Unable to remove tap body to get to washer

I was working on an old unoccupied house yesterday. The people who used to live there were very careless with water and clearly didnt look after their bathroom.

Anyway I was asked if i could try and change the washers on the kitchen sink, bathroom basin and bath taps just to stop the dripping water as a temp measure.

The taps are all of like the one in this pic.

http://nextday.diy.com/app/jsp/product/productPage.jsp?productId=25525

they are acrylic head taps, and were installed 15 years ago, with no work ever being done on them since. The home owner told me he attempted to change the washers a couple of years back but couldnt get to it.

so, i had a go. I took off the cap, undone the screw, However i was unable to get the acrylic tap head off! No matter how much effort i put in, i just couldnt get them off, any of them, apart from the 2 on the mini basin, which he said was hardly ever used. The taps which were regularly used, wouldnt budge. On the bath tap I put in extra effort using screwdrivers as levers and this snapped off the acrylic head, but also snapped the little spindle the acrylic head fits into.

I'm new to all this and this is the first time i've attempted these taps, and being unable to remove the acrylic heads to get to the washers was very disheartening!

I had a closure inspection of where the tap head fits onto the spindle, and noticed a bit of limescale, which i'm assuming is whats basically glued the taps on. I tried tapping this repeatedly to loosen it, but no luck.

Is this a commen problem and is their any way of getting these off? Or does the whole tap have to be replaced?

surely you guys have come across this issue?! or am i the only unlucky one?!

so the screw has come out of the top of the tap head, and the tap won't pull off?? - try loosening the limescale with a small flat headed screwdriver or squiet wd40 on it and let it soak in. f no joy, maybe new taps would be your best bet...

Maybe someone stuck them on with araldite after they came loose last time?

what's araldite mogget?!....

steved101 said:

what's araldite mogget?!....

Click to expand...

Two part epoxy resin glue - it's very very strong! I guess a lot of people tend to go for superglue now.

if you have not done this much, a couple of suggestions:

you can use "Tap Restorers" which replace the top part, and the moving parts (if you can get the top off the tap) without having to fit a complete new tap. It is less work, but much the same price as new taps. It doesn't matter if you damage the knob or nut, as you will be fitting a new one in the kit.

I always use silicon grease or PTFE tape on the threads after rewashering taps. It gives you more chance of getting then apart next time

you can get new taps quite cheaply. I find it easier to fit them using flexible tap connectors with a built-in service valve. You can cut off the old pipes at a convenient position.

You can get Fernox DS3 acid descaler quite cheaply on the plumbing shelf, you can drop the taps in a solution of it to clean then up while you have them apart. It works faster in hot water. I polish them up with green kitchen scourers afterwards.

I am a householder not a pro.

I tried the WD40 but couldnt get the taps off! Might give that acid a try!