changed washer,still tight to turn off tap All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[viatcove]

I got someone to changed my mixer tap washer because of a constant drip,I got a new kitchen in 18months ago and hot tap was quite hard to really turn off,well tap started dripping again after 2 months,this time I changed it myself,fine for about a month it still drips after the hot water is off but it is so hard for me old hands to turn off completely,what can be wrong? I am 74 yr old woman and do most jobs on my own,I need some advice would I need a valve seat grinder,though everything looked good when I did it last time
thanks if you can help me :?

[stoneyboy]

viatcove,
Well done you for having a go. You probably need to take the tap apart, acid clean the moving parts to remove limescale, lubricate and re-assemble.
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[viatcove]

[size=18][/size]Thanks stoneyboy,I will have another go tomorrow,but when you say acid clean for limescale everything looked clean but I never thought to lubricate will wd40 do or vaseline :?

[stoneyboy]

viatcove,
Take out the headwork (the bit you removed to replace the washer) hold the body and turn the handwheel as far as you can as though you were turning off the tap. This will expose a threaded shaft if there is no limescale dry it and lubricate it with some silicone grease, turn on the handwheel again to withdraw the threaded bit and refit. Its probably worth popping the headwork in something like kilrock while you have it out of the tap.
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[viatcove]

:roll: right ,I have just had another go before you got back to me,I had just finished putting on the water,I didnt put on grease i used wd40 but at least the tap seems to be ok and much easier to turn on and off,if this holds i'll leave it if not I will go back to your reply and follow from there ,by the way what is kilrock :wink: silicone grease is that the same green grease stuff my man used to use on his car I think there is some of that in the garage.I appreciate your help,i'm learning everyday,just hope I dont have too many jobs to do on my own now :)

[viatcove]

found out what kilrock is a descaler :) ,we have very soft water here in Scotland,and this is not a problem,can you get a faulty tap as when the water is hot I still have it hard to turn off completely,turns off no problem before the water heats up,yesterday I was a bit panicky as it just would hardly turn off,when everything cools down its ok again.

[stoneyboy]

viatcove,
can you get a faulty tap - YES
If you can find replacement headwork for your tap this would be the easiest solution.
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[viatcove]

thanks stoneyboy for reply,still slight drip and still hard to turn off,what exactly would that involve changing the headwork,it a mixer tap,I dont think I would feel confident in trying that if it gets worse I may still have to get a plumber (dont know what that would cost) but at least I have tried my best dont think I can do more.Thanks for your help its been much appreciated

[stoneyboy]

viatcove,
From the description of your repairs to date your mixer tap has separate controls for H&C. The bit you unscrewed to replace the washer is the headwork and it is this bit you need to find a replacement for. Take it out and use this as a pattern when you go shopping.
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