 year old

It does have separate hot and cold knobs.

Cheers, Mike.

[IAN CAPEL]

Does it only turn on about half a turn?

[borntorun75]

Hi. It turns as much as it ever did - fully 'off' to fully 'on'. If it helps any diagnosis, the water supply coming through the cold tap has been getting weaker and weaker over the last few weeks. Hot is as strong as ever.

There's a washing machine feed going off the pipes and that's working as expecting, so that's what makes me look at the tap for answers.

Cheers.

[Roger Mills]

The washer could have become detached from the tap mechanism, and be blocking the inlet. From what you say, it sounds like a tap with conventional washers - rather than a quarter-turn tap with ceramic discs.

You'll need to remove the tap barrel to have a look inside. First, turn off the cold water! You should find that the end cover of the knob will prise off, revealing a screw. Removing the screw allows the knob to be pulled off. You then need to use a spanner on the brass barrel to unscrew it. You'll probably find that it comes out *without* the washer - in which case you'll have to fish inside the tap body to retrieve the (probably broken) washer, and then fit a new one.

[borntorun75]

Thanks Roger,

Will have a go of this tomorrow and give some feedback. Hopefully it's something that I (a novice!) can tackle.

Thanks to all who have replied so far.

Very much appreciated.