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Water Fall wall mounted taps - are they all the same but rebranded?

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Farrella

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Hi, I am about to buy a wall mounted water fall basin tap, and a builder warned me to be careful as a lot of them are "very low quality" and he's had to replace quite a few. Not sure how correct he is, but I shopped around and saw many different sellers on amazon, ebay and various online shops selling a tap/mixer that look identical but at different prices (from £40 to over £100), different brands (Vellano Reve, Zenith Dunk, Desire etc) and different lengths of guarantee (5 years, Life guarantee, 10 years).

Do they vary in quality or are they all just rebranded versions of the same tap? Here are two of many "versions":

Vellamo Reve Wall Mounted Waterfall Bath Mixer
Waterfall Wall Mounted Modern Sink Chrome Lever Bath Filler Mixer Tap TB3203 | eBay

I'd be happy to pay extra if the more expensive ones actually have a better finish and are higher quality despite having exactly the same dimensions and design. I know that there are lots of bathtubs that have identical designs but differ hugely in quality in materials and finish.

Thanks for your advice!

Elsa x
 
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Farrella said:
Thanks for the suggestion, that is closer to the design I like (the basin version) :)

So why wouldn't the Crosswater Water Square suffer from scale issues compared to the cheaper one I linked before? The cheaper one's design does look better too (and I have no problem paying more, my sink unit is Villeroy & Boch... )
Click to expand...
It will suffer from scale.
 
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If I may, a bit of enlightenment as I have an unhealthy interest in taps... :eek:

Fact is there are just a TINY number of 'manufacturers' who DO NOT import from China. LeFroy Brookes are one. However, even those made here such as Perrin & Rowe (actually cast in Essex I believe), can/will/do use chinese cartridges because European cartridges are 4-6 times the price. Bristan taps are made in China, Pegler taps are made in China, Hudson Reed taps are made in China. I could go on & on.

The issue of 'quality' used to be of the quality of brass and finish. Today however, it's about how much ZINC or plastic is used in the taps INSTEAD of brass. Brass does not wear out in normal use. Chrome plating on brass wears out (wears away) but rarely peels off. Chrome plated brass doesn't 'pit' normally. When you see pitting you will feel that the weight of the tap seems quite low too. This is cos the thing you have in your hand is zinc not brass. Exposed to water continually (oh - like in a tap...?) it literally eventually turns to dust which is why when you pull the shroud off a tap that's leaked past the spindle o-rings its just a mush and so scrap (worthless as that too).

Making a tap body out of it means its life is 12 months IF YOU ARE LUCKY but you'll buy it for pennies.

Best advice I can offer the OP is to call the 'manufacturer' :D:D:D (what a joke that is) and ask which parts are made of brass.

I'll leave you with one more thing. 'Manufacturers' are allowed to say stuff is Made In England if a "significant aspect of their 'manufacture'" is carried out in country. That means if they repack 'em here there are 'officially' Made in Britain. Ask Ideal Standard too. :mad::mad::mad:

Have fun ;)
 
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Heres one i changed today lasted 4years and would not fully shut off unbranded (Victoria plumb )and grubby looking . kop

20180131_091743.jpg
 
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Notice it looks pitted on spout if it is its mainly Zinc.

'Manus' not daft... The warranty is offered cos they know most folk will simply change 'em or will have lost their proof of purchase. The margin is so high they can afford to change a few and not dent profits.

It's called Neo Libralism...
 
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Good to know about the zinc vs brass issue. I must say though that I have a £450 Hansgrohe German shower and to be 100% honest my cheaper £50 tap from ebay (Chinese) looks better and is heavier (though I have another one that is light and looks plasticky, so they are not all made equal). But the Hansgrohe probably has better internal bits and will last longer.
 
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Very much so. The internals for hansgrohe taps for example are made by Fleuhs in Germany - the Rolls of conventional tap cartridges - until we came along ;) Fluehs even export to China for their high end products. Oh the delicious irony.

Fact is, China can and does produce some real quality items. Unfortunately Western greed dictates we tend to buy the crap end.

