Valve insert required for Hafele basin faucet

[abenn]

At my wife's family's house in Bangkok we have two Hafele cold-only basin faucets, part no. 589.22.000. When one started dripping I went to the place where we bought them to get a new valve insert, but they said they could only 'repair' the tap if we took it to them!

Since I was shortly returning to UK I thought it would be simple to get a replacement valve insert here, but that's not proving to be the case. I brought one of the leaking Hafele valve inserts back with me, and it looks very similar to ones I can get at Screwfix, except that the height of the splines is 12.5mm on the Hafele one vs. 8mm on the Screwfix one. I also tried Woolseley this morning, but theirs is visibly different, and they warned me that even if the number of splines is correct (20) their diameter may be fractions of a mm out.

I've been touch with Hafele UK, and they referred me to their local dealership network. I phoned the closest one to me and he checked his computer and said the model number I quoted doesn't appear in the UK inventory, so he couldn't do anything. I've emailed Hafele's German HQ, but no reply yet.

Any suggestions please as to how I can be sure I'm getting the right insert? Is there a European standard for the dimensions these days?

 

[Newboy]

Any suggestions please as to how I can be sure I'm getting the right insert?

The only guaranteed way is to take the tap head and ensure that it fits over the splines.

Careful measurement of all the cartridge dimensions is possible but still no guarantee.

 

[abenn]

Thanks. Unfortunately I only brought the valve insert with me from Bangkok. So, are the splines the only real variable these days, with other dimensions reasonably well standardised? I'll see if any of the tap heads I have here in UK fit the splines.

 

[Newboy]

are the splines the only real variable these days, with other dimensions reasonably well standardised?

Sadly not - there are so many variations - have a look here

https://shop.lunns.net/ceramic-disc-valves-42-c.asp

 

[jono_h]

The inserts from Screwfix come in three lengths - 8, 9 & 10.5mm so you might get away with the longest ones. And they're not that expensive if they turn out to be wrong.
In the past it seemed to be that every manufacturer had different splines, but the Screwfix ones have fitted everything that I've changed recently.

As others have said the only way to be truly sure is to have the handle to try.

 

[abenn]

Wow, that's revealing! Thanks for the link. There's no mention of Hafele in that list, but if I can get some accurate measurements of the valve I've got, I might be able to get a good match.

 

[abenn]

The inserts from Screwfix come in three lengths - 8, 9 & 10.5mm so you might get away with the longest ones. And they're not that expensive if they turn out to be wrong.
In the past it seemed to be that every manufacturer had different splines, but the Screwfix ones have fitted everything that I've changed recently.

As others have said the only way to be truly sure is to have the handle to try.

Yes, I replaced my UK kitchen ones with a pair from Screwfix without any problem, except the screws holding the tap tops are frozen in place so I can't get them off to see if they fit my Hafele valve. They're soaking in WD40 at the moment with that in mind.

 

[abenn]

I've got a solution: Hafele UK and Hafele Germany both said they couldn't (wouldn't?) help with spares for this faucet, but Germany referred me to Hafele Thailand (which I didn't know existed) and they've responded to my email with part number and price. As it happens in the meantime I've found several cartridges on the link in NotSoNewboy's post above that match the dimensions of my Hafele one, except for the diameter of the threads that go into the tap body. Mine measure 19.8mm diameter, but those in the link show 20.5mm. Could that be because the sharp edges have been worn off mine by installing it, or does it suggest that it's a different standard thread?

The valves in the link only come in hot and cold pairs, and they're much more expensive than the Thai ones, so I'll get the Hafele ones from Thailand.