Tap wouldn't turn on fully

The reason for this design is so that you need fewer turns of the tap head to open the tap fully.

The problem is that, when the tap washer gets compressed, the moving hexagonal bit can pass out of the hexagonal slot when the tap is closed. It can then turn slightly, and this prevents it from going back into the hexagonal slot. The result is that the tap will deliver only a fraction of its previous full flow.

It seems very common in cheap taps*. Replacing the washer with a new one will cure the problem, but only until the new washer also gets compressed, when the cycle repeats itself.

I cured the problem with my bath taps by buying a pair of new brass tap "capsules" from B&Q. In these, the moving hexagonal bit cannot pass out of the hexagonal slot even when the washer gets compressed. I cannot recall the exact price but they were less than £10 a pair.

If you want a design that has only a quarter turn from off to full on, the same company also makes a ceramic valve conversion that costs less than £20 a pair. Presumably this conversion would be relatively maintenance free, as there is no washer to change.

cannot recall the exact price but they were less than £10 a pair.

SNIP

Problem I've had with the ceramic is that they can fail with no warning, in the on position, i.e. the water flows quite quickly and you cannot turn them off at all. Requires a new assembly.

Peter

I have no experience with these particular ceramic tap conversions so I cannot comment. However I have ceramic taps elsewhere in the house (kitchen and downstairs cloakroom) and they have never given me any trouble.

ISTR curing one tap like that by putting a metal washer behind the rubber one; the rubber ones have a tendency to only compress so much, so packing out the 'washer space' with something metal that wasn't going to compress cured things.

It did seem like bad design for the tap mechanism to fail that way - but I also wonder if there are different grades of rubber washers available, and the sheds only sell the cheap and s***ty ones that fail relatively quickly. Maybe it's possible to spend twice as much somewhere for a washer that lasts ten times as long...

cheers

Jules

I replace loads of ceramic cartridges, good trade for me, bad news for the customer.

Rubber washers I can change in minutes, ceramic cartridge's I have to take out, drive to the only shop in the towns that has a good stock, match the cartridge, return to customer & change. Round trip of 2 hours in some cases depending on where I am & the traffic.

It's also a problem with expensive taps. :-(

Had some in a house with very hard water. The tiny seals are spring-loaded and would pick up minute pieces of debris, and then I'd have take the insert to pieces. The tricky bit was getting the seal to go back into it's housing over the spring. Much cursing and 'Why did you want these bloody taps?' :-)