Did you know Grohe & Hans Grohe are German brothers? Same as Aldi & Lidl. Lots of falling out in German families :eek:
 
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Ha I did know that Hansgrohe and Grohe were brothers, but not Lidl/Aldi... Based on aesthetics I've always preferred Hansgrohe, though I own both.

Yes I was in China last year and was really impressed with their bathroom shops selling Chinese made higher end gear. Of course most of that stuff I'd never seen in the UK, seems like we mostly import the cheaper stuff. They have a gigantic market themselves so the high end manufacturers probably already have their hands full without exporting.
 
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Regarding my original question, I've been doing more research and it looks like a lot of the taps I've been looking at are all in fact the same two taps (70% of them have the same part number and dimensions...just with very different price tags and marketing).
 
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Oh heck. FWIW, I think the open style waterfall taps look cool too, and perhaps if you wipe it dry with a microfibre cloth every single day it'll stay clean. It seems like most of the 'quality' manufacturers are out, so you may as well order a couple of what you can get and decide which seems best. I had a customer order some cheap taps from Victorian Plumbing and these were stiff as anything when new until I took them apart and bothered to put some grease in, so I think if they are real tat, then you'll probably guess by looking at them.

It's gonna be a risk, but if you like them...
 
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Hi All,

I thought I would share a little bit of insight which I hope you may find helpful;

zinc should never be used in the water contact parts of the tap - this includes the spout - this is a regulation requirement. Typically handles and trim components are made of zinc.

chrome playing quality is key, any low quality playing will allow chemical attack from cleaning products and will damage zinc parts very quickly. Parts with sharp edges are most difficult to plate well and therefore will typically be of low quality on low cost products (square edged designs typically are worst)

everyone is making in China! Either finished products or components. It’s the only way to make product at reasonable costs.

waterfall taps are a nightmare to keep clean! Scale marks will from very easily. Use a cloth soaked in vinegar to dissolve (leave it in the spout overnight).

for quality products look for WRAS approved products - these will have been put through a testing regime which tests the product durability.

For a wall mount built in product I would always go for a known brand - installing into the wall makes replacement much more complex than a normal basin mount tap.

Hope this helps!
 
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JamesM said:
Hi All,

I thought I would share a little bit of insight which I hope you may find helpful;

zinc should never be used in the water contact parts of the tap - this includes the spout - this is a regulation requirement. Typically handles and trim components are made of zinc.

chrome playing quality is key, any low quality playing will allow chemical attack from cleaning products and will damage zinc parts very quickly. Parts with sharp edges are most difficult to plate well and therefore will typically be of low quality on low cost products (square edged designs typically are worst)

everyone is making in China! Either finished products or components. It’s the only way to make product at reasonable costs.

waterfall taps are a nightmare to keep clean! Scale marks will from very easily. Use a cloth soaked in vinegar to dissolve (leave it in the spout overnight).

for quality products look for WRAS approved products - these will have been put through a testing regime which tests the product durability.

For a wall mount built in product I would always go for a known brand - installing into the wall makes replacement much more complex than a normal basin mount tap.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
well said that man totally agree personally I wound not fit them in my home but people seem to like the look of them so as the saying goes the customers always right. cheers kop
 
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Agree that zinc is probably not an approved material, but then a lot of taps do not have the approvals required to allow them to be (legally) installed. I suppose the idea is you fit them with suitable backflow protection and label them 'not drinking water' :)
 
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Ric2013 said:
Agree that zinc is probably not an approved material, but then a lot of taps do not have the approvals required to allow them to be (legally) installed. I suppose the idea is you fit them with suitable backflow protection and label them 'not drinking water' :)
Click to expand...

To be honest I’ve never come across a water contact zinc body, some of the brass is of dubious quality from the Far East which is probably as bad as zinc...

Worst offenders are poor quality rubber and silicone components which can grow all manner of nasties in the right environment, no backflow device will prevent that from happening unfortunately.
 
