Which replacement kitchen mixer tap ?

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I have a Leisure Velstra Kitchen sink which came as a set including colour matched mixer tap about 10 years ago. Tap has copper tails. Cold is soldered to copper supply pipe and hot is straight compression fitted to supply pipe. Cold supply is mains and hot supply comes from hot water tank in upstairs airing cupboard. Tap has a dual flow spout and there are no check valves or service valves used. Hot flow is slower than cold but only to be expected.

The 'O' rings around the spout are leaking and I don't think the spout is removable to replace them even if the correct size is still available.

I was going to simply buy a replacement tap that I liked the look of and shortlisted 'SWIRL Traditional Monobloc Mixer Tap Chrome Plated' from Screwfix for £38.99 or budget busting BRISTAN Montreal Monobloc Sink Mixer from ebay for £68. Screwfix comes with flexi tails with compression fitting and Bristan comes with flexi tails with push fitting.

Given that I'm no plumber my plan is to pipe-slice the 15mm part of the existing copper tap tails and either push fit the Bristan or put service valves in for the compression Screwfix tap.

Please could someone advise me if these taps are suitable for my situation/supply and if so then any good reason why I should pay extra for the budget busting Bristan instead of the Screwfix SWIRL tap ?

Any advice on alternative suitable taps in the same price range would also be useful and any comments as to whether my plan for fitting them is good or bad.

Apologies for the length of this post but I tried to get all the relevant detail in. All advice greatfully received, thanks in advance.

 

[Softus]

No need to apologise for proving information - it's all too rate. It's only undesirable when people prattle, ramble, or make it garbled, but yours is abundantly clear.

Firstly, all spouts are removable. If there's no grub screw at the back, then the spout will come out after being turned exactly 90° to the left or right.

If you're not motivated to service the old tap, which I can understand (because colour matched Leisure taps look very old very quickly), then for the sake of the extra £30 I'd get the Bristan product. The quality will be far better, and you can be certain of getting spares for some time to come.

However, any monobloc mixer with flexible tails is likely to disappoint you on the hot flow - these are intended for high pressure supplies, so consider looking for taps that are suitable for the pressure that you have available - this will be a maximum of 0.25 bar in the average house. The effective dynamic pressure will be less though, owing to flow restrictions in even the least tortuous pipework. If the taps state suitability for a minimum pressure of 1.0 bar then you'll know you're on the wrong track.

 

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Many thanks for your advice Softus. I will have to check the minimum pressure on the Bristan tap. You're right, I'm not repairing the beige colour matched tap because apparently beige is out and chrome is in ! If I get a low pressure tap then am I right in thinking that as long as I get a tap with dual-flow spout (same as the Leisure monobloc I'm replacing) then the hot water flow will be the same as it is now, i.e. slower than the mains cold supply but acceptable (to me) ?

Thanks.

 

[Softus]

If I get a low pressure tap then am I right in thinking that as long as I get a tap with dual-flow spout (same as the Leisure monobloc I'm replacing) then the hot water flow will be the same as it is now, i.e. slower than the mains cold supply but acceptable (to me) ?

Er, don't hold me to it, but I would expect it to be the same, rather than expect it to be different.

If you can find a tap that comes with copper tails instead of braided flexible hoses, then the chances of a reasonable flow will be even better.
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Edit: spelling error correkted.

 

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Mmmm... good point point about copper tails, I never thought of that, I guess the thinner flexi's might slow the hot supply down too much. It's been slow but acceptable for the last 10 years but I don't want it any slower. Time for a rethink.

Thanks for your advice, very valuable.

 

[Softus]

B*llocks - posted in error - please delete.