Dripping taps and hard water

[Jever]

Hi all,

I'm not sure if the issues are connected but live in an area that has particularly hard water and I notice that a few years after installation my taps start to drip.

I'm wondering if this is caused by limescale deposits clogging up the working parts and if there's anything I can do to reverse the effects - or do I have to accept buying new taps every few years?

In one case I needed to replace a couple of cartridges but couldn't get replacements and so I had to but a new tap.

Does anyone else suffer with this problem?

Jever

 

[Danno1800]

Ceramic tap valves are a pain for the reason you state, they are often hard to find exact replacements for. In theory they are better than the normal washer valves and are supposed to last for yonks but the opposite is often true.

You can in theory open them up, clean them and reuse them but I haven't tried this, there's a youtube video out there where someone does it. It probably is limescale in which case you could try removing them and soaking them in limescale remover then brushing.

Since you got a new tap it might be easier to find replacements for that - they come in different sizes, my kitchen tap has a size that is easy to get hold of. Ebay has a range specified by height and number of teeth on the sprocket, search for "Replacement brass ceramic disc tap valve" and click through the options and they have measurements to allow you to get the right kind.

 

[FiremanT]

It probably is limescale causing the issues. When they have no gas work for me, they have me doing small plumbing jobs. I change a LOT of taps (or, rather, change the headworks or cartridge out of a new tap into the old (great for scrap beer money ). I would say that more than 95% are the HOT tap (supporting the scale theory). Has every one else noticed this?

 

[undertrained]

Do you have a scale reducer / water softener on your incoming supply?

 

[Danno1800]

Both my cold and hot tap went within a year of each other but i'm not actually in a hard water area.

 

[oilboffin]

Get a water softener the best ones are harveys softeners very good and I've met Harvey and he's
a really nice guy.Bob