Advice re Kitchen mixer tap.

[uglee101]

Hi, i think i have overtightened my cold water tap on my kitchen sink mixer tap, have to turn tap several times now before water comes out ,and likewise ,when turning flow off, water stops but there is some freeplay and i can turn tap several times more times before it stops turning, however there are no visible leaks anywhere, my question is annoying as this 'freeplay' is am i ok to ignore it? have no knowledge of plumbing and dont want to start messing with it and risk causing a real problem, and dont know any plumbers and dread getting ripped off by one who might spot my lack of knowledge?

 

[footprints]

If you can post a picture of the tap it helps.

It sounds like you have the classic problem with modern taps.

If you think about it an old fashioned tap or stop cock when turned on the handle and spindle rises and then falls when you turn off.

With modern taps if you turn on one tap and leave the other off you will see the handles remain the same hight.

This is because the spindle is a telecopic arrangement where a nut shaped section attached to the washer moves up and down in a nut shaped tube attached to the handle, this is greased with a special silicone grease that dries out and wear takes place on the moving parts causing them to"lock up", a wiggle on and off often makes them operate, they can be greased but will not last long before jambing up again.

Best bet is to fit a set of tap revivers which will replace the moving parts.

http://www.screwfix.com/search.do?fh_search=tap+revivers&fh_view_size=20