1980s-era dripping bath tap weird issue

[intruder2k]

Hi guys, looking for some advice for an unusual problem. I am very much a novice DIYer.

I have some 1980s-style bath taps in a very old bathroom. The hot tap has recently developed a fast drip out of the fawcett. Ideally I would like to try to fix the problem from the surface if possible as properly changing the tap will be very tricky due to access issues.

I've removed the tap gland to discover that there is no washer attached to this kind of tap. It's not that it's missing, the design is that it doesn't fit one. Instead, there appears to be a large movable white washer that sits in the base of the tap and which the gland itself pushes into. This white washer is too big to remove through the hole that the tap gland screws into. I can't find reference to anything like this anywhere on the web.

I have tried attaching a modern washer to the gland to see if it works, but the result is that the tap won't turn and the drip persists. I have also swapped the tap gland itself over with one from the the non-leaking cold tap, which has exactly the same set up with an internal white washer and which works fine, and it still leaks, which means that the problem must be with something inside the base of this hot tap.

Is there any good way to just stop the tap dripping from the surface? I don't mind losing access to the tap if necessary. I've tried sticking a rubber bung in it but the drip just bypasses it. Attached are pictures of the gland and of the white washer inside the base of the tap for reference.

Cheers.

 

[oldbuffer]

1. It should have a washer.
2. The washer fits inside the inverted brass cup at the very base of the tap.
3. The washer should be secured with a brass nut if the very lowest small brass rod is threaded. If not threaded, it should have a form of barb on it, and the washer just pushes on.
4. If it is a bath tap it is likely to need a 3/4" flat rubber tap washer. The 3/4 does not refer to the outside diameter of the washer, it refers to the size of pipe which was used in the past for bath connecting pipes. They are actually about 25 mm in diameter.
5. The white nylon bushing in the base of the tap body is the seat against which the rubber washer compresses.
6. You might save yourself a great deal of trouble by fitting tap revivers such as Screwfix item 20140.

 

[JohnD]

Looking at your first photo, I think there should be a rubber washer at the bottom. It fits into the brass cup, and has a hole in the middle that is retained in the brass stud.

If it is a bath tap, it needs a (nominally 3/4") washer

You can get rubber tap washers at any DIY or plumbers shop.

The old one might have fallen off inside the body of the tap. The white plastic thing does not seem to me to have a big hole in the middle, it might be strange sort of tap washer. Have a look in the other tap and see how it is made.

They last for many years, but wear out if they are turned off with great force. Old people who live with dripping, worn out taps, do that.

Arctic Hayes Holdtite Flat Tap Washers 3/4" 5 Pack - Screwfix

Order online at Screwfix.com. Replacement washers for tap glands. Internal dia: 4.9mm. FREE next day delivery available, free collection in 1 minute.

www.screwfix.com

Basin taps take half-inch washers. There are a few in odd sizes.