Replacing washers on monoblock mixer tap

[Dave Farrance]

My kitchen sink tap:

managed to get the cold tap's chromed collar off by wrapping masking tape around it, gripping it hard with a mole wrench and unscrewing it anticlockwise with considerable force. It seems to be a rubbish design with dissimilar metals that had corroded the screw threads together, despite being fitted just 4 years ago.

The next bit is defeating me so far. I can't get the brass whatsit out to change the washer. I've tried turning it both anticlockwise and clockwise with enough force to risk ripping the whole thing from the sink. Any suggestions? Are these normally unscrewed anticlockwise? I'd rather fix it than replace the whole tap if I can.

[The Medway Handyman]

Called head gear or jumper assembly. Normal screw thread e.g. undoes anti clock.

They can be a right little bugger to undo, they get stuck with limescale. You need to try & find a way of holding the body still while you apply sufficient force. Large good quality adjustable to give plenty of leverage is a help.

[John]

Why recommend an "Adjustable" when a proper ring spanner would be far better. An engineer wouldn't use an adjustable so why do people use them for plumbing tasks when there is a perfectly good hexagon??

A sharp whack on the spanner (in the right direction) would probably get it moving.

[Roger Mills]

I totally agree!

Also, unless I'm mistaken, the picture of the tap - still with its operating lever in place on the other side - suggests to me that it's a quarter-turn tap with a ceramic cartridge inside, rather than a multi-turn tap with a conventional washer. If I'm right, the OP will need a new cartridge - not a new washer.

[The Medway Handyman]

Because if you had ever done the job on a regular basis you would know there isn't a standard size - it varies with manufacturer. Ring spanners don't fit all head gears. Good quality adjustables do.

Indeed.

[The Medway Handyman]

Disagree about the spanner, agree about the cartridge.

[John]

Grease the thread when refitting any tap - you won't have a problem in the future.

[Roger Mills]

I agree that different taps may require different spanner sizes - but I would have expected a 'Handyman' to have a full set of ring spanners - I certainly have for DIY/car maintenance use.

The thing about a ring spanner is that it's far less likely to slip - and mangle the corners - than an adjustable is - specially when you need to hit it with a hammer.

[Dave Farrance]

Thanks. For bracing, I discovered that my largest adjustable spanner was just right to wedge between the flange on the base of the tap and the "arms" of the tap.

left tap was the worst since I had to lift the spanner on the brass nut away from the bracing spanner. I ended up standing on the sink surround to get enough leverage.

A replacement pack of two brass cartridges, "ceramic tap glands", identical to the originals, cost £17 from B&Q. Seems that "changing a washer" can be expensive these days.

After completing the job, I found that I could take one of the old ones apart. The two ceramic plates with the quarter-holes, appear to be held together mainly by water pressure. It seems to me that if a little limescale got between the plates, that would be the reason that the tap dripped. Maybe if I'd taken it apart, cleaned it and reassembled it, that would have been a sufficient repair.

[John]

Hope you greased the threads to make it easy to strip down next time.

[Dave Farrance]

Yes. I've got a quarter-century old tin of waterproof grease that still seems to do the job.

[John]

Same here - useful on new items as well as old ones!

[The Medway Handyman]

I have a full set of ring spanners - in the garage. Most head gears fall between metric sizes IME.

Unless you have one of these

[Roger Mills]

a Mole Wrench with parallel jaws. Doubtless better than a conventional Mole wrench, or an ordinary open-ended spanner. But, at the end of the day, it's still in effect an open-ended spanner which only operates on two flats rather than on all six corners[1].

[1] I'm sure that there's a better word than 'corner' for the points where the sides of hexagon intersect - but I can't think what it is at this time of night!

[RobertL]

e

"Grease the screws for your grandchildren" my father used to say to me when I were a nipper.

Robert

[The Medway Handyman]

>> Ah, a Mole Wrench with parallel jaws. Doubtless better than a

It works like an normal adjustable, you turn the adjuster to get the best fit, then use the 'mole' lever to clamp it in place. Apart from giving you an extra hand it does stop the slipping & rounding over.

[Ruppsy56]

replying to Dave Farrance, Ruppsy56 wrote: Hi Dave, I am not a plumber. Could you tell me how to fix the dripping on this unit or at least, how a professional is likely to go about that?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Unnscrew or prise off tap tops, remove tap head knobs, kill all water hot and cold, remove tap head units , see whats awry and re washer and/or recut the seats.

OIr given the likely cost of replacements, it it's easier replace the whole damned unit

[Ian]

replying to Ruppsy56, Ian wrote: I have exactly the same sort of tap. [Mine's a Swan]. The o-rings in the swively bit have obviously gone. I had a very similar tap before, which had a grub-screw you unscrewed, and then pulled the spout out. This one has no grub-screw that I can see - so what do you do? Do you just have to yank the spout out? Ian

[alan_m]

Very possibly a cartridge replacement on a quarter turn tap. Youtube has many instructional videos for tap repair/service.