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Help with tap repair!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nijohc
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Nijohc

Hi, just signed up to this forum hoping I can get some help with a bit of DIY. The hot tap on the kitchen sink no longer turns on and I've been looking at these tap reviver kits that look much easier than replacing the entire tap. Anyway my problem is I cannot for the life in me undo the thing, I've sprayed it with WD40 and left it over night and it still won't budge without trying to turn the whole tap. I was using a big adjustable and some mole grips to try and stop the tap from turning.

tap1.jpg

If I can't do the tap revival method I guess I'll have to replace the tap but getting underneath this sink is really tight but I got a pic on my phone of the underside (plz excuse the spider and what looks like some sort of slime (!?)).

tap2.jpg

Now I've fitted taps before in the bathroom using flexi hoses but this is a bit different with it being copper pipe all the way which I don't know how to do (my Grandad fitted these taps in the late 80's/early 90's) but there doesn't seem to be a plastic nut for tightening the tap to the sink?

Can anyone give me some advice on what is the best course of action for someone with limited plumbing knowledge!
 
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If I was the OP I wouldn't bother buying special tools to take that tap apart.
For a start, not being rude, but that is a rough looking tap body and a decent largish adjustable perhaps with a bit of cloth will easily hold that spout from turning while another spanner slackens the works.
Use two spanners working against each other by lining the top spanner coming close to the line of the bottom one that holds the spout.
The tap, by the way, is held into the sink underneath by a brass nut. Easy for a plumber.
Click to expand...

an apprentice last month showed a better way to hold the spout by sliding a basin box spanner over the spout, never to old to learn.
 
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itcanbesoeasy said:
an apprentice last month showed a better way to hold the spout by sliding a basin box spanner over the spout, never to old to learn.
Click to expand...

That would work well I bet and make the box spanner a large lever.
But I would think it will mark the tap spout (if it mattered on a decent tap) unless the spout had a bit of heavy rag or piece of leather over it first.
Maybe something like a Fleshlite would work better. :smile:
 
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Ric2013 said:
Hey, I'm not certain reviver kits aren't made for that type of tap, I just don't think so.

My worry would be that the pipework is probably 1/2" or 3/4" (not 15 or 22mm), so using the existing pipework without modifying it is probably the best best, assuming the tap tails (i.e. thread) is the same length.

I would agree that the new seal will almost certainly be a red fibre tap connector washer, (it may previously have been done with hemp and boss white - no longer permitted for this).

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Hey, I did the job he next day and the only trouble I had was the locking nut on the cold tap was incredibly tight, so tight I bent my basin wrench and hurt my hand, I'd cleaned the thread best I could in the confined space and added a fair amount of WD, managed to get it maybe an inch down and it would go no further, had no room to get any extra torque so I had to lift up what I could and cut through it with an hacksaw. Would have probably taken around half an hour if it wasn't for that!

Yes it was just fibre washers however they were much thicker than the ones I bought to replace them, whether that's because they expanded with the water or they just made them better in them days I don't know.

Only thing a bit annoying is this mixer tap, after you turn the cold off it will dribble a drop for a few seconds, doesn't do that with the hot which I find strange but with the hot it tries to come out more like a spray and if I'm not careful anything surrounding the sink will get ****ed wet through.

Should it do that? Maybe it's my fault for buying a cheap tap! This one here : www_diy_com/departments/boston-chrome-effect-deck-mixer-tap/132413_BQ.prd
 
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Afraid those symptoms are typical of a cheap kitten mixer

That tap should last a while though, you could always put inline flow limiters to it to slow the flow down to produce less splash, or try and swap it for a better one at B & Skew
 
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