Reconditioning dripping ceramic disc tap?
Lobster
the H&C taps, with ceramic discs inside; unfortunately the hot tap is
dripping quite badly (sufficiently so for the tap always to feel warm
from the leaking hot water).
Having trawled the uk.d-i-y archives for a solution, I did as directed
and removed the cartridge from the tap and took it a couple of
plumber's merchants to get a replacement. One said it was no longer
made, buy a new tap (it's only 2-3 years old); the other said without
the manufacturer's name (which I've no idea) he couldn't help.
Before I go and buy a new tap :-( has anybody had any experience with
cleaning up or reconditioning these cartridges? If so, how? Mine
comes apart easily to give two small white discs with triangular holes
through, and they look perfectly clean and flat to me.
Or any other suggestions?
Cheers
David
a_mcbride
and cartridge over night to soak gave them a clean with a toothbrush, and discs worked
again like new.
Andrew
Harry Bloomfield
> Before I go and buy a new tap :-( has anybody had any experience with
> cleaning up or reconditioning these cartridges? If so, how? Mine
> comes apart easily to give two small white discs with triangular holes
> through, and they look perfectly clean and flat to me.
>
> Or any other suggestions?
The might look clean, but try giving them a gentle scraping with a
sharp blade. I think you will find a lot of surplus gunge comes off the
faces. Dripping ceramic taps is a regular problem and I have found the
giving the tap a gentle series of thumps on the handle as you turn it
back and forth seems to fix the dripping.
--
--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.org
John Rouse
<davidlobs...@hotmail.com> writes
>My kitchen mixer tap is one of those with a 90-degree on-off levers on
>the H&C taps, with ceramic discs inside; unfortunately the hot tap is
>dripping quite badly (sufficiently so for the tap always to feel warm
>from the leaking hot water).
We've got exactly the same problem, first the cold went, then the hot
started dripping. The cold tap runs almost continuously now, glad we're
not on a water meter. Hope we have a drought this year - last time the
water company offered to come and fix dripping taps free of charge.
>
>Having trawled the uk.d-i-y archives for a solution, I did as directed
>and removed the cartridge from the tap and took it a couple of
>plumber's merchants to get a replacement.
I went to the PM's first. One said "they last a lifetime so the
manufacturers don't make spares". Another said that if I took the disks
in they would try and find a match. I took the disks in and they said
"No, you can't get those".
> One said it was no longer
>made, buy a new tap (it's only 2-3 years old); the other said without
>the manufacturer's name (which I've no idea) he couldn't help.
Ah, yes, I had that one as well, of course there's no name anywhere on
the taps.
>
>Before I go and buy a new tap :-( has anybody had any experience with
>cleaning up or reconditioning these cartridges? If so, how? Mine
>comes apart easily to give two small white discs with triangular holes
>through, and they look perfectly clean and flat to me.
>
>Or any other suggestions?
>
We have a lot of problem with gunk in the mains, being on the end of a
spur, and the man used to come every so often and flush out the mains.
Last time the water turned brown we rang them up, and they said "Just
run the cold tap for half an hour, full bore". We did this, and the
water eventually ran clear, and lo and behold the tap stopped dripping
for at least a month.
It hasn't worked a second time though.....
J.
--
John Rouse
Alan Vann
> Before I go and buy a new tap :-( has anybody had any experience with
> cleaning up or reconditioning these cartridges? If so, how? Mine
> comes apart easily to give two small white discs with triangular holes
> through, and they look perfectly clean and flat to me.
It's probably the 'o-ring' type thingy in the bottom got compressed over
time. It seals against the seat in the tap body and squashes the disks
together. Previous advice on here was to shim it with some thin plastic. I
tried it when mine went, but couldn't get a good seal.
After a bit of lateral thinking, I shimmed the 'screwdriver slot' in the
movable disk with a bit of plastic cut from the stiffener you get in a new
shirt (for no better reason than it was the right thickness and was sitting
by the bin ready to be chucked out :o)) - If you don't make it too thick,
you should be OK. This lasted for about a year, until the end of the spindle
crumbled away (cheap crap, obviously).
I got replacements in my local 'Grahams' (they had a box-full under the
counter). The guy reckoned they were all the same size, only the splines are
different. At 11 quid-odd a pair, I decided to chance it. The splines were
coarser, but fitted the handle better than the originals! (which were always
slightly loose).
