Heritage hot water tap issue..... I think

[Isotonic_uk]

Hi All

Hoping someone can help me with a problem i am having with my hot water tap in my bathroom. Now i will start off to say i am not sure of the technical terms but will try to explain what the problem is and if anyone who could advise me of the correct names after reading my post please correct me as i am learning also by posting.

PROBLEM

Our bathroom in our house was installed by the last owners. It is a bathroom piece by the company 'Heritage' and recently we have had a problem with our hot water tap which gradually got worse to the point where no water was coming out of the hot water tap today. Its fairly recent i believe and was installed in the last 10 years.

we have a gas central heating system with a combi boiler installed which is an Ariston Combi A 30 MFFi. I believe the previous owners had it serviced annually, i currently havent had it serviced yet because i have only moved in the last 9 months but am planning on getting it serviced, i have checked the bar pressure and it is within recommendated levels according to the boiler user guide and all other elements of the boiler work fine however i did have to take air out of the radiators when i moved in as it was equal and some radiators where colder than others, this problem has since been resolved though.

so back to the tap problem, it is only the hot water tap and only the basin hot water tap in the bathroom. All other cold/hot taps around the house are fine and the pressure is fine on these. The pressure on the problem tap can be varied though where sometimes its fine, sometimes only little water comes in and todays issue was no water at all and one thing i have noticed is if the basin hot water is running and i suddenly open the bath tap, the water on the problem ceases to come out, when i turn off the bath tap, normal service resumes on the problem tap.

Thinking that because only the hot water is affected on this tap, i tried to open/close the valve underneath the basin and this has sort of worked and it is usable again, checked the pressure on the combi boiler which is fine and ensured the main stop tap which comes into the house is fully open.

I have no instructions on the heritage taps installed but because this problem isnt fully solved i
want to see if the washer needs replacing ( if it has one) however i unable to find a screw to unlock on the actual tap to investigate this further.

So my question is what could the issue here, what options do i have? Any other things i can try? I believe the issue must be at the tap as all other pressure on other hot taps are fine.

Any help would be most appreciated. If further information is required please let me know and i make sure i fill in the gaps. I see if this forum will allow me to upload pictures of the tap.

thank you

 

[thompsonbrown]

Sounds like you need a new washer in your hot tap.

 

[lame plumber]

you washer has fallen off the tap head, simples

 

[Isotonic_uk]

Thanks fellow respondants.

Do you know where the screw is on the heritage taps? Thanks

 

[chris watkins]

Yes it is likely to just be that basin tap. A Photo would help to ID the tap.

It the tap a mixer / mono bloc i.e. one hole in the basin ? from your description it sounds more like single hot & cold taps (two tap hole basin)? If this is the case are they 1/4 turn to open /close or like the old fashion type where you have to turn the heads all the way around?

 

[thompsonbrown]

You could post a pic which would help. But most cross tops have a little grub screw on the side or under the hot/cold cover.

 

[Isotonic_uk]

 

[thompsonbrown]

you should be able to change the washer by using a spanner on the nut just above the spout.
Make sure to turn the water off and have an 1/2" tap washer ready.

 

[PhoenixServices]

Or unscrew the top of the tap that says hot. Then undo the screw holding the head to the spindle. Undo the shroud using a spanner then undo the innards to get to the washer/cartridge.

Make sure the water is off first.

 

[Isotonic_uk]

Thanks for the replies so far has been very helpful. Looks like the issue has reoccurred this morning where hardly any water is coming out so I want to open up the tap to find out what washer part I need. I know where the stop tap is to shut of main supply and I have a Ariston combined boiler. To turn off the hot water supply do I first turn off main supply and turn off power to combi boiler? There seems to be an isolation under the tap itself but it seems to have jammed I unable to move it at all. I am guessing if I can get this working I won't need to turn off main supply and boiler as I have isolated it at the tap? See pic of isolation under basin

 

[Isotonic_uk]

 

[Isotonic_uk]

Hi I have a bit of an update on this. I have found by turning the tap on and off slowly eventually water starts to come through properly. It is now working again just by doing that. This more or less confirms its a washer in the tap? Anyone else agree? Any tips on how I can close the isolator would be great. It seems to only move a small amount both ways but isn't enough to isolate the supply. Please help

 

[lame plumber]

turn off the cold feed at your combi, or probably better the cold water stopcock which is less likely to leak of all the valves you can mess with

 

[Radioman]

FYI the slots in the iso valve should be directly inline with the pipe to give max flow, and at 90 den to the pipe to isolate. Make sure you support the tap body when you try to remove the value step assy or you may end up twisting the pipe. Taps like those are very easy to source and not expensive

 

[Isotonic_uk]

Thanks all for everyone help. It was the washer in the end that was causing all the issues. Replaced it for a mesaly cost of 10p and now back up and running. Without this forum that cost could have been a lot more! Still having issues with another tap in the house which I have posted on another thread but glad this one is sorted as it was causing no end of bother.

 

[rpm]

Thanks for the update Isotonic, easy when you know how eh!