Plumbing question - sticking taps
mangl...@yahoo.com
Just recently the hot tap on the bath started sticking so I couldn't
open it fully. Initially it would only go half way but now it
basically won't open at all. The bathroom sink tap is now going the
same way and I wondered if this might be due to a common cause or is
it most likely just that they would have been bought at the same time
so are failing at the same time ?
Is there anything I can do to fix them other than just buying new taps
(I'm on the dole atm and can't really spare the price of decent taps
and don't want to buy tat as an interim measure if I can avoid it).
Thanks,
David
A.Lee
> Just recently the hot tap on the bath started sticking so I couldn't
> open it fully. Initially it would only go half way but now it
> basically won't open at all.
>
Sounds like limescale or corrosion build up inside the tap.
Most taps can be dismantled to clean the insides. Some are dead easy,
just turn off the water, unscrew the lever. then unscrew the insert to
clean them, others are a lot more difficult to get apart in one piece.
If you can get it apart, and see white paste or green corrosion, then
give it a good clean, put it together, and try it, usually cleaning
sorts it for a while.
Alan.
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The Wanderer
Could be limescale build-up as someone else suggested, or possibly the
moving core of the tap has come out of it's guide. I had this happen with
my bath tsps a couple of times. Rather depends on the construction and it's
a bit diificult to put into words but obvious when you look at the tap
head......
The tap head will probably be three pieces, the body, a spindle through the
top of the handle with a thread, and a moveable washer assembly, actioned
by turning the spindle.
Rotate the spindle clockwise - closing the tap - and the washer assembly
will emerge fully from inside the tap head. Keep on turning and it will
come right off the end of the spindle.
In the case of my taps, the washer assembly is hexagonal brass which screws
onto the end of the spindle. The body of the tap head has a corresponding
hexagonal guide socket inside. The washer assembly slides up and down in
this socket as the spindle is turned on or off.
I've found that if the washer wears a bit thin, the mounting assembly can
actually come right out of the guide socket if the tap is turned off
vigorously. Open the tap, the washer assembly isn't then lined up properly
and the tap either won't open at all or only a very small amount.
I've found the easiest way to reinstal the washer assembly is to remove the
small circlip at the top of the tap head that holds the spindle in place
and push the spindle down through the body of the tap head. Screw the
washer assembly onto to the spindle and then line up the washer assembly
with the tap head before pushing the whole lot back into the tap head.
Don't forget to refit the circlip.
Quite by chance, I also happen to have some waterproof high temp pump
grease, and I've found it also helps to add a thin smear of that to all
surfaces before re-assembly. I guess vaseline would do.
As I said this works for mine. If yours if vastly different, you'll need to
take a good look as you take it all to pieces.
--
The Wanderer
Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid;
humans are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant;
together they are powerful beyond imagination. — Albert Einstein
The Medway Handyman
<SNIP>
> I've found the easiest way to reinstal the washer assembly is to
> remove the small circlip at the top of the tap head that holds the
> spindle in place and push the spindle down through the body of the
> tap head. Screw the washer assembly onto to the spindle and then line
> up the washer assembly with the tap head before pushing the whole lot
> back into the tap head. Don't forget to refit the circlip.
I've found a couple of times that the circlip has come off.
--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk