Any Plumbers or DIYers Out There? 6 February 2006 at 9:22PM in Water bills 9 replies 4.6K views

stressedoutmum

The waterflow in our bath tap (hot only) seems really poor. I have to turn it on full just to get a fairly decent flow - before I only had to half turn the tap. If I turn it just a little I get nothing. Have pulled the top of so we can see the screw/washer part. Have been told that if it is a washer I need to undo the whole tap. To do this I need to take the bath panel off (which is nailed and sealed on) and before I can do this I need to turn off the cold water in the house and drain the hot water tank - is this right because it seems an awful lot of bother tochange a washer. That is if it is a washer - any other suggestions please. No problems with water flow or any other taps in house.

Juni_3

Sounds more like limescale buildup to me rather than a washer. In my experience taps tend to drip when the washer has gone.

Presumably the hot tap in the basin is chucking out water in the way it always has?

stressedoutmum

Yeah the basin is fine. A silly question then - how do I descale my tap and do I have to turn water off and drain hot water tank etc

Juni_3

Unfortunately I've never managed to fix a scaled up tap. I've always had to replace them.

bestyman

Hi,
Plumber here.
9/10 the problem is the tap body and not the washer . To fix the problem the tap body need to be removed then repaired/replaced.
1st step is to turn water off, depends on system but turning cold stoptap off and leaving hot running would work. If you have cylinder and tank there may be a valve in the airing cupboard to save doing this.

next, remove tap head ( depending on tap may have to flick off top cover and take out a screw). You will then see the tap body. Grip the tap body with a spanner and unscrew it . VERY IMPORTANT, make sure that the tap itself( the spout) does not turn as well as this could loosen the pipe underneath ( 2 spanners may help)

Assuming above goes well you will have a tap body in your hand. The washer will probably be ok . You will see that as you turn the spindle the bit holdinng the washer should go in and out but on your tap it is probably stiff and only goes in a little ( hence low flow). If you keep turning the spindle the part holding the washer will unscrew ( beware left hand thread) . clean it all up and put some vaseline on it .
Reassemble the tap but make sure that the hexagonal part is aligned into the hexagonal part of the tap body and goes all the way in ( this will make more sense when you see it ) otherwise the tap will not open fully. Put tap body back in the tap.

Any probs/different taps etc post back.
Also check circlip on spindle is not missing.
It may be an idea to also take out cold tap body to compare them or why not swop hot and cold bodies around to confirm cause of problem.

amateur

My bath tap body simply won't unscrew to enable me to get to the washer so if you have any tips as to how to release it I would be most grateful. Also the tap body appears to be chrome rather than brass with the letters TANTOFEX stampped on the bit below the spanner flats - does this affect anything?

bestyman

amateur wrote:

My bath tap body simply won't unscrew to enable me to get to the washer so if you have any tips as to how to release it I would be most grateful. Also the tap body appears to be chrome rather than brass with the letters TANTOFEX stampped on the bit below the spanner flats - does this affect anything?

Try a bit of wd40 but probably wont make much difference.
Your main problem here is to stop the tap rotating as you try loosen the body . If the tap moves you may get a leak underneath where the tap joins the pipe.
Hold the spout firmly with whatever works, I use a box spanner over the spout. To grip the body I use good quality waterpump pliers but molegrips may also work .
Position yourself so that both arms ( spanners) are pushing in together and watch your knuckles.
Chrome or brass no difference and Tantofles is just the make.

Bestyman

marvo_2

Before you go to the bother of removing tap etc. has your tap got a wire mesh on the spout end if so simply unscrew end and clean out mesh. Have had this problem several times

mssjab

Juni wrote:

Unfortunately I've never managed to fix a scaled up tap. I've always had to replace them.

I've found that the application of some Lidl Limescale Remover works wonders, but you MUST wash it off as soon as it stops foaming.

guzzles

Hi there is a really good forum site on https://www.diynot.com for this sort of discussion, they deal with all diy issues.