Can't get sink tap tight - help please

[robgraham]

I've a sink tap that has always given bother with being loose on the sink. And whatever I do I cannot get it to lock up.

I've a white silicone washer between the tap body and the top of the sink - underneath there's a rubber washer, a top hat washer, a metal washer and then a brass top hat nut. I'm tightening with a box spanner and am tightening as far as I feel is safe.

The cold tap has not given bother !!

My next step is to replace the flexible coupling with copper pipe.

What am I doing wrong as I seem to be this according to various websites ?

Rob

[Luke]

To be honest Rob I would recommended changing to a rigid copper pipe as this will make a dramatic difference to the firmness of tap and its propensity to work loose, especially if you can incorporate pipe clips or other anchorings for the copper pipe under the sink. I have always found flexible pipes unsatisfactory if used on a tap which requires any amount of force to turn it off (i.e. not one with a ceramic washer).

Perhaps the hot works loose more readily because of the continual expansion/contraction? Or maybe the mating surfaces are not quite flat, which precipitates the loosening.

But yeah - rigid pipework is the way to go.

Luke

[The Medway Handyman]

Try it without the rubber washer underneath, just the top hat & back nut.

Dave TMH

[Dave Baker]

Most likely because something is bottoming out rather than actually clamping the tap. I suggest you check the top hat washer doesn't stick through too far.

[fred]

Second that but replace washer with a bed of combined adhesive and sealant goop such as Plumbers' Gold or Cerecit FT101:

Cerecit one is evilly sticky but takes an age to go off.

If it's a ceramic sink then roughen the glaze too, make sure it's scrupulously clean and degreased with solvent.

[John]

Not sure that relying on the pipe to hold the tap rigid is a good idea. You are passing the movement onto something that is not designed for that purpose. Have you also address why people need to turn the tap off so hard? I well maintained tap shouldn't need much more of a twist than a ceramic - toy are only screwing a washer onto a seat - it the washer is good and the mechanism is greased then it should be easy. the "bottoming" suggestion sounds good.

[The Medway Handyman]

?

Second that but replace washer with a bed of combined adhesive and sealant goop such as Plumbers' Gold or Cerecit FT101:

that Plumbers Gold as good as they say it is?

-- Dave - The Medway Handyman

[fred]

In article , The Medway Handyman writes

I've only used it in unconventional apps so far, not plumbing.

I was sealing some joints in stonework where I needed something that would bond to damp stone and handle a bit of movement.

I started with the Cerecit which as I say was evilly sticky but only available in off white which wasn't the best match for the job. Spotted PG mentioned here (might have been you actually) and switched to it as it is available in clear.

It's not as initially sticky as the Cerecit but it has adhered well (the surface was slightly damp) and hasn't let any damp in yet. No comment on plumbing uses so far.

[robgraham]

Well I've gone the rigid pipe way for now as it was an easy option without having to fall back on my pipe-bending skills ! I don't think the family is to blame for over tightening the tap, but it's been loose for some time and it had to be tightened as it has been left running at a fast drip on occasions.

The nut certainly wasn't bottoming. I did think that perhaps the top hat washer was a solution but was left in confusion from my internet searches as to how to use it - web searches showed it with the 'brim' down against the nut and the 'hat' part being use to centre the tap in the hole, or then others other way up and the brim against a rubber washer on the underside of the sink - I went the latter way as the sink hole wasn't large enough.

Perhaps I'm wrong in using a piece of lead as the metal washer ?

Rob

[cynic]

Plastic top hat washers invariably yield with the result you have found. On the whole they are unsatisfactory and I often used to employ made up metal spacers with sealant between the tap flange and the sink top to prevent water getting through to the underside.