Tap jumper loose, why?

[JohnD]

the jumper has fallen put of one of the taps I have been freeing off and lubricating. All the others have been firmly retained in place and I have not tried to clean and lubricate their jumper pins.

I looked in my "Ladybird first book of Plumbing" and it says that they usually fall out of mains pressure taps but not out of tank-fed taps.

this one is indeed a sink pillar tap (although it is tank fed hot at just over 1bar).

Why is this, and does it matter?

 

[JohnD]

still don't know

other posts I found on search suggest the jumper is not supposed to fall out (so why is it a smooth pin slid into a smooth hole?) so perhaps I will give the pin a squeeze to make it less round so it is gripped.

I cannot see any mechanism that looks as if it would retain the jumper unless it is a tight fit.

 

[doitall]

You get loose jumpers and fixed jumpers, guess what you have

Tap the end of the jumper with a hammer and you will have a fixed jumper

 

[JohnD]

Hooray, a friendly face

What's the difference? does it matter?

On the other (identical) tap on the same sink, the jumper seemed fixed (though I did that one first, and did not try to pull it out)

 

[doitall]

No difference at all on mains water, on low pressure the washer can stick in the closed position when worn.