dripping tap

[katieheath]

Hello experts of plumbing,

I have a bathroom tap that is dripping. I am presuming that I will need to replace the washer and I know that I need to switch off the water supply. My problem is that I don't know how to get the tap off. It is a mixer tap and there are no screws visible either above the ceramic basin or below it. There are 2 pipes that come from the base of the tap and they have a connector nut on them but otherwise I am at a loss.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks

Katie

 

[chrishutt]

It depends on the design of the tap - a pic would help. Typically you have the head that you turn (a cross shape?) and below this is a shroud which covers up the headgear that you need to unscrew. In some cases the shroud will unscrew (turn anti-clockwise) but you may mark it if your not careful.

If you manage to expose the flats on the headgear, you can use a spanner to undo (anti-clockwise again). You will probably need another big spanner to hold tap body to stop it all turning. If you get this far, post again and we can give further advice.

Oh, in case it's not obvious to you, turn off the water supply to the tap first!

 

[kaboom]

'Oh, in case it's not obvious to you, turn off the water supply to the tap first!'
Spoilsport!

 

[katieheath]

Hi Chris,

My tap looks very similar to the one in the link below.


http://www.tapstore.com/acatalog/Eclipse_Monobloc_basin_mixer.html

Many thanks for your help. Still don't know where the water shut off thingy is, but am working on it!

Katie

 

[chrishutt]

Katie, you can forget most of what I said before. The taps in the picture will have ceramic disc cartridges, rather than traditional washer mechanisms. Do yours open and shut with a "quarter" turn too?

It may be difficult to repair a ceramic disc cartridge, although sometimes the cartridge isn't sitting tightly enough against the sealing washers at the base. The usual thing is to fit a new cartridge. You will need to know the manufacturer of the tap to be able to get one. Any ideas?

If you look underneath the washbasin, you may find that the "tails" of the tap connect to isolating valves (probably with a screwdriver slot control - turn slot 90 degrees to align across the pipe line to close).

To inspect the cartridge, you have first to remove the handle. It may be held on by a very small grub screw - can you see anything?

 

[katieheath]

Hi Chris,

Thank you so much for all your help.

Yes, they do open with a quarter turn. I can't see anything like the screw you described on the 'tails'. I can't see any grub screw (not that I know what one is but there is nothing of a general screw type nature) and I don't know who the manufacturer is, so I will try to call the guy who developed this building. Sounds like a job beyond my humble abilities though, so to be honest I think I will have to try to find someone locally with your level of knowledge. If I have any luck with the developer guy and get get more info I'll definitely post again!

Many thanks again

Katie