Hi
Could someone help. I have a cold water tap on a mixer tap on the bath
which has increasingly become stiff so that now I only get a trickle
of water sometimes nothing at all. The hot water on the mixer taps
runs fine and all the other cold taps in the house also run fine which
makes me think it is a washer or something on the one cold tap.

I and my partner are DIY novices but if someone could give us a step
by step idiots guide from removing the taps to investigating and
solving the problem I would very much appreciate it.

Or if you think this is a job only for the professionals please let me
know.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards
Victoria

It is possible that the washer or jumper has become detached from the
valve,shut of hot water and cold remove tap valve and renew washer.It may be
a push on or it may have a small brass nut holding the washer in
place,insuring you have the correct size washer will help.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Alex wrote:

It is possible that the washer or jumper has become detached from the
valve,shut of hot water and cold remove tap valve and renew washer.It
may be a push on or it may have a small brass nut holding the washer
in place,insuring you have the correct size washer will help.

This is basically correct, but you may need slightly more detailed
instructions if you haven't done it before.

Do you have a website on which you could post a picture of the tap? [Not all
taps are equal when it comes to taking them apart!]

Do you know how to turn off your hot water?
--
Cheers,
Set Square
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"Victoria" wrote
| Could someone help. I have a cold water tap on a mixer tap on
| the bath which has increasingly become stiff so that now I
| only get a trickle of water sometimes nothing at all. The hot
| water on the mixer taps runs fine and all the other cold taps
| in the house also run fine which makes me think it is a washer
| or something on the one cold tap.
| I and my partner are DIY novices but if someone could give us
| a step by step idiots guide from removing the taps to
| investigating and solving the problem I would very much
| appreciate it.

I posted this back in August. For 'hot' read 'cold' in your application.

The hot tap washer is stuck on its seating. What usually happens is that
the O-ring seals in the spiral mechanism fail due to scale abrasion, letting
water into the spiral. This causes the taps to become difficult to turn on
or off, increases wear in the spiral, and may cause either leakage at the
spindle at the top, or the tap will not open at all.

If you go to www.screwfix.com (or a competitor who is currently trading) and
search for "tap reviver" you will get what you need - replacement innards.
You can usually re-use the old handles if you want them to match.

You need to turn off the water to the tap first.

The following are instructions for changing the washer, but show the inside
of a tap clearly.
http://www.diydata.com/problem/taps/washer_replace.htm
http://www.diydata.com/problem/taps/taps_seats.htm
http://www.readersdigest.co.uk/diy/webpages/308_309.htm


Owain

If you go to www.screwfix.com (or a competitor who is currently trading)
and
search for "tap reviver" you will get what you need - replacement innards.
You can usually re-use the old handles if you want them to match.

Alternatively, you could just replace the entire lot with a proper ceramic
cartridge tap. I have never fixed a tap washer in my life (unless you count
replacing gland packing on outside taps and stopcocks).

The reason that washer type taps seize up is to provide a reminder that you
haven't replaced it with a decent ceramic tap yet.

Christian.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Christian McArdle wrote:


Alternatively, you could just replace the entire lot with a proper
ceramic cartridge tap. I have never fixed a tap washer in my life
(unless you count replacing gland packing on outside taps and
stopcocks).

The reason that washer type taps seize up is to provide a reminder
that you haven't replaced it with a decent ceramic tap yet.

Christian.

Can you replace just the innards with ceramic - or does it mean a whole new
tap?
--
Cheers,
Set Square
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Can you replace just the innards with ceramic - or does it mean a whole
new
tap?

Not that I know of, although I wouldn't be surprised if someone has designed
a drop in replacement. However, part of the fun of replacing with a ceramic
cartridge tap is that you can avoid the horrible 1950s plastic knobs.

Christian.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Christian McArdle wrote:

Can you replace just the innards with ceramic - or does it mean a
whole new tap?

Not that I know of, although I wouldn't be surprised if someone has
designed a drop in replacement. However, part of the fun of replacing
with a ceramic cartridge tap is that you can avoid the horrible 1950s
plastic knobs.

Christian.

I could do with replacing my bath and basin mixer taps with something using
ceramics and/or single lever - or *anything* other than smooth plastic knobs
which you can't grip with soapy hands!

The basin tap is the sort which uses a single hole. The bath tap uses two
holes - but has a sort of "bridge" leading to a single outlet pipe.

I can find plenty of chrome taps - but mine need to have an antique gold
finish to match the other bathroom fittings. Anyone know where I can get
some?
--
Cheers,
Set Square
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I can find plenty of chrome taps - but mine need to have an antique gold
finish to match the other bathroom fittings. Anyone know where I can get
some?

A 2 hole gold plated bath mixer must surely be really easy to source, if a
little expensive. I take it you want a nice looking "telephone" shower spray
type? These generally look better than non-shower spray mixers. They're
useful even if you already have a shower, as they are excellent for cleaning
the bath down and look nice.

A quick search shows

http://www.victoriaplumb.com/victori..._range_42.html

Do a bath/shower mixer in antique gold for 75 quid (69 with the less nice
looking showerhead) and a monobloc basin mixer for 55. Obviously, a monobloc
is never going to look particularly traditional, but at least it should
match the mixer.

Christian.

A quick search shows

http://www.victoriaplumb.com/victori..._range_42.html

Having said that, there's no indication that they are indeed ceramic! You'd
need to check first.

Christian.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Christian McArdle wrote:


A quick search shows

http://www.victoriaplumb.com/victori..._range_42.html

Do a bath/shower mixer in antique gold for 75 quid (69 with the less
nice looking showerhead) and a monobloc basin mixer for 55.
Obviously, a monobloc is never going to look particularly
traditional, but at least it should match the mixer.

Christian.


Many thanks for the link. Not sure they *quite* fit the bill - but they're
the best I've seen so far.
--
Cheers,
Set Square
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"Set Square" wrote in message ...
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Alex wrote:

It is possible that the washer or jumper has become detached from the
valve,shut of hot water and cold remove tap valve and renew washer.It
may be a push on or it may have a small brass nut holding the washer
in place,insuring you have the correct size washer will help.

This is basically correct, but you may need slightly more detailed
instructions if you haven't done it before.

Do you have a website on which you could post a picture of the tap? [Not all
taps are equal when it comes to taking them apart!]

Do you know how to turn off your hot water?

Hi Thanks for your help. I know where the cold water stop cock is in
the house but not the hot. Didn't realise you had to turn both off. I
have a combi boiler so would the one stop cock turn all the water off?
Thanks
Victoria

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Victoria wrote:

"Set Square" wrote in message
...
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Alex wrote:

It is possible that the washer or jumper has become detached from
the valve,shut of hot water and cold remove tap valve and renew
washer.It may be a push on or it may have a small brass nut holding
the washer in place,insuring you have the correct size washer will
help.

This is basically correct, but you may need slightly more detailed
instructions if you haven't done it before.

Do you have a website on which you could post a picture of the tap?
[Not all taps are equal when it comes to taking them apart!]

Do you know how to turn off your hot water?

Hi Thanks for your help. I know where the cold water stop cock is in
the house but not the hot. Didn't realise you had to turn both off. I
have a combi boiler so would the one stop cock turn all the water off?
Thanks
Victoria

Yes, in fact you don't actually need to turn off the hot anyway - I must
have been having a mental aberration when I wrote that!

--
Cheers,
Set Square
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