Monoblock Taps

[singalong]

My son's monoblock sink tap is quite stiff to turn and the water flow out of it does not appear to be under much pressure and takes ages to fill a bowl. He now reports that the hot water has stopped flowing out of it but the cold is OK.
My question is; am I likely to be able to repair this by washer changes or is a new tap the better option.

 

[taydo]

this depends on the type of tap

ceramic disc is quarter turn on off

tap washer turns and tightens down softley

if it is washer type for the cost of washers its worth a go, if its the c/d type you will need to find out the type of cartridge first. in other words take it to your local plumbers merchant

always worth trying to repair first if the tap is in good condition

 

[peter anderson]

Taydo or anyone else, I don't understand how changing the washer helps the tap to open up or close off the flow of water. I thought washers in taps were just to prevent water leaking out of the joints in the taps. Surely if the tap is moving sufficiently up or down then it is doing the job.

Ages ago I changed my friend's bath tap because no hot water was coming out. Changing the tap didn't help and the cause turned out to be that a pressure fluctuator fitted to the hot and cold pipes (which I thought was advancing plumbing for pipe work but which a plumber told me is used for combi boliers) was blocking off the hot water supply. Once this was removed hot water flow returned to normal.

Pete

 

[AlanE]

'Surely if the tap is moving sufficiently up or down then it is doing the job.'
Assuming the washer is going up and down as well!

Alan

 

[Plumber Will]

Often the tap washers on hot taps fail before the one on the cold this is because the heat perishes the centre therefore enabling the washer to become "lazy" on the movement and doe's not travel is correct distance when turning the tap on or off.!!

 

[taydo]

had a call yesterdayexactly same problem

went there tap washer had perished and welded itself to the body stopping the flow. the tap was tight due to the silicon grease on the thread being non- existent and 10 ton of scale jamming the thing up.

all done 20 mins work including dragging the tool box out of the wagon and putting it back. one happy customer.

 

[singalong]

had a call yesterdayexactly same problem

went there tap washer had perished and welded itself to the body stopping the flow. the tap was tight due to the silicon grease on the thread being non- existent and 10 ton of scale jamming the thing up.

all done 20 mins work including dragging the tool box out of the wagon and putting it back. one happy customer.

Do I gather you resolved the problem by a washer change, descale and a regreasing and not a new tap?

 

[peter anderson]

how did you get the scale off, taydo?

 

[masona]

Taydo or anyone else, I don't understand how changing the washer helps the tap to open up or close off the flow of water. I thought washers in taps were just to prevent water leaking out of the joints in the taps. Surely if the tap is moving sufficiently up or down then it is doing the job.

Sometimes the tap washer is struck on the bottom base and when you open the tap the spindle move up and not the tap washer so the water is only coming thru' the little hole.I use water de-scaler (the same as for cleaning kettle) in a jar of hot water to clean up any scale then renew the 'o' ring seal + washer etc.

 

[masona]

Do I gather you resolved the problem by a washer change, descale and a regreasing and not a new tap?

It's very rare to renew the taps.

 

[peter anderson]

thanks for the excellent info masona

 

[singalong]

Well I took the bull by the horns and repaired the monoblock tap for my son. Found I did not have all the right washers to do the job so left some of the originals on. The kettle cleaner worked a treat on cleaning the scale off the tap parts.
So once again thanks for all the advice.