A year or so back I got fed up with our very hard water causing our
conventional basin & bath taps becoming very stiff due to scale build up
in the operating threads and requiring an annual strip down and
descale/grease.
I bought some 1/4 turn ceramic taps from Screwfix and all but one (hot,
basin tap) are fine. This one is obviously dripping very very slowly and
leaving a scale tell tale in the basin.
Today I stripped the tap down to component level and the ceramic discs
look unblemished and have a high gloss on the working surfaces and no
signs of scale build up inside the tap head body. The internal O ring is
resilient and applies gentle pressure on the discs when assembled.

Do these taps sometimes drip? My hot water system is low pressure with a
header tank so only about 8' head. Do these taps need higher pressure to
seal reliably?

TIA

Bob

"Bob Minchin" wrote in message
...
A year or so back I got fed up with our very hard water causing our
conventional basin & bath taps becoming very stiff due to scale build up in
the operating threads and requiring an annual strip down and
descale/grease.
I bought some 1/4 turn ceramic taps from Screwfix and all but one (hot,
basin tap) are fine. This one is obviously dripping very very slowly and
leaving a scale tell tale in the basin.
Today I stripped the tap down to component level and the ceramic discs
look unblemished and have a high gloss on the working surfaces and no
signs of scale build up inside the tap head body. The internal O ring is
resilient and applies gentle pressure on the discs when assembled.

Do these taps sometimes drip? My hot water system is low pressure with a
header tank so only about 8' head. Do these taps need higher pressure to
seal reliably?

TIA

Bob

Hi Bob,
We have had ceramic taps fitted to our Kitchen and utility room since 1994
and they have been exceptional in that they get a lot of use and have worked
well with no leaks. -(soft water area) Like you my h/w has a low head
height but that has not caused a problem or lead to leaks even though the
cold water is mains pressure fed.
I could not comment on the Screwfix taps but would imagine they would work
as well as a Lidl unit we bought last year.

Gio

Gio wrote:
"Bob Minchin" wrote in message
...
A year or so back I got fed up with our very hard water causing our
conventional basin & bath taps becoming very stiff due to scale build up in
the operating threads and requiring an annual strip down and
descale/grease.
I bought some 1/4 turn ceramic taps from Screwfix and all but one (hot,
basin tap) are fine. This one is obviously dripping very very slowly and
leaving a scale tell tale in the basin.
Today I stripped the tap down to component level and the ceramic discs
look unblemished and have a high gloss on the working surfaces and no
signs of scale build up inside the tap head body. The internal O ring is
resilient and applies gentle pressure on the discs when assembled.

Do these taps sometimes drip? My hot water system is low pressure with a
header tank so only about 8' head. Do these taps need higher pressure to
seal reliably?

TIA

Bob

Hi Bob,
We have had ceramic taps fitted to our Kitchen and utility room since 1994
and they have been exceptional in that they get a lot of use and have worked
well with no leaks. -(soft water area) Like you my h/w has a low head
height but that has not caused a problem or lead to leaks even though the
cold water is mains pressure fed.
I could not comment on the Screwfix taps but would imagine they would work
as well as a Lidl unit we bought last year.

Gio


Thanks Gio,
Sounds like they are working for you as i would expect them to for me.
cheers

Bob

On Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:50:35 +0100, Bob Minchin
wrote:

Do these taps sometimes drip? My hot water system is low pressure with a
header tank so only about 8' head. Do these taps need higher pressure to
seal reliably?

With a German set we have I've found the ceramic bits last well but
the cartridge assembly has a brass outer casing and that wore down at
the tap end. The result was that the silicon rubber pressure pad
wasn't exerting enough pressure on the ceramic bits and a slight
leakage occurred. The solution was to machine a couple of stainless
steel washers to go at the opposite end to the ceramic discs to get
the spacing right again and reduce wear on the brass.

As you have hard water, when you dismantle the cartridge let the
ceramic bits soak in descaler before reassembly in case a bit of scale
build up has taken place.