Okay, what gives: someone educate me please?
My kitchen taps started to drip recently, so I turned
the water off and unscrewed the tap.
The washer was 16mm in diameter. I didn't have any spares in the spares box
hence I
did the usual trick of reversing the washer as a temporary fix.

So I then toddled to B&Q and eventually bought a cheapo pack of six washers
(three pairs of
washers of each diameter).
Once back home, the washer labelled "three eighths" was the one that
matched. Since an inch is
25.4 mm, one eighth ought to be a smidge over 3mm hence three of these works
out at 9mm.
Nowhere near the 16mm necessary.

So how have I muddled the sizes - anyone know?

Mungo (hoping that I haven't goofed too badly on this post)

The message
from "Mungo Henning" contains these words:

Once back home, the washer labelled "three eighths" was the one that
matched. Since an inch is
25.4 mm, one eighth ought to be a smidge over 3mm hence three of these
works
out at 9mm.
Nowhere near the 16mm necessary.

So how have I muddled the sizes - anyone know?

I think it is probable that the 3/8" is the pipe size but I am not
certain of that. Seems reasonable to me though. You would need 5/8"+ to
cover a seat with a bore of 3/8".

--
Roger Chapman

In the good old days, one size washer fitted all sink taps and another all
bath taps. This no longer seems to be the case. Check out the BES washer
kit.

"Mungo Henning" wrote in message
...
Okay, what gives: someone educate me please?
My kitchen taps started to drip recently, so I turned
the water off and unscrewed the tap.
The washer was 16mm in diameter. I didn't have any spares in the spares
box hence I
did the usual trick of reversing the washer as a temporary fix.

So I then toddled to B&Q and eventually bought a cheapo pack of six
washers (three pairs of
washers of each diameter).
Once back home, the washer labelled "three eighths" was the one that
matched. Since an inch is
25.4 mm, one eighth ought to be a smidge over 3mm hence three of these
works out at 9mm.
Nowhere near the 16mm necessary.

So how have I muddled the sizes - anyone know?

A 3/8" washer fits a 3/8" tap. Tap sizes are based upon the bore of the feed
pipe. That will also be the size of the hole the water enters the tap body
through. The washer needs to seat onto a rim around that hole, so it has to
be larger

Colin Bignell

Owain wrote:

newshound wrote:
In the good old days, one size washer fitted all sink taps and another
all bath taps.

And we had sink plugs and bath plugs.

And it's well nigh impossible to find anywhere that sells replacement
O-rings to fit the metal plugs.

--
Mike Clarke

Hi Colin,
Ta for the reply (but)...


On 14 Mar, 08:48, "nightjar" cpb@insert my surname here.me.uk
wrote:
"Mungo Henning" wrote in message
Okay, what gives: someone educate me please?

A 3/8" washer fits a 3/8" tap.

Err... in these days of metric, the above (IMHO) is not that useful.

Tap sizes are based upon the bore of the feed
pipe.

I've got 15mm pipes feeding the taps, but they narrow down for the
monobloc tap thinggy.

That will also be the size of the hole the water enters the tap body
through. The washer needs to seat onto a rim around that hole, so it has to
be larger

Again (and also for the other kind repliers): what gives? How come the
caliper gauge measures the
old washer as 16mm diameter yet I have to go and buy a three-eighths
washer?

Mungo

(politely: please no more advice on where to buy a suitable
replacement washer. As my original
post said, the job is done, but I want to know *why* I need to buy a
three-eighths washer for
a 16mm diameter job?)

"Mungo" wrote in message
...
Hi Colin,
Ta for the reply (but)...


On 14 Mar, 08:48, "nightjar" cpb@insert my surname here.me.uk
wrote:
"Mungo Henning" wrote in message
Okay, what gives: someone educate me please?

A 3/8" washer fits a 3/8" tap.

Err... in these days of metric, the above (IMHO) is not that useful.

Steel and plastic pipes are still identified by the bore in inches, although
the standards now give their dimensions in mm, as are many fittings. Only
copper is properly identified by the OD in mm.

Tap sizes are based upon the bore of the feed
pipe.

I've got 15mm pipes feeding the taps, but they narrow down for the
monobloc tap thinggy.

The tap size is based upon the assumption that it has a British Standard
Pipe threaded connector, whether it actually has or not. That thread would
match the size of thread that could be cut on the oustide of a steel feed
pipe of the relevant size, in this case a 3/8" bore pipe. BSP is a metric
standard thread, even though it refers to inch sizes.

That will also be the size of the hole the water enters the tap body
through. The washer needs to seat onto a rim around that hole, so it has
to
be larger

Again (and also for the other kind repliers): what gives? How come the
caliper gauge measures the
old washer as 16mm diameter yet I have to go and buy a three-eighths
washer?

Measure the hole in the middle of the seat that the washer fits to. That
should be 3/8". You will find the same applies to 1/2" and 3/4" washers -
they are larger in diameter than the tap size marked on them.

Colin Bignell