Dripping Tap Help

alphaomega16

alphaomega16

alphaomega16

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4 Jul 2006
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Got a mixer tap for kitchen and it keeps dripping, different rates and you can get it to slow right down or stop by pushing the hot tap knob towards where the water comes out, here is an image of what the tap looks like, it may not be the exact one but the one that most looks like it and we cannot remember where it was purchased from.
Kizzie-Kitchen-Sink-Monobloc-Mixer-Tap-In-Brushed-Nickel.jpg

Now, when its dripping you can get it to stop by either pushing the bit that pokes out towards the cold tap or pushing the flat surface on the left in the same direction, now the dripping is coming from where the water comes out not the tap itself.

The left knob feels looser than the right, does this sound like a simple worn valve that isn't closing properly or something wrong with the tap, when you get it to stop dripping and use the cold tap it can start dripping again until you mess with the hot tap like I mentioned, also if you try pushing the hot lever to the left away from the tap the dripping will increase and moving it closer to the tap will decrease it.

At this point im not sure if I want it to be the valve or the whole tap because apparently there is not a simple standard for taps.

Its also a pain in the backside as the hot tap is over the draining board so no clue how I am going to get the screw out and if I turn it into the on position then its close to the back wall instead of the draining board lol.
 
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DXP55 said:
Sounds like a faulty cartridge - I had a permant drip (from tap) and they are easy to replace - all you have to hope for is the screw holding handle bit on is a allen key - just unscrew it and take cover and handle off - If you can do that you can check to see if everynery thing is tight.
Also hope you have isolation taps underneath. A good adjustable spanner is helpfull to unscrew cartridges.
I was lucky as I kept the instructions so knew what make it was.
Good luck.
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I got a mirror and had a look and it was, PHEW. Got a spanner and will see if there are isolation bits under, I think dad said there was for only one of the taps but I see flexible hoses were put in so hopefully they were added alongside.

Will take the covers off tomorrow if I can shut the water off properly and take it out and see if the only 1/4 turn things screwfix do with 20 spines is the correct one otherwise I hope there are part numbers etched on them or something.
 
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hornetstinger said:
Probably something like this, there's a few different sizes. Cheap and easy to replace I did one about a month go.

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Yeah I was looking at those, at first I said to myself "Why are there 3 of the same item" lol but after looking one is 1mm bigger on one aspect of it but the other 2 are identical.

Will have to remove mine and take a trip down there.

EDIT
nvm they are not, I was comparing them but apparently the diagram on them in the images there are differences, compare function is useless.
 
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Don't know if we have any, but I did notice when I turned the screw to shut off the hot water the dripping immediately stopped so I went from the cold tap and tried the hot and was at it for a good nearly 5 minutes, finally got that one to unscrew but now im dripping with sweat lol.

Thing did NOT want to come out, will try the cold again for a minute or two when I get back to see if I have better luck, if not ill just do the hot and hope for the best.

After all that they better have the damn part lol
 
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Had to use 50p to balance the valve to keep it straight, what do you think? Went to TWO places apparently none seemed right.

H764hRV.png


Went to Screwfix and direct heating and plumbing
 
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It was getting late and I really wanted to try something so just said **** it and went back to screwfix (had to validate my car because for a private car park in a little area with tool shops you can only visit once per day unless you validate so I did and recorded myself doing so) and picked these up as it looked like the bit at the top was 8mm.


I just thought maybe I won't find a 1:1 lookalike so went with overall dimensions and slapped it in, no more drip so said sod doing the cold one right now ill just wait til that one starts playing up itself lol.

New vs old
AULBDyC.png


Ill see how it goes and have a punt at cleaning the old one up but it looks like as you turn to close it there is a slight gap in the plastic as well.
 
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Nothing out of the ordinary has been seen since and the dripping has gone, nothing dripping from the handle side to indicate any leak issues so fingers crossed its sorted.

Don't know how long we may have these taps for so may go buy another bag or two just incase.
 
hornetstinger said:
yup I just checked the old and new spare ones, slightly different in length, although both are the threaded collar ones on the left

It's like keyboard switch types...literally dozens of types.
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First time doing anything like this for me, I need to replace my bathroom taps but even that worries me more than just trying to replace the component, im worried about damaging the piping or causing a massive leak or something as the shutoff is downstairs in kitchen.
 
joey1211 said:
They don't even have product codes stamped on them. You need to provide 4 different measurements to the exact millimeter or it's the wrong one.
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This is what ****** me off, if you going to have a part for something make sure its identifiable and trying to get exact dimensions is a pita when everything isnt the same thickness.

My taps at the bottom of the handle are all calcified and the taps are looking a little worse for wear as I think I used the wrong type of sponge on one of them and it just looks dull and dirty now and won't clean out properly.

They look like these and the bottom of the ones you turn have hard build up
 
joey1211 said:
Applying vaseline or silicone grease to the white bit inside can sometimes stop it dripping depending on how worn it is.

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On the white ceramic bit inside you can see a slight gap despite it supposedly being shut, ill get a pic when I go downstairs again.

f8Qnsbb.png

Original taps that was put in around 20 yeras ago, always used to think you had to shut water off in order to take the screw out lol, shutoffs are downstairs in the kitchen.

Edit
I think they were too limescaled up, started breaking apart at the very built up areas, will get some replacement heads.
 
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Seems my bathroom hot tap has decided to play up now, its a full turn tap and the hot tap where the teeth part is just under is every so slightly letting water through and if I turn it on and take the knob off whilst on you can wiggle the part with the teeth thing but the thing is after over 20 years I cant tell how many teeth there are but on screwfix the only different for bathroom sinks for replacements is threaded and non threaded and it looks like non threaded to me (I had to take cold tap knob off as the hot one is nearly all black, possible from being wet along with any buildup that may be happening)

It could have been doing it for a while but I just didn't notice as I just assumed any water on tap came from my hands.

I tried taking top down photos but its very worn and trying to count going around im going crosseyed lol

I have been having a bit of an internal debate about whether to just try replacing the gland and the tap heads or just replacing the taps altogether, I have watched some youtube videos and seems simple enough but the nut under the sink itself as well as the bit above it seem like such a pain in the backside.

Will be a weekend job but curious to what anybody else would do, its the original taps 20+ years old and I tried cleaning one tap with wrong brush and it scuffed it all up but not really bothered about that.

I even had a punt at trying to count in paint lol
7hTInvT.jpeg

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