"Tony Williams" wrote in message
...
In article ,
John Smith wrote:

Thanks Lurch, so if I am reading you right you are of the thought
that if I can get the nuts undone I should be able to pop along
to Homebase, B&Q, whoever, buy a standard set of UK taps and
simply screw them back in?

"if I can get the nuts undone" is what happened to me
about a month ago, on the kitchen taps. I couldn't get
enough purchase on one of the fixing nuts, and a half
hour job turned into a hacksaw-blade exercise. And
you need arms like a gorilla to hold the tap steady
whilst trying to undo the nut with a less than
satisfactory spanner access.

Before you commit yourself, take the tap apart again
and have a closer look at it. That little piston
that holds the washer... is it bright and shiny, with
no traces of crud under the washer? Any crud there
and water seeps through the centre hole in the washer
and results in a small leak. Clean that piston
thoroughly before re-assembly.

When that's ok then look down the tap at the end of the
pipe that the washer bears down on. Is the top of the
pipe nicely smooth and rounded, with no crud on it?

I once had a permanent mystery leak in a tap that was fixed by a friendly
plumber who ground down the
bit that the washer pushes against. As you say, these get chipped or
cracked or encruddified.
I had looked by eye but had not been able to see what was wrong. He had a
special gadget
for doing the grinding which y9ou may be able to hire out (hand tool/manual
grinder).


Look for a crack or little chunk out of the bearing surface.
If it looks reasonably ok you might get away with just a
light skim with a facing tool.

--
Tony Williams.