I have one of those lift-and-twist type kitchen taps which is reluctant to
do either (though lifting requires far more force than twisting from the hot
position to the cold). Is there any way of freeing it up without first
cutting off the water to it? For some reason, one feed has a turn valve in
it but the other does not.

Many thanks.

On 8/1/2016 1:10 AM, Bert Coules wrote:
I have one of those lift-and-twist type kitchen taps which is reluctant
to do either (though lifting requires far more force than twisting from
the hot position to the cold). Is there any way of freeing it up
without first cutting off the water to it? For some reason, one feed
has a turn valve in it but the other does not.


As this is a kitchen tap, the cold feed will be from the mains. There's
probably a stop cock under the sink, and hence somebody cheap didn't
bother with a valve on that supply to the tap. Just guessing.

There's not a lot of serviceable bits inside a single handle tap. I
suppose the mechanism might just need greasing. If the ceramic
cartridges need replacing, that's going to set you back a good chunk of
the cost of a new tap.

I'd get a replacement tap in stock before removing the old one. From
somewhere that allows returns.

Thanks for that. I just found a YouTube video on disassembling this sort of
tap: assuming that what it shows is typical, it looks as though the tilt and
twist mechanism is a sealed (plastic?) unit with no obvious access for
lubrication.

I'm in a temporary rented place with extremely hard water, which is
presumably the source of the problem. I might either live with it or try to
get the landlord to sort it out.

Bert Coules wrote:

or try to
get the landlord to sort it out.

.... is the right answer.

Tim

--
Trolls and troll feeders go in my killfile

On 8/1/2016 12:56 PM, Tim+ wrote:
Bert Coules wrote:

or try to
get the landlord to sort it out.

... is the right answer.

Yes. I don't think your landlord will necessarily be happy if you do
this for him.

On 8/1/2016 12:56 PM, Tim+ wrote:
Bert Coules wrote:

or try to
get the landlord to sort it out.

... is the right answer.

Tim


+1

But being DIY, wondering how one might get descaler to the internals
unobtrusively....

newshound wrote:
On 8/1/2016 12:56 PM, Tim+ wrote:
Bert Coules wrote:

or try to
get the landlord to sort it out.

... is the right answer.

Tim


+1

But being DIY, wondering how one might get descaler to the internals
unobtrusively....


Take out the cartridge, dunk it in descaler?

Cartridges aren't that expensive though, contrary to what was said earlier.
If you do an image search for "single tap mixer cartridge" you'll see
hundreds of cartridges and links to eBay for replacements. Last one I
bought was under a tenner IIRC.

Tim

--
Trolls AND TROLL FEEDERS all go in my kill file

On 8/1/2016 5:04 PM, Tim+ wrote:
newshound wrote:
On 8/1/2016 12:56 PM, Tim+ wrote:
Bert Coules wrote:

or try to
get the landlord to sort it out.

... is the right answer.

Tim


+1

But being DIY, wondering how one might get descaler to the internals
unobtrusively....


Take out the cartridge, dunk it in descaler?

Cartridges aren't that expensive though, contrary to what was said earlier.
If you do an image search for "single tap mixer cartridge" you'll see
hundreds of cartridges and links to eBay for replacements. Last one I
bought was under a tenner IIRC.

The ones I have been looking at are more like £30 a pair, so maybe my
view is a bit jaundiced. I'm not a great fan of ceramic disc taps. I
prefer washers that cost a few pence to replace, but I'm obviously a
dinosaur.

Tim, thanks for that. Unfortunately it turns out that I don't have an Allen
key of the right size to release the tap's innards, so it might have to be a
job for the landlord after all.

One curious thing is that it's only at the hot end of the rotation that the
tilt mechanism becomes almost completely seized up solid (even when the
water itself is running cold); the cold end is much freer.