Leaking tap

KaratePigeon

Hello,
I'm rubbish at DIY but hoping to fix this leaky tap by myself, hopefully it's just a washer that needs replacing? But, er... how do I get in to it? Do I just force the top off or is there a screw somewhere, does anyone know?




thanks

JohnB47

Three possibilities. There might be a small screw at the back of each handle. The little red and blue thingies might be little plastic plugs that you prise off to get at screws, or the handles might just lift off vertically - try gripping firmly and lifting upwards while wiggling your hand.

macman

Definitely not 'force the top off' until you've tried the other options!

KaratePigeon

ah thanks. No screws at the back, but I popped off the little red thingy and no traditional screw but looks like I should put a hexagonal screwdriver (is that what they're called?) in there. I'm not going to break anything by trying, am I??

JohnB47

If you mean it's a hexagonal slot, then you'll need a suitably sized allen key. You can get sets of these at a hardware store. You could also mean a star shaped screw head, which would need a star head or posidrive screwdriver. You won't do any harm undoing the screw but the next thing you will probably see, after you lift off the handle, is a circlip which will need to be removed. That could get interesting for a novice. No harm in removing the handle though, to see what's next. Dont remove anything other than the handle without turning off the water supply.

plumb1_2

Remove the plastic covers at the front of the taps. There will be a allen key type screw. Think it is 1.5mm or 2.5mm size. Undo them anti clockwise, You don't need to unscrew them fully. (tip put the plug in the sink in case you drop any screws in them ).

The heads will then pull off , don't touch any circlip!!!
You need to remove the brass tap body, again turn anti-clockwise, hold the tap firmly so you don't loosen the tap when removing.
You may find the taps are 1/4 turn and will be a ceramic cartridge, and don't have a washer. You will need a new cartridge.

jbainbridge

Don't forget to turn the water off!

(Don't think anyone has mentioned it)

yangptangkipperbang

plumb1 wrote: »

You may find the taps are 1/4 turn and will be a ceramic cartridge, and don't have a washer. You will need a new cartridge.

A new washer is about 50p. I had a dripping (ceramic cartridge) tap; as the taps were "handed" you had the buy the correct one - BUT - just to make sure you got the right one they were only sold in pairs................at nearly £14 !!!! It stayed dripping !

plumb1_2

yangptangkipperbang wrote: »

..at nearly £14 !!!! It stayed dripping !

KaratePigeon

Hi, thanks for the help, I still haven't got very far though, oops I've got the top of the tap off but there's nothing under the sink where I can turn off the water before I do anything else.

There is a tap handle on a pipe under the kitchen sink, (which I assume is the main inlet to the house?) but it's seized up and we can't turn it. Tried with a pair of grips but it's not moving, any suggestions?

Ebe_Scrooge

Sounds like the one under the sink is your main stopcock, which as you say will shut off all the water to your house. In the absence of any service valves on the tap then yes, you need to shut this off.

It's common for them to be stiff ( they never get used ordinarily ). Try a squirt of WD40 on the spindle, let it soak for 10 mins then try again.

You can also try "opening" it slightly, as it were, before trying to close it, this sometimes loosens it up a bit.

As an aside, conventional wisdom is to close and open your stopcock once a year or so for this very reason, so that it's not jammed open when you really need it :-)