Replacing washers in kitchen tap

[MM]

This is my kitchen tap:

And it's started to drip very slightly, so the washer(s) are going to need replacing.

1. To do this I need to shut off the water supply. The cold is dead easy, because the tap is under the sink.

1. In the case of the hot water, in the airing cupboard there is an isolating valve with a red wheel-type knob on the pipe that comes from the bottom of the hot water cylinder.

2. There is also a similar valve, also with red knob on one of the pipes leading through into the loft.

1. I assume it's the one at the bottom of the cylinder I need to close.

2. Back to the tap, does this type have ceramic washers? Are they standard, or do I need to take the old washer with me to e.g. Plumb Centre?

1. As the water will be shut off, I'm going to take the opportunity to fit inline isolating valves to the pipes directly leading to the sink. I've done that job before, so it shouldn't be too difficult, except the rather cramped conditions in the cupboard under the sink.

2. I also intend to fit the braided metal flexible hoses to the tap instead of the copper pipes currently. The problem with the copper pipes is that when one turns the swan neck of the pipe the tap body tends to move very slightly, which can't be good for the copper pipe connections. I figure that the flexible pipes have got to be better in this regard.

1. Any other tips I should be aware of? I last replaced tap washers 20 years ago on an old cast iron bath with equally old taps.

Cheers!

MM

[F Murtz]

Ceramic taps don't have washers as such,they have two ceramic plates that mate together with holes in each that line up when open but dont when shut. usually you replace the module as a unit,so you could take it with you as a sample but there are not always replacements available.

[Roger Mills]

The first thing to do is to decide whether the drip is coming from the cold or hot side. Turn the cold off under the sink, open the cold tap on the mixer tap until it stops flowing, then close it again. See whether the taps still drips. If it does, the drip *has* to be on the hot side - but the chances are that the drip will stop because it was on the cold side (at greater pressure).

If it's the cold side that's leaking, you can tackle that without needing to turn off the hot water.

If you *do* need to turn off the hot, find the pipe which feeds the bottom of the cylinder from the bottom of the header tank. If there's a tap in that, turn it off. If there isn't, reach down inside the header tank in the loft and stuff a cork in the outlet which feeds the cylinder.

I don't know for sure, but it looks like a quarter turn ceramic tap. How much do the levers move from closed to open? If 90 degrees, it's ceramic, if a lot more, it's a conventional tap with a rubber washer.

Assuming it's ceramic, you can't replace just the washers - you have to replace the innards of the tap (usually referred to as a 'cartridge'). There are lots of variations - particularly in the spline details for attaching the lever. Places like B&Q stock some of these, but they're likely to be cheaper from on-line sources once you've identified the right one for your particular tap.

Good idea. Get full flow ones with knobs or handles. The ones with screwdriver slots frequently fail when you try to turn them off!

The copper pipes provide a bit of rigidity for the tap. Braided pipes provide none - the tap body will move even more, and the top of the sink will flex more. Also, braided pipes probably have a smaller bore than the existing copper, so the flow rate - particularly gravity-fed hot - may suffer. I'd keep the copper pipes! If you *do* replace them, you'll need to unscrew one to find out the thread size before buying the new ones, because there are several different sizes.

Removing the cartridges is easy. Prise off the red or blue cap on the lever and undo the screw. Slide the lever off the spline. You will then see the hexagon of the cartridge, which needs to be unscrewed with a spanner. It might be quite tight after a few years - so use a correctly fitting ring spanner, and support the body of the tap with your other hand to avoid bending the sink.