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So if a tap is advertised as "WRAS approved" like the ones below, does that mean they should be higher quality than the ones without?

Sagittarius Nice Wall Mounted Basin Mixer Tap | NI/207/C
Vado Synergie Wall Mounted Single Lever Basin Mixer Tap | SYN-109S/A-C/P

Without WRAS approved:

Caesar Waterfall Mounted Basin Mono | eBay
Waterfall Wall Mounted Modern Sink Chrome Lever Bath Filler Mixer Tap TB3203 | eBay

The cheapest (last) one has the most pleasing design, but am worried about the things you guys have mentioned... also the more expensive ones need more depth behind the wall surface for installation and our wall probably doesn't have the required depth :(

ps: Is Vado a good brand?
 
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Farrella said:
So if a tap is advertised as "WRAS approved" like the ones below, does that mean they should be higher quality than the ones without?

Sagittarius Nice Wall Mounted Basin Mixer Tap | NI/207/C
Vado Synergie Wall Mounted Single Lever Basin Mixer Tap | SYN-109S/A-C/P

Without WRAS approved:

Caesar Waterfall Mounted Basin Mono | eBay
Waterfall Wall Mounted Modern Sink Chrome Lever Bath Filler Mixer Tap TB3203 | eBay

The cheapest (last) one has the most pleasing design, but am worried about the things you guys have mentioned... also the more expensive ones need more depth behind the wall surface for installation and our wall probably doesn't have the required depth :(

ps: Is Vado a good brand?
Click to expand...


Vado is a good brand - they are middle market products, but the company has a good level of turnover and is not likely to disappear overnight.

Be careful with the first one - it states ‘wras approved components’ which is likely only the ceramic cartridge and not the full product.

If it were my house I’d spend as much as I could afford- clearly more is not always better, but in this case it more thank likely is.
 
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Firstly let me (briefly) explain what WRAS approval is about. It has two principal functions in this context: 1 - to ensure our water is not contaminated & 2 - to ensure wastage is minimised. What that translates to here is testing a tap so that over an expected life it does not introduce or cause to introduce any form of contaminant. They test the whole tap generally but obviously over its life (as many do at present) changes in components can (and DO) occur.

For example, the brass should contain minimal lead so it cannot leach too much into the water supply. The silicone seals should be cured using e.g. platinum so the chance of harbouring harmful bacteria is minimised. The plastics used must be classed as inert. The silicone grease used must be 'foodsafe'. etc etc

As already mentioned, the majority of taps sold in the UK are NOT WRAS approved. It is NOT illegal to sell non approved product - ONLY to fit it. No matter who you are.

When cartridges wear out, if the so called 'maker' no longer supplies spares you must find an alternative. No spare cartridges (the heart of a tap) available, as far as we are aware, are WRAS approved so installers contravene regulations 100% of the time by fitting them. That's why ours are constructed of WRAS approved materials...

One last thing. The Water Regulations state very clearly that WRAS approval is NOT the only qualifying approval. Approval by the appropriate body from ANY EU member state is perfectly acceptable for fitting in ANY EU state. The UKs WRAS body have slowly but surely built up a back story that no one else's approval is good enough - difficult not to conclude it's to build their business and brand :mad:

Quality is measurable. Personally, I'd shop for Grohe or Hans Grohe taps BUT not the cheap end. They will not entertain zinc components although certainly, like most, Grohe are using far more plastics in their lower end offerings to boost margins and compete.

Our waterfall tap lasted two months before I unceremoniously ripped it out. Try cleaning your toothbrush, rinsing a razor or washing your hands in a ribbon of water - it's a nightmare! Waterfall taps are the perfect example of prettiness making something completely unusable - form over function.

HTH ;)
 
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This is not to generalise as I know these taps are not made equal, but my sister has had a £40 basin mounted waterfall tap for 2 years and it looks/works great. It is very heavy and feels less plastic than my Hansgrohe...

The way the water flows out (and not down) is so much better than my old tap. This is why I'm looking for a good quality wall mounted waterfall tap.
 
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