My bathroom basin is fitted with cheap taps from B&Q, brand name Plumbsure Azure. Over the past few weeks the hot water flow has gradually been slowing down and now it's stopped completely. The cold water tap works OK, and so does the bath tap (which is supplied by the same pipe as the basin tap).
Any ideas? The tap doesn't seem to have a gland, so I can't do the thing about undoing the gland nut and changing the washer.
The plunger that carries the washer is often lifted by water pressure alone and not by opening the tap directly - so teh shaft can get corroded and stuck down.
Not sure how you open yours up...
It will come apart somehow. It appears to have flats on the crome below the knob so it will unscrew there. Use some plastic or soft metal on the spanner faces to protect the chrome.
It might be relevant so I'll mention that the cheap taps in the last flat I rented had flats on the dome too - but they were a push fit over the tap bases.
Nick
Count the number of turns from off to as full on as they will go. Compare hot and cold. if they are different, then sometime it is scale creeping up the operating thread inside which in turn stop the jumper lifting. Dismantle and soak in vinegar, rinse and re-grease.
It must have a gland :-)
Did a similar set today. Prize out or unscrew the bit that has 'hot' printed on, underneath you will find a screw, usually phillips. Undo it.
Tap head should lift off, if not apply percussive force upwards.
The collar will either unscrew of lift off. Gland is there.
Most likely cause is the circlip allowing the plunger to go down too far.
Had similar problem on cold tap on a basin here the other day. Flow had been getting less and less. Took it apart and the washer had spread somewhat which seemed to be enough to stop it retracting into the top part of the tap correctly - stalling the travel of the mechanism. Stuck a new washer in it and it was fine again.
Yep, that was it. The structure of the tap isn't like the traditional gland, but it did come apart with sufficient use of force, and sure enough the plunger wasn't retracting properly. Silicone grease did the rest. Thanks all.
A useful tip I learned today is to steady the horizontal part of the tap with a box spanner while undoing the 'gland'. That prevents the tap itself twisting on its sink mounting while you wrestle with the nut.
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