Stopping taps rotating?

[Biggles]

T i m [e-mail]> Wrote in message:r

I have found these work well:

[T i m]

HI all,

Daughter picked me up a pair of 1/4 turn taps from Screwfix for our bathroom basin yesterday and I was wondering if we bed taps down in anything these days to stop them leaking / moving or should the supplied rubber washer be ok?

I have used silicone previously but as you only get a very thin layer, it doesn't seem strong enough to hold the tap if it gets a strong push etc?

At the same time, I'm guessing you don't want to actually glue the tap into the (ceramic) basin in case you ever need to remove it? [1]

The rubber gasket works ok on twin / mixer taps because they are unlikely to rotate so just need to provide a seal?

Cheers, T i m

[1] A family friend had some work done in their bathroom and that required replacing the taps. The 'plumber' [1] tried but they had been set in putty that had gone a hard as concrete and he was worried he would break the (suite matching, no longer available) basin getting them out.

So they called me (an electronics tech?) and as the basin was already off, just put it on some dust cloths on the floor and chain-drilled the putty out with a long / thin bit from underneath till the taps fell out. ;-)

[1] Am I right in thinking that most 'trades' either don't often have many skills outside their own (or even within their own re getting taps out of a basin <g>) or simply don't want the trouble / bother of anything that could be time consuming / difficult?

A mate wanted some tiling done in a small bathroom and ended up doing it himself as he couldn't get anyone to take the job on at any money?

[Tricky Dicky]

I can remember back in the day basins had square holes and taps had a a square section at the base to match. Like I have said before progress does not always mean improvement.

Richard

[Fredxx]

I have used nylon washers above and below to spread the load to ensure the ceramic doesn't crack, mastic and a brass backnut. Don't use any crappy plastic backnuts that might come with the taps. They creep and strip threads.

With reasonable tightness and silicone you should get a sealed tap and it shouldn't move.

[alan_m]

I have a rotating (moving) tap problem on my metal bath. When fitted I used the supplied hardware and both taps were tight. Over the intervening years the hot tap is now very slightly loose, and more so after hot water has been flowing through it for many minutes. I presume that the temperature cycling has caused the tightening nut to start undoing.Sods law says of the two taps on the bath its the most difficult to reach. The taps were installed before the bath was put in.

[tabbypurr]

rubber washers + metal nuts are fine. If you've already fitted the plastic nuts, remove & bin. They are useless.

NT

[harry]

When the pipework is attached, it prevents rotation. Unless you have these stupid flexible connectors.

[tabbypurr]

I wouldn't like to rely on that. It can go wrong.

[RJH]

These work for me:

[Brian Gaff (Sofa)]

The weird thing is that original taps come with a kind of spigot that went into the corner of the square tap hole. Most new taps seem not to have this spigot. Was there some reason for this change in designing? Did people wish to mount taps in non standard orientations? Brian

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

harry submitted this idea :

and the flexible connectors allow a tap to wobble about, when mounted on a stainless steel sink.

[harry]

It NEVER goes wrong.

[harry]

It was devised for when all sinks were thick ceramic material. No good on stainless steel.

[tabbypurr]

I've seen it go wrong more than once. It ends up with the whole thing leaking.

NT

[Roger Hayter]

Typically when a tap connector on rigid pipework works loose with rotary movement of the loose tap tail.

[alan_m]

While not directly related to a rotating tap I once had a tap where the seal to the top of the sink had failed and over the years water had made it way to the back. This is where you discover that the gold/yellow coloured back nut wasn't brass but some completely rusty lump of material that once had been plated to look like brass!

[charles]

been there. Very small blade on a Multitool managed to cut said back nut.

[Tim Streater]

You use the flexi connectors precisely because the taps might come loose. Further, you use such connectors with a built-in shut-off.

Just like with the wall shower unit: leaks, off with the bath side-panel, and turn the water off there.

Our plumber has the right gadget to reach under the sink and grip the nut there to turn it and tighten up the tap. And, it's long, so useable even if the sink is sat on top of a unit. He also reground the bed inside both taps that the washer is tightened against when you turn the tap off (non-ceramic units). This stops any leaks from the tap.

Why would anyone glue or putty a tap in place?

[The Natural Philosopher]

On 16/06/2020 12:28, Tim Streater wrote: .

because the plastic nut thread shears long before the tap is rigidly affixed?

[PeterC]

That's why I keep brass nuts and use the de-threaded plastic ones as flanged locaters. Usually a little bit of some goo under the tap to stop water running down.