HTH
Alan
Alan Vann
> Before I go and buy a new tap :-( has anybody had any experience with
> cleaning up or reconditioning these cartridges? If so, how? Mine
> comes apart easily to give two small white discs with triangular holes
> through, and they look perfectly clean and flat to me.
It's probably the 'o-ring' type thingy in the bottom got compressed over
Lobster
Just tried this. Although I couldn't see any crud in there anywhere,
and wasn't overoptimistic, it seems to have done the trick anyway! So
thanks very much.
David
ndlan...@gmail.com
I put a new twin-knobbed swivel-mixer tap in my kitchen not too long ago, but about 6 months ago the hot wouldn't shut off. This was my first experience with ceramic taps, so I took it apart and couldn't see anything wrong with it. I imagined it would be the pink plastic bung in the end, since it was the nearest thing I could see to an old-school tap washer, but on trying to buy a replacement, I had to buy the complete cartridge (10€!). I was fair scunnered! Now just lately, the cold started to run/drip, and I thought WTF? Impossible! So I took it apart, and again could see nothing wrong with it, except the pink bung was paler, and maybe a little compressed. Now wairt a minute. The tap handle had been a we bit loose, and I thought, "Mebbe the wee white bits arnae getting held thegether! So I put it back in, tightened up the final screw with my superstrength, and it now works fine! I'll bet that had been the problem with the hot tap too! Still, I saved myself enough for three pints.
Brian Gaff
whole new tap I suppose.
Brian
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<ndlan...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ed117b3f-4e63-461a...@googlegroups.com...
thought I'd share it for future ceramic sufferers.
I put a new twin-knobbed swivel-mixer tap in my kitchen not too long ago,
but about 6 months ago the hot wouldn't shut off. This was my first
experience with ceramic taps, so I took it apart and couldn't see anything
wrong with it. I imagined it would be the pink plastic bung in the end,
since it was the nearest thing I could see to an old-school tap washer, but
harry
DerbyBorn
DerbyBorn
Cynic
Tim Watts
> Plumb centre used to sell "universal" cartridges. They fitted a variety of common taps, even worked to convert screw down to ceramic
>
shaft type - size and number of splines (why oh why could they not have
settled on a standard?) and various parameters on the other bits.
Some taps I've had, the only way to get a replacement cartridge was to
buy a new tap! (for an edge case where changing the cartridge was a lot
easier than changing the tap due to access underneath).
kevide...@gmail.com
Unknown
> sorted my dripping tap. I suspect the ceramic discs do not leak but the
> blue/red plastic rings deteriorate with time. Try it.
taps - try soaking in limescale removal solution overnight. Acetic acid
is a good limescale remover.
The Other John
> I found that putting a fibre washer between the cartridge and the tap
> has sorted my dripping tap. I suspect the ceramic discs do not leak but
> the blue/red plastic rings deteriorate with time. Try it.
--
TOJ
Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)
I hate ceramic taps, thinking of starting a special ceramic tap hating
society.. grin.
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news:3e207554-3cff-419d...@googlegroups.com...
ric...@itmatters.ltd.uk
I had previously repeatedly removed the cartridges, dismantled and inspected them, cleaned, de-calc'd the parts in a variety of fluids, greased them back up and replaced them - only for a drip to reappear.
The tell-tale was that only the coloured rubber end seals (like a bloated grommet/washer and both white in my case) looked slightly distorted, where each has been forced against the tap body, as they get tightened up.
So, I tweaked the sensible advice above about adding a washer but I have replaced the original white end-seal with a slightly thicker but same diameter black ordinary plumbers sealing washer. I actually got mine from Halfords - they sell them in a mixed box for about £8 for a hundred red fibre and black washers.
It makes the tap operation feel slightly more resistant but smoother and most importantly - no bl**dy drips. It should stay fixed for another nine years and if not - I'll just replace the washers again. They look to be the only part that can ever actually wear as the ceramic should last forever, the brass casing looks pristine and the plastic parts are all greased and only travel a maximum of a quarter-turn in each direction.
My sincere thanks to everyone that pointed the way. I previously discovered the make and model of my tap and the replacement cartridges (£32 & £4 delivery) but I've saved that and since I already had the Halfords kit, for the car, I reckon the fix entailed, some standard cleaning fluid, some plumbers grease and two rubber washers.
Now, where's my celebratory beer...…..?