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Dave Farrance Dave Farrance is offline
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Default Replacing washers on monoblock mixer tap

"The Medway Handyman" wrote:

Dave Farrance wrote:
My kitchen sink tap:
http://i42.tinypic.com/2dmcpw5.jpg


Called head gear or jumper assembly. Normal screw thread e.g. undoes anti
clock.

They can be a right little bugger to undo, they get stuck with limescale.
You need to try & find a way of holding the body still while you apply
sufficient force. Large good quality adjustable to give plenty of leverage
is a help.


Thanks. For bracing, I discovered that my largest adjustable spanner was
just right to wedge between the flange on the base of the tap and the
"arms" of the tap.

http://i44.tinypic.com/21jwvt1.jpg

The left tap was the worst since I had to lift the spanner on the brass
nut away from the bracing spanner. I ended up standing on the sink
surround to get enough leverage.

A replacement pack of two brass cartridges, "ceramic tap glands",
identical to the originals, cost £17 from B&Q. Seems that "changing a
washer" can be expensive these days.

After completing the job, I found that I could take one of the old ones
apart. The two ceramic plates with the quarter-holes, appear to be held
together mainly by water pressure. It seems to me that if a little
limescale got between the plates, that would be the reason that the tap
dripped. Maybe if I'd taken it apart, cleaned it and reassembled it, that
would have been a sufficient repair.

http://i39.tinypic.com/15rxuer.jpg

--
Dave Farrance