Ceramic Disc type Tap Cartridge

[Johntheo5]

I have a number of these type tap sets installed for > 10 years, no problems with dripping/leaking, mains pressure is 3.2/3.7bar, my daughter who lives ~ 3 miles away, same water source, (urban) has two of these type installed, one, a toilet hand basin, gravity fed, no problems after ~ 8 years, the other has one (hot) gravity tap, the other, cold, is mains fed at 4.2/4.8bar, this tap starts dripping after ~ 2.5/3 years and I have to renew the cartridge, fortunately I can source them that the handle fits as well. Is this normal?, the only difference is that the mains pressure is ~ on average 1bar higher, the water quality is excellent, when I remove the cartridge, the disc faces look perfectly clean/smooth.

 

[Bonni]

They either work or don't work and there's really no reason why. Maybe depends which part of China they come from. I've changed the odd one too that decided to drip.

One thing I did come across was on a new build, the big house builder bypassed Trevis Perkins and went direct to a Chinese bathroom supplier. Spare parts wouldn't fit, they were an obscure size so I had to replace the taps.

I find nowadays, it's easier and less hassle just changing plumbing parts rather than trying to source and fit spares.

Ceramic disc taps are compatible on all types of system.

 

[Mister Banks]

I have a dripping tap with a ceramic cartridge, not changed it as I can’t identify amongst the multitude of designs which cartridge I need!

 

[Alec_t]

tap starts dripping after ~ 2.5/3 years and I have to renew the cartridge, fortunately I can source them that the handle fits as well. Is this normal?, the only difference is that the mains pressure is ~ on average 1bar higher, the water quality is excellent, when I remove the cartridge, the disc faces look perfectly clean/smooth.

In my experience the problem is not the ceramic discs; it's the rubber seal at the cartridge base. After time this seems to lose some of its elasticity, so water can creep past. Obviously, the greater the water pressure the greater the flow.

 

[Johntheo5]

You are probably on the right track there, you also have a "O" ring on the top so when you tighten down the cartridge both the O ring and the rubber seal at the base are compressed, this also determines the compression of the ceramic disc faces, so leakage may also occur here when some of the elasticity is lost?. A new O ring and base seal might cure the problem. I tighten the cartridge well down and the hanle is then definitely stiffer in operation at least initially. Its relatively easy to get a replacement but its quite difficult to get one with the correct diameter spindle & number of splines to fit the existing handle(s).