I have a two-handle washerless Delta faucet in a bathroom sink.

The cold water drips when the handle is "all the way off," but if I
move the handle maybe three degrees "on," the dripping stops.

I'm repair-phobic, yes, even for a leaky faucet. I'm wondering if
there's a simpler adjustment I could make, short of taking the faucet
handle apart, to make the "off" setting for the water really turn it
off with no drips.

trader-of-some-jacks wrote:

I have a two-handle washerless Delta faucet in a bathroom sink.

The cold water drips when the handle is "all the way off," but if I
move the handle maybe three degrees "on," the dripping stops.

I'm repair-phobic, yes, even for a leaky faucet. I'm wondering if
there's a simpler adjustment I could make, short of taking the faucet
handle apart, to make the "off" setting for the water really turn it
off with no drips.

There's a litle ball with a short stem (captured in the handle with a
setscrew) inside. They wear and leak, and need replacement from time to
time. They're not difficult to replace, so no need to be phobic.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Believe OP said she had a two handle faucet. This stainlesss steel ball you
refer to is only in single handle faucets
"Morris Dovey" wrote in message
...
trader-of-some-jacks wrote:

I have a two-handle washerless Delta faucet in a bathroom sink.

The cold water drips when the handle is "all the way off," but if I
move the handle maybe three degrees "on," the dripping stops.

I'm repair-phobic, yes, even for a leaky faucet. I'm wondering if
there's a simpler adjustment I could make, short of taking the faucet
handle apart, to make the "off" setting for the water really turn it
off with no drips.

There's a litle ball with a short stem (captured in the handle with a
setscrew) inside. They wear and leak, and need replacement from time to
time. They're not difficult to replace, so no need to be phobic.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Don & Lucille wrote:
Believe OP said she had a two handle faucet. This stainlesss steel ball you
refer to is only in single handle faucets

You're absolutely right - thanks for chiming in!

(How could I have missed it?)

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

All delta faucets have spring-loaded washers that wear out with use
and hence need replacement. When you remove the handle, you will see
a (most-likely hand-tightened) nut which you need to unscrew to remove
the handle stem. Now you will see the spring-loaded washer which you
can fish out using a small screwdriver or the like. Replacement cost:
@ $3 for TWO washers (cold and hot sides). Make sure you turn off the
water before you embark on the project!

wrote in message
...
All delta faucets have spring-loaded washers that wear out with use
and hence need replacement. When you remove the handle, you will see
a (most-likely hand-tightened) nut which you need to unscrew to remove
the handle stem. Now you will see the spring-loaded washer which you
can fish out using a small screwdriver or the like. Replacement cost:
@ $3 for TWO washers (cold and hot sides). Make sure you turn off the
water before you embark on the project!

Mine are more cups than washers. Be sure to note whether the open side is up
or down and reinstall the same way. Also scrape the crud and buildup off the
bottom of the plastic cartridge that presses against the cup. Be sure to use
something soft so not to damage it. If you do, you'll need to replace it
too-- only a few bucks. If the fixture is real old, might be worth doing a
preemptive replacement on the cartridges as long as you're going to take it
apart.

When I try to unscrew a pipe connector from a kitchen sink faucet, I can't
get enough leverage because a wrench won't fit behind the sink and have
room to hold it and turn it. How do people solve this problem? Is there
such a thing as a Z-wrench? Very short open-end wrench with long stem at
90 degrees and handle at 90 degrees from end of stem?

In article , Anagram wrote:
When I try to unscrew a pipe connector from a kitchen sink faucet, I can't
get enough leverage because a wrench won't fit behind the sink and have
room to hold it and turn it. How do people solve this problem? Is there
such a thing as a Z-wrench? Very short open-end wrench with long stem at
90 degrees and handle at 90 degrees from end of stem?

Yes, there is such a thing. It's called a basin wrench; any hardware store
should have one. See brief tutorial he
http://theheadlemur.typepad.com/remo...rphan_tools_ba.
html

This is at the bottom of a kitchen sink water pipe, where it connects to
a pipe that comes up from the floor. There is an adaptor that seems to
go over the pipe from the floor and have threads above for a nut which
might be for compression.

The pipe to the sink seems to be flared inside the threaded part of that
adaptor. The compression nut can be loosened and moved away from the
adaptor, riding up the pipe towards the sink, till you let go of it and
it falls back down. (I'm just trying to make the picture as clear as
possible, so ignore the parts that are too obvious) With that nut up out
of the way, the flared pipe won't pull out easily, probably because the
pipe is stiff, and/or the flare inside the threaded part is too tight
against it.

Keep in mind that the threads are on the outside of the adaptor, and the
flare of the pipe from above is on the inside.

There is no obvious way for the adaptor to connect to the pipe below. It
looks like it just sits on it like a sleeve, but it won't pull off, nor
turn in either direction. There is no obvious solder. As far as I can
tell all pipes are copper, but the one to the sink above seems to be
tinned or something, and only the flare looks like copper.

I'm afraid of turning anything too hard, because the pipes are small and
old, and might break. The floor is a slab foundation, and the pipe
coming up through it can't be easily replaced.

I basically want to replace as much of this stuff as possible, because
it's old and hard to work with. I want to replace the pipe to the faucet
with a flexible pipe with female npt connectors at each end, which comes
in a package labeled for the purpose of connecting a kitchen sink faucet.
But before I can replace anything, I have to remove the old stuff without
damaging anything that can't easily be replaced. And before I can remove
it, I have to understand what it is, so I can remove it without any such
damage.

Anagram wrote:
This is at the bottom of a kitchen sink water pipe, where it connects to
a pipe that comes up from the floor. There is an adaptor that seems to
go over the pipe from the floor and have threads above for a nut which
might be for compression.

The pipe to the sink seems to be flared inside the threaded part of that
adaptor. The compression nut can be loosened and moved away from the
adaptor, riding up the pipe towards the sink, till you let go of it and
it falls back down. (I'm just trying to make the picture as clear as
possible, so ignore the parts that are too obvious) With that nut up out
of the way, the flared pipe won't pull out easily, probably because the
pipe is stiff, and/or the flare inside the threaded part is too tight
against it.

Keep in mind that the threads are on the outside of the adaptor, and the
flare of the pipe from above is on the inside.

There is no obvious way for the adaptor to connect to the pipe below. It
looks like it just sits on it like a sleeve, but it won't pull off, nor
turn in either direction. There is no obvious solder. As far as I can
tell all pipes are copper, but the one to the sink above seems to be
tinned or something, and only the flare looks like copper.

I'm afraid of turning anything too hard, because the pipes are small and
old, and might break. The floor is a slab foundation, and the pipe
coming up through it can't be easily replaced.

I basically want to replace as much of this stuff as possible, because
it's old and hard to work with. I want to replace the pipe to the faucet
with a flexible pipe with female npt connectors at each end, which comes
in a package labeled for the purpose of connecting a kitchen sink faucet.
But before I can replace anything, I have to remove the old stuff without
damaging anything that can't easily be replaced. And before I can remove
it, I have to understand what it is, so I can remove it without any such
damage.

It's just a standard compression fitting. The flare is a compression
sleeve; the tubing will get compressed slightly and then flare some
above and below the sleeve when it's tightened.

The feed tubes are also copper; the "tinned or something" is in all
likelihood the chromed style that were so common for years until
chrome-plating got to be expensive.

The compression fitting on the supply line may be either threaded or
soldered--one would guess there's a high likelihood it is soldered.

All of the parts are readily available so there's no need to worry about
saving them particularly (and compression fittings aren't guaranteed to
not leak on reuse w/o new compression ring, anyway) so not to worry
about trying to save stuff excessively.

The tubing will bend slightly in order to pull it out of the fitting
once the compression nut is off--it's tight because the compression nut
is compressed into the supply line and the feed line is somewhat stiff
as well.

--

Anagram wrote:
(Doug Miller) wrote in
:

Yes, there is such a thing. It's called a basin wrench; any hardware
store should have one. See brief tutorial he
http://theheadlemur.typepad.com/remo.../10/orphan_too
ls_ba. html

Thanks. That looks like exactly what I need. I'm shopping for one now.
I've found these brands. Which is best?

Brasscraft
Superior Tool
Empire

Whichever your local merchant has in stock...

--

(Doug Miller) wrote in
:

Yes, there is such a thing. It's called a basin wrench; any hardware
store should have one. See brief tutorial he
http://theheadlemur.typepad.com/remo.../10/orphan_too
ls_ba. html

Thanks. That looks like exactly what I need. I'm shopping for one now.
I've found these brands. Which is best?

Brasscraft
Superior Tool
Empire

dpb wrote in :

It's just a standard compression fitting. The flare is a compression
sleeve; the tubing will get compressed slightly and then flare some

Thanks for the explanation. That makes it much clearer.

Can I re-use the compression threads as a non-compression kind of adaptor?
Such as if I put teflon tape on the compression threads, and screw some
kind of adaptor onto them, so the water will go through the inside, with
nothing compressed?

Anagram wrote:
dpb wrote in :

It's just a standard compression fitting. The flare is a compression
sleeve; the tubing will get compressed slightly and then flare some

Thanks for the explanation. That makes it much clearer.

Can I re-use the compression threads as a non-compression kind of adaptor?
Such as if I put teflon tape on the compression threads, and screw some
kind of adaptor onto them, so the water will go through the inside, with
nothing compressed?

No.

Compression fitting threads aren't tapered like NPT and are not designed
to be leak-tight. The threads do nothing in a compression fitting
except apply the force to pull the compression sleeve into the fitting
to make the watertight connection.

--

In article , Anagram wrote:
(Doug Miller) wrote in
:

Yes, there is such a thing. It's called a basin wrench; any hardware
store should have one. See brief tutorial he
http://theheadlemur.typepad.com/remo.../10/orphan_too
ls_ba. html

Thanks. That looks like exactly what I need. I'm shopping for one now.
I've found these brands. Which is best?

Brasscraft
Superior Tool
Empire

Whichever one is *not* made